On the night of 29th / 30th June 1942 the crew of this 460 Squadron aircraft were tasked with a mine laying flight off the French coast, they left Breighton at 22.40hrs. The aircraft was hit by flak which caused damage to the aircraft's main plane, rear turret and starboard engine but the pilot was able to make the safe return to base and land at 05.45hrs. In his report he believed that the mines were dropped in the wrong place as he was concerned about the presence of search lights on the French coast.
Pilot - Sgt Arthur Maxwell Johnston RAAF (404784), of Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
Second Pilot - Sgt Darryl R Downing RAAF (407709), of Lameroo, South Australia.
Navigator - Sgt Maxwell Joseph Andrew Wyllie RAAF (405001), of New Farm, Queensland, Australia.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt David August Radke RAAF (405139), of Hendra, Brisbane, Australia.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt William James Taylor RAAF (407775), of Richmond, South Australia.
Rear Gunner - Sgt William Gerald Reed RAAF (402479), of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Wellington Z1422 was built to contract B97887/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Hawarden, Chester and was awaiting collection in January 1942. It was received by 23 MU on 9th January 1943 but was held in store until just before 16th June 1942. It appears to have been damaged on the delivery flight to join 460 Squadron at Breighton on 16th June 1942 that saw Cat.Ac/FA damage be the damage assessment that then required a repair on site being carried out by a team from Fairfields. The repair was complete on 27th June 1942 and it was finally taken on charge by 460 Squadron. As a result of the damage sustained on 29th June 1942 minor Cat.A/FB damage was the assessment and it was repaired on site and returned to 460 Squadron use. This incident is not on the aircraft's AM Form 78. On 5th August 1942 it failed to return from a mine laying operational flight to the waters off Lorient. Cat.E(m) damage was recorded on the paperwork and it was written off. It was struck off charge on 1st September 1942.
While training with 20 O.T.U. at Lossiemouth five of the above named (minus Sgt Arthur Johnston) were involved in a flying accident on 28th May 1942. Flying Wellington R1377 on a cross country training flight they crashed on their return to base. Sgt Reed dislocated his shoulder and this would appear to have given him problems throughout the rest of his war. The crew were posted to 460 Squadron soon after this incident.
On 2nd / 3rd July 1942 this crew were all flying together on Ops to Bremen in Wellington Z1381. The aircraft was damaged by flak near the Dutch/German border and suffered serious damage to the port side. The aircraft was partially abandoned before it crashed. F/Sgt Johnston (aged 27), Sgt Downing (20) and Sgt Taylor (27) were killed, while Sgt Wyllie, Sgt Radke and Sgt Reed were taken prisoner of war. Sgt Reed dislocated his left shoulder again when his parachute opened and landed in a wood and attempted to mend his shoulder himself. The survivors were firstly taken to Dulag Luft near Frankfurt (Maine) and after interrogation moved to Stalag VIIIb at Uber Silesia on 4th August 1942 (later renamed Lamsdorf).
Their stories from here on in deserve more wider publication than I show here.
Bill Reed's exploits in attempting to escape were remarkable. He attempted his first escape on 20th September 1942 with an New Zealand air gunner and a pilot, Sgt W Smith, the were discovered cutting the wire on the camp. He later exchanged identities with "Harold Bagshaw RE- PoW NO.13884" on 7th April 1943 and was sent to work in a stone quarry, ten days later he again escaped with Egon Blumenthal and after reachin Stettin by 20th April he stowed away on a swedish boat. They hid in a lifeboat but became trapped inside after a Swedish sailor inadvertantly lashed down its cover tightly. A German patrol boat found them on 24th April 1943 and he was handed to the Gestapo. He was sent to a German prison on 2nd May 1943 and under guard returned to Stalag VIIIb (it was here that he learned of the death of Sgt Wyllie who had escaped around the same time and was murdered after being re-captured near Krakow on 22nd April 1943). Sgt Reed then exchanged identities with "J Minsky" and sent to work on a railroad maintainance, he had tried to go with Blumenthal under his own correct identity but Blumenthal was stopped. Reed swapped his Red Cross food and cigarettes with Polish and Czech workers for clothes and money and made his third escape bid on 27th July 1943 travelling by train, via Berlin, Frankfurt and arrived at Stettin on 1st August 1943. He was again captured by the Gestapo on 5th August 1943 but recognised by his captors and given seventeen days solitary confinement. He was then returned to Stalag VIIIb (renamed Stalag 344) and admitted to hospital with malnutrition. He had planned to make his fourth escape attempt around 9th May 1944 but it was discovered before he got anywhere, as "Pte Elykim Wald - 4647" he managed to get onto a working party in a coal mine under Nazi control. Two days later he witnessed two escapees shot and the Germans then made a search and discovered his escape kit. The attempt was off for the time being but after he had sent word back to the prison camp to supply him with new kit he made his fifth and final escape bid on 11th July 1944 with "Pte H Toch" exchanging food for clothes from Czech workers. Again he travelled to Stettin by train arriving on 13th July 1944. By this date the RAF had severely bombed Stettin and he later reported that it looked nothing like it did on his previous visits. Again stowed away on a boat and this time he got through and eventually made it to Malmo, Sweden on 17th July 1944 and contacted the British authorities. He also sent a series of coded telegrams home to people he knew in Australia. He made it back to the UK on 10th August 1944 he was admitted to hospital in Ely on his arrival for proper treatment to his dislocated shoulder.
He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, Gazetted on 1st December 1944, for his escape attempts and eventual success and was presented with his DCM in Canberra on 18th March 1946. After recovering in hospital he was allowed to return home to Australia by the end of March 1945 but then his personal records show that he had requested training as a fighter pilot. This was refused and he was de-mobbed. Nothing more is known of him after this date and it seems his story has remained untold on the internet. He was born on 15th June 1920 in Sydney but enlisted in Melbourne on 14th September 1940.
Maxwell Wyllie's time in captivity was also eventful but sadly did not end with the same happy result. In April 1943 he escaped from a PoW work camp E.479 at Tarnowitz with another PoW (Joseph Terry - PoW No.4428) exchanging identity with "Mordechai Melzer". On 22nd April 1943 the pair was re-captured on a railway line between Trzebinia and Kressendorf, Krakow by a German Special Service security patrolman Alfred Gebauer and a Polish railway policeman, Stanislaw Krakowski. They immediately admitted to being escaped Allied PoW's and the German, Alfred Gebauer, began waving a gun around and shot Maxwell Wyllie twice at close range. There is a possibility that Gebauer was later tried for this murder. Maxwell Wyllie was twenty seven years old and was initially buried in Kressendorf Cemetery (Krzeszowice), Poland and his grave was attended by local people prior to the post-war wargrave investigation unit locating his burial location. He was then re-buried in the British Military Cemetery in Krakow Cemetery, Poland. He was Mentioned in Despatches in June 1944 with a hugh number of service personnel after his death. He was born on 10th November 1915 in Brisbane and enlisted on 5th January 1941 also in Brisbane.
Arthur Johnston was born on 9th March 1915 in Mt. Molley, Queensland and enlisted in Brisbane.
Darryl Downing was born on 2nd March 1922 in Adelaide and enlisted there.
William Taylor was born on 20th November 1914 in Port Pirie, South Australia and enlisted in Adelaide.
David Radke was born on 3rd April 1920 in Beenleigh, Queensland and enlisted in Brisbane.