On the night of 29th / 30th May 1943 the crew of this 102 Squadron aircraft took off from Pocklington airfield at 22.47hrs to undertake an operational flight to bomb Wuppertal. During the course of the night the aircarft received minor flak damage to an unstated area / areas of the aircraft; the squadron record does not give the full information. Despite the damage the crew were able to bring the aircraft safely back to base and landed at Pocklington airfield at 03.58hrs.
Pilot - Sgt K A Heaton (Possibly Kenneth Arthur Heaton RAFVR (1425747)).
Navigator - Sgt Jack Phillip Hague RAFVR (1498307).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt K Davenport.
Air Gunner - Sgt N C/G Davidson.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt D D Rae.
Flight Engineer - Sgt C/G Rogers.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt M D E Scott.
On the night of 27th / 28th August 1943 all of the above were flying the same Halifax BB365 on Ops to Nuremburg when the aircraft was damaged by flak over the target area, sadly the navigator Jack Hague was killed in the incident. On their return to the UK the aircraft was landed at Tangmere.
Halifax BB365 was built to contract B.124357/40 by the London Passenger Transport Board Ltd. at Leavesden and was taken on charge as new by 76 Squadron at Linton on Ouse on 30th April 1943. On 1st May 1943 the aircraft was transferred to 102 Squadron at Pocklington. As a result of battle damage sustained on 30th May 1943 Cat.A/FB damage was the assessment and it was repaired on site. On 28th August 1943 it was again damaged by flak on Ops which killed the navigator and the remaining crew landed at Tangmere on their return to England. Cat.Ac/FB damage was the damage assessment and it was repaired on site. On 26th September 1943 the aircraft was transferred to 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit at Balderton and then on 28th November 1943 it was transferred to 1662 H.C.U. at Blyton. On 24th February 1944 the aircraft was belly landed in a field on approach to Blyton after an engine failure which saw it badly damaged. Cat.E2/FA damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 29th February 1944.
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