Wellington W5425 at Driffield airfield.
On the night of 30th / 31st May 1942 this aircraft was used on the first Thousand Bomber raid with 158 Squadron. This crew took off at 23.35hrs but iced up before reaching the target area over Cologne so made an early return to base of Driffield and landed in the early hours. The aircraft is listed as having sustained Cat.B damage on 1st June 1942 but I have not yet found any details of how this occurred. The AM Form 78 suggests it was an assessment found during a major inspection though it may be the result of minor damage that resulted when it iced up on 31st May 1942 but that the damage was not initially spotted.
Crew - Names unknown.
Wellington W5425 was built to contract B.71441/40 by Vickers Armstrong’s Ltd. at Weybridge and was awaiting collection in early 1941. It was received by 12 MU on 23rd February 1941 and was then taken on charge by 104 Squadron at Driffield on 10th April 1941. On 22nd November 1941 it was in need of some form of repair so a team from Fairfields visited and repaired this aircraft on site. It was returned to 104 Squadron on 13th December 1941. On 14th February 1942 it was transferred to 158 Squadron at Driffield when the unit formed out of "C-Flight" of 104 Squadron. As a result of damage reported on 1st June 1942 Cat.B appears to have been the assessment and it was then taken to the Vickers factory at Castle Bromwich for repair. Once repaired it passed to 8 MU on 6th September 1942 and was then issued to the O.A.P.U. on 8th October 1942 and was then taken on charge by 1446 (Ferry Training) Flight at Moreton in Marsh on 23rd October 1942 before moving to No.1 O.A.D.U. at Portreath on 21st November 1942. During the last few days of November 1942 and first days of December 1942 it was ferried out to North Africa to join the Middle East theatre. It was taken on charge by 104 Squadron at Kabrit, Egypt on 31st January 1943 and moved with them in North Africa over the coming weeks. On 30th March 1943 it was ditched in the sea off Tunisia after an engine failure and Cat.E damage was recorded on the paperwork.