Wellington Z1284 at Breighton airfield.
On the night of 10th / 11th September 1942 the crew on this 460 Squadron aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to bomb Dusseldorf, they left Breighton at 20.27hrs. Outbound the aircraft's starboard engine and oil temperature overheated so the crew turned back and landed at Breighton at 23.23hrs but the aircraft ran off the edge of the runway and the tail wheel was damaged.
Pilot - F/Sgt Edward Keith Forbes Brasher RAAF (404949), of Windsor, Queensland, Australia.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Douglas Westbury Johnson RAAF (403139), of West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia.
Navigator - Sgt Allister Dalton Crowther RAAF (411007), of Wyong, New South Wales, Australia.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt William John Carr Monk RAAF (403793)(460 CF), of Homebush, New South Wales, Australia.
Rear Gunner - Sgt Keith Campbell Bennett RAAF (407992), of Malvern, South Australia.
Edward Brasher (picture above in a damaged photograph) was born on 9th October 1916 in Brisbane and enlisted on 5th January 1941 in Brisbane.
He gained his Wings on 26th August 1941 and on arrival in the UK he was posted to train at 27 OTU on
14th January 1942 before posting to 460 Squadron on 7th July 1942. He was posted to 460 Conversion
Flight on 25th August 1942 but it must have been that he was still required to fly Ops with his parent
unit while this Lancaster conversion training was being done as he was killed while flying with his
parent unit flying Wellingtons. F/Sgt Brasher was twenty five years old and was initially buried in
the old Russian cemetery at Vechta. The post-war grave investigation unit exhumed his body to positively
identify it and he was later buried in Sage War Cemetery. His DFM was Gazetted on 11th September 1942
and presented to his mother in Brisbane in 1944. The citation reads.. "One night in August 1942, this airman captained an aircraft which attacked Dusseldorf. On the
outward flight, when some 40 miles from the target, his aircraft was attacked by a hostile aircraft
and sustained damage to the tailplane. Despite this, Sergeant Brasher pressed on and bombed his
objective. Shortly after leaving the target area, his aircraft was attacked by a Junkers 88. Further
damage was sustained and the wireless operator was wounded. Sergeant Brasher, skilfully manoeuvring
his aircraft, enabled his rear gunner to fire an effective burst at the attacker, which caused it
to break away enveloped in flames. Sergeant Brasher flew his damaged aircraft safely to base.
Throughout, he displayed great courage and determination to- complete his mission."
Sgt Johnson was also twenty five years old and is also buried in Sage War Cemetery. He was born on 21st August 1917 in Armidale, New South Wales and enlisted in Sydney.
Sgt Crowther was an old man at the age of thirty three, in aircrew terms, he too is buried at Sage War Cemetery. He was
born on 15th May 1909 in Cobar, New South Wales and enlisted in Sydney.
F/Sgt Bennett was twenty two years old and he was buried in Rheinburg War Cemetery, Germany. He was born on 9th January 1920 in Adelaide ane enlisted there.
Sgt Monk is buried in Sage War Cemetery, he was twenty eight years old.
Wellington Z1284 was built to contract B.97887/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Hawarden and was awaiting collection in September 1941. It was initially placed in storage with 44 MU on 21st September 1941. 460 Squadron took the aircraft on charge while based at Molesworth on 30th November 1941 soon after the unit formed, it was their very first aircraft to arrive and it moved with them to Breighton on 4th January 1942. As a result of the mishap on 5th February 1942 the damage was repaired on site with minor Cat.Ac/FA damage being the damage assessment. The aircraft was slightly damaged by flak on the night of 26th / 27th July 1942 which was repaired on site. It's AM Form 78 states that it sustained Cat.Ac/FA damage on 21st August 1942 but was not returned to 460 Squadron use until 5th September 1942. There is nothing in the squadron records to sugegst how this occurred.
It then sustained Cat.Ac/FA damage as a result of a mishap on 10th September 1942 when the tail wheel collapsed and another repair was made on site. On an unknown date later in 1942 it was transferred to 300 Squadron at Ingham and later served with 305 Squadron at Hemswell on 3rd April 1943. The aircraft was found to be in need of a repair in the works factory at Sywell by the end of April 1943. Once servicable it was received by 23 MU on 19th July 1943 and was then taken on charge by 104 (Transport) O.T.U. at Nutts Corner on 13th October 1943 where it served until 2nd December 1943. After this it required further work to be carried out to make it servicable so was taken to the Vickers factory at Weybridge on 2nd December 1943. During this work it was found to be not worthy of repair and was written off on 25th January 1944, being struck off charge on 1st February 1944.
On 14th September 1942 the crew listed above were flying Wellington Z1385, the aircraft failed to return to base following Ops to Bremen and crashed near the target area. This was the last 460 Squadron Wellington to be lost prior to their conversion to Lancasters.
