On the night of 7th / 8th November 1942 this 10 Squadron aircraft had taken off at 17.18hrs for a long distance operational flight to bomb Genoa, Italy. It is believed to have taken off from Melbourne although during the War some Yorkshire-based squadrons flew a staging flight to airfields in the South of England to reduce the distance for such long operational
flights. After some forty five minutes in the air and some distance out over the North Sea the aircraft suffered from the failure of the port outer engine. The crew were able to put out the fire but opted to abort the long flight to Italy, they jettisoned the bomb load off Skegness at 18.48hrs, flew up the coast and arrived back at Melbourne at 19.50hrs.
On returning to base the aircraft made a heavy landing, the pilot attempted to apply power and make an overshoot to fly another circuit of the airfield but the port outer engine failed causing the aircraft to swing off the runway. The pilot retracted the undercarriage to try and stop the aircraft but it crashed into trees just off the airfield and caught fire. The crew scrambled clear without serious injury. The wireless operator was later awarded the DFC partly for his actions in rescuing his crew in this incident.
Halifax W7867 was built to contract B.73328/40 by Handley Page Ltd. at Radlett and was awaiting collection on 28th September 1942. It was taken on charge by 10 Squadron at
Melbourne on 30th September 1942. As a result of the damage sustained at Mebourne on 7th November 1942 it was not repaired. Cat.E2/FB damage was the result of the damage assessment. It was struck off charge on 13th November 1942.
Pilot - F/Sgt Leslie Jones Hampton RAFVR (1066636).
Second Pilot - Sgt John Deryk Illingworth RAFVR (1144450).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Charles Quine RAF (635070).
Navigator - Sgt Donald Murch RAFVR (1381900).
Air Bomber - Sgt Bertram Thomas Bulmer Brown RFAVR (1255726).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Ronald Fell RAFVR (111786).
Air Gunner - Sgt F J Clarke.
Air Gunner - Sgt F Shaw.
Leslie Hampton and Charles Quine were both awarded the DFM for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted on 18th May 1943. F/Sgt Hampton's citation for his award reads.."Whilst
returning from a raid on Essen recently F/Sgt Hampton's aircraft was shot down into the sea in the vicinity of the Dutch coast. He and his crew were rescued three days later
by an Air /Sea Rescue Launch after undergoing extreme hardships. The rescue was completed under fire from three enemy "E" boats. In spite of this grim ordeal, this captain
has continued to operate with undiminished ardour. During an attack on Kiel in October 1942, his aircraft was illuminated by searchlights and repeatedly hit by gun fire. In
spite of this F/Sgt Hampton dived down from 14,000 feet to 6,000 feet to bomb, and secured outstanding photographs." He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 6th March 1943 and was promoted to F/O on probation (war subs) on 6th September 1943 and on 6th March 1945 he was promoted to F/Lt (war subs). He later saw further service with 10 Squadron and as Acting F/Lt was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 14th November 1944. Postwar he remained in the RAFVR until 1951 when he relinquished his commission in the RAFVR on 23rd February 1951 on appointment to a short service commission in the RAF to the rank of F/O (with seniority of 26th January 1949). He was later promoted to F/Lt on 10th November 1955 and retired from the RAF as a F/Lt on 12th June 1966.
No citation has been found for Charles Quine's DFM. He was later posted to 77 Squadron to fly a second Tour. On the night of 20th / 21st December 1943 he was flying in Halifax LL121 on Ops to Frankfurt when the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter. Two of the crew died but he and five other survived but became PoWs. He was probably born in the Chorlton area of Lancashire in 1919.
Donald Murch was almost certainly born in Marylebone, London on 1920. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 6th March 1943 (145310). He was promoted to F/O on probation (war subs) on 6th September 1943 and F/Lt (war subs) on 6th March 1945.
Ronald Fell received a commission 15th November 1941 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) and was promoted to F/O on probation (war subs) on 1st October 1942. His rank is listed incorrectly in William Chorley's Bomber Command losses book as being that of Sergeant when Halifax W7867 crashed. He was awarded the DFC for service with 10 Squadron, Gazetted on 18th May 1943 the citation refers to his actions carried out when Halifax W7867 crashed at Melbourne as detailed above. The citation reads..
"In November 1942, when returning home from Genoa, on three engines, F/O Fell's aircraft crashed and burst into flames. With an utter disregard for his personal safety this officer succeeded in extricating his injured comrades and dragging them clear of the blazing aircraft. He was himself taken to hospital later suffering from bruises and burns to head and face. On another occasion, when on the way to the target, the wireless apparatus broke down, but F/O Fell, showing fine technical skill, succeeded in repairing the set thus materially contributing to the successful completion of the mission." He was promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 15th November 1943, nothing more is known about him.
Both Sgt Clarke and Sgt Shaw were posted to 21 OTU on 29th March 1943. Neither of their full identities are yet known.
Back to monthly table.