Wellington BK398 damaged by flak, returned to Topcliffe airfield.
On the night of 4th / 5th April 1943 this 424 Squadron Wellington was being flown on an operational flight to Kiel, the crew took off from Topcliffe at 20.41hrs. The aircraft was slightly damaged by flak on the fuselage but the crew made a safe return to Topcliffe landing at 03.11hrs.
Pilot - P/O Stanley Kyle Atkinson RCAF (J/18229), of Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada.
Navigator - Sgt Donald Harmon RCAF (R/131296), of Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt William Alexander Grant RCAF, of Fort William, Ontario, Canada.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Illingworth.
Rear Gunner - Sgt Herbert Albert Turner RCAF (R/18079), of London, Ontario, Canada.
Stanley Atkinson was the son of James Henry and Ethel (nee Treadwell) Atkinson and was born on 21st December 1942 in Fort Sakatchewan, Alberta, Canada. His father was a vicar and the family moved Kapuskasing, Ontario before 1930 where he went to school. He was still a student when he enlisted into the RCAF in North Bay, Ontario on 4th September 1941. After training in Canada he was awarded his Pilot's flying badge on 17th July 1942. On arrival in the UK he trained at 6 (P)AFU, 22 OTU and 1535 BAT Flight and was posted to 424 Squadron on 6th March 1943. He was then posted to 432 Squadron on 1st May 1943 and received a commission on 15th July 1943.
Wellington BK398 was built to contract B.124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Hawarden and was awaiting collection in October 1942. It was received by 51 MU on 13th October 1942 and was taken on charge by 424 Squadron at Topcliffe on 31st December 1942. It was used operationally by 424 Squadron on 15th, 21st, 26th and 30th January 1943, then 4th, 7th, 11th and 13th February 1943. It sustained very minor Cat.A/FB damage on Ops on 14th February 1943 and was repaired on site at Topcliffe. The repair was done very quickly as it was used operationally again on 16th February 1943. It remained with 424 Squadron flying operationally 16th, 24th, 27th, 28th February 1943, 1st, 2nd 3rd, 8th, 13th, 26th, 28th, 29th March 1943 and 4th April 1943. It sustained minor flak damage on 4th April 1943 with Cat.A/FB damage the assessment and a repair on site probably being made again. After this 424 Squadron ceased operating Wellington MkIII and exchanged them for Wellington MkX, BK398 was replaced as "-W" by HE684. Immediately after repair it was transferred to 26 O.T.U. at Wing on 7th April 1943. It remained there until late-1944 when it was flown to 8 MU and was placed in store. Wellington BK398 passed to 27 MU on 3rd September 1945 and was struck off charge on 4th June 1947.
424 Squadron were posted overseas later in 1943 and some of their aircrew did not travel with the squadron and were posted to 432 Squadron instead. This included Atkinson, Harmon, Grant and Turner who went to 432 Squadron. Sgt Illingworth appears to have remained with 424 Squadron. P/O Atkinson and F/Sgt Grant were flying 432 Squadron Wellington HE817 when it was reported as missing on 27th September 1943 on Ops to Hannover. F/Sgt Grant became a POW, but P/O Atkinson was killed.
Herbert Albert Turner RCAF (R/18079) was killed on 16th December 1943, he was twenty four years old. He was killed when 432 Squadron Lancaster DS831 was shot down on Ops to Berlin and is buried at Leeuwarden Protestant Churchyard, Holland. This day became known as "Black Thursday" and is well documented on the internet and in a book written by Mr Richard Knott in the mid-2000's.
Donald Harmon was born in January 1917 in Banff, Canada. He was also posted to 432 Squadron and then survived the crash of Wellington HE553 near Reeth on 29th May 1943. He returned to operation flying with 432 Squadron was involved in a number of further tricky situations. On 3rd January 1944 he was flying in Lancaster DS830 when the throttle to one engine jammed on the return to East Moor, the aircraft swung on landing and was slightly damaged. The following night he and his crew were back on Ops to Berlin and their aircraft was badly damaged, his pilot was awarded the DFC for returning them safely to the UK. In total he completed thirty two operational flights in total. Having survived the War he returned home to Canada and took over his father's photography buisness, Byron Harmon Photos. The company is still in buisness and their website "www.harmonphotography.com" shows many of his brilliant landscape photographs. He died in August 1997 and was eighty years old.