On the evening of 20th December 1942 the crew of this 10 Squadron aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to bomb Duisburg and took off from Melbourne at 17.53hrs. They released their bomb load on fires already burning in the target area at 19.56hrs from 14,500ft but two of their 1000lb bombs would not release. The aircraft sustained slight flak damage to the edge of the tailplane while in the target area though this did not prevent the aircraft being brought safely back to land at Melbourne at 22.49hrs with the two hung-up bombs. All those listed below were posted to 10 Squadron from 10 Squadron Conversion Flight as a complete crew on 30th October 1942.
Pilot - Sgt Frederick Easton RAFVR (1331300).
Navigator - Sgt David Brown RAFVR (1386316).
Air Bomber - Sgt Stanley Douglas Baldock RAFVR (1331377).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Bernard Thomas Scammell RAFVR (798725), of Gander Bay, Newfoundland.
Air Gunner - Sgt Ronald Glyn Edwards RAFVR (1462744).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Herbert Ernest Cross RAFVR (999913).
Air Gunner - Sgt Lawrence Hanigan RCAF (R/130172).
Halifax BB243 was built to contract B.124357/40 by the London Passenger Transport Board Ltd. at Leavesden. The aircraft was taken on charge by 102 Squadron at Dalton on 10th October 1942 and was transferred across to 102 Conversion Flight at Dalton the next day. The aircraft was used by 102 Squadron on operations on 6th November 1942 and then 7th November 1942. On 21st November 1942 it was transferred to 10 Squadron at Melbourne. As a result of battle damage sustained on 20th December 1942 minor Cat.A/FB resulted and it was repaired on site at Mebourne. It was again slightly damaged by flak on 23rd January 1943 and was repaired by Handley Page in their works factory. Once servicable it was flown to 48 MU on 7th May 1943 and was then taken on charge by 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit at Winthorpe on 26th October 1943. It was then slightly damaged in a flying accident on 30th December 1943 that saw Cat.Ac/FA damage be the damage assessment. It was returned on site and was returned to 1661 H.C.U. on 14th February 1944. The aircraft was transferred to 1656 H.C.U. at Lindholme on 13th May 1944. On 17th January 1945 it was flown to 48 MU. It was struck off charge on 25th January 1945 when it was deemed beyond repair. This history is drawn from the aircraft's AM Form 78, it is substantially different to the published Air Britain history and I have no idea why this would be the case.
Sgt David Brown and P/O Herbert Cross were still serving with 10 Squadron on 29th June 1943, on this date they was killed flying Halifax HR697 on Ops to Cologne when the aircraft was shot down by a night-fighter over Holland. The pilot on this occasion was F/Sgt Geddes who had just returned to operational flying following a serious accident on the North York Moors a couple of months earlier. They are buried in Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Holland. On the CWGC database they list both Brown and Cross as being navigators and I would suggest that in the case of P/O Cross this is an error; he is given as being a flight engineer in the 10 Squadron ORB.
Herbert Cross had received a commission on 5th April 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (143801), he was twenty nine years old.
Frederick Easton was flying as second pilot on board 10 Squadron Halifax W7869 on 24th October 1942 when it crash landed at Holme on Spalding Moor airfield without injury to any of the crew. He received his commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 6th March 1943 (143728). For service with 10 Squadron he was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 13th July 1943, the citation for which reads..”This officer has taken part in a large number of operational sorties. It is characteristic of his ability and resolution that he has on only two occasions failed to secure photographs of the target area. His aircraft has been damaged several times by anti-aircraft fire, and once, over Duisburg, was attacked by two night fighters.” He later received promotions to F/O on 6th September 1943 and F/Lt on 6th March 1945. He flew a second tour with 640 Squadron and for this service he was awarded the Bar to the DFC, Gazetted on 22nd May 1945. Details of his time with 640 Squadron can be found in Bill Norman's superb "Halifax Squadron" book detailing the history of 640 Squadron.
Stanley Baldock was awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted on 9th July 1943 but by the time this notification was printed in the London Gazette he had received a commission on 14th June 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (148100). He was promoted to F/O on 14th December 1943 and to F/Lt on 14th June 1945. Post-war he remained in the RAF and was appointed to a permanent commission of F/Lt on 1st October 1950, later being promoted to S/Ldr on 1st July 1954. In The Queen's New Year Honours list on 1st January 1961 he was granted the MBE. He was then promoted to Wing Commander on 1st July 1962 and finally retired from the RAF after a fantastic period of service to his country on 19th February 1976. Searching the internet for him yields examples of a number of paintings he made. He died in Norfolk in 2007.
Bernard Scammell was also awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron, but by the time the notification was published in the London Gazette on 9th July 1943 he had been killed. He was killed on 24th June 1943 while flying with 10 OTU in Whitley BD281 on an army co-operation exercise, the aircraft crashed near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire with the loss of six of the seven crew. He is buried at Oxford's Botley Cemetery and was twenty eight years old.
Ronald Edwards was awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted on 13th July 1943. He later received his commission to the rank of P/O on probation on 24th April 1945 (195416) and was promoted to F/O six months later.
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