Whitley Z6875 hit by enemy fire and returned to Topcliffe airfield.
On the night of 20th / 21st of September 1941 the crew of this 102 Squadron aircraft were tasked with bombing the Alexanderplatz Railway Station, Berlin. Having left
Topcliffe at 19.09hrs the crew dropped their bombs over the Flensburg area in thick cloud. The captain of the aircraft was injured over the target area and
the second pilot flew the return leg back to Topcliffe where they landed at 04.02hrs without further incident.
Pilot - Sgt Sidney Tackley RAFVR (1254902), of St.Albans. Injured by enemy action.
Second Pilot - Sgt George William McDonald RAF (521585), of Newcastle.
Observer - P/O Nathaniel Leslie Shove RAFVR (67050), of Goodmayes, Essex.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Philip Arthur Champion RAFVR (913929), of New Malden, Surrey.
Air Gunner - Sgt J B T Teasdale-Smith.
Whitley Z6875 was built to contract 106962/40 by Armstrong Whitworth Ltd. at Baginton and was awaiting collection on 11th July 1941, it was delivered
to 102 Squadron at Topcliffe later the same month. The aircraft was slightly damaged by flak on the night of 5th / 6th August 1941 on Ops to Frankfurt with
the crew landing safely at base and Cat.A/FB damage was the assessment for the paperwork. It was repaired on site only suffer flak damage on 26th / 27th August
1941 on Ops to Cologne, its crew made a safe landing at Bircham Newton at 05.45hrs where the damage was probably inspected but repair was probably not
made at Bircham Newton as it is listed in the squadron ORB as landing safely at base of Topcliffe just four hours later at 09.45hrs. The damage was clearly
very slight. Cat.A/FB damage was the result. It was again repaired on site and suffered this third incident on 21st September 1941 when again Cat.A/FB
damage was recorded and it was probably repaired on site again. On an unknown date it was transferred to 78 Squadron at Croft and later to 51 Squadron at
Chivenor. In April 1942 it was transferred to 1885 Target Towing & Gunnery Flight at Coningsby and on 1st August 1942 it was transferred to 10 OTU at
Abingdon. By the end of 1942 it was in MU store awaiting disposal and was struck off charge on 27th January 1943.
Sgt McDonald was killed on 8th November 1941 with 102 Squadron flying in Whitley Z9212 on Ops to Essen. He is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery and was twenty five years old.
Nathanial Shove was born in 1916, he received his commission on 6th April 1941 to the rank of P/O on probation from the rank of LAC. He rose to F/O on
probation exactly a year later and to F/Lt again exactly a year later. Acting F/Lt Shove was later awarded the DFC (Gazetted on 20th April 1943). The
citation reads.. “F/Lt Shove is a capable and determined squadron navigator who has taken part in attacks on the majority of the enemy's most heavily
defended targets in Germany and Italy. He also participated in the “1000" raids”. He was posted in to 76 Squadron on 1st April 1944 to be C.Flight
Commander. S/Ldr Shove was killed on 13th May 1944 when serving with 76 Squadron, he was flying in Halifax MZ575 on Ops to Hasselt and was shot down,
he is buried in Schoonselhof cemetery, Belgium. He was 29 years old. At the time of his death he was on his 77th operational flight. His rank was
probably Acting S/Ldr at the time of his death.
Sgt Champion was lost on 29th May 1942 still with 102 Squadron. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Details regarding his loss are not yet known.
F/Sgt Tackley recovered and was later posted to 76 Squadron. On 28th June 1942 he was flying in Halifax W7665 which crashed at Middleton St.George on a training flight,
he was seriously injured and died later that day of his injuries. F/Sgt Tackley was twenty two years old and is buried in St.Albans Cemetery, Hertfordshire.
Nothing more is known of Sgt Teasdale-Smith.