On the night of 6th / 7th September 1943 the crew of this 426 Squadron aircraft took off from Linton on Ouse airfield at around around 19.50hrs for an operational flight to bomb Munich. The route to the target appears to have taken a route over Northern France before heading east and heading towards Germany. While flying at 14,000 feet roughly in the area to the north of Paris the aircraft received flak damage and in the course of taking evasive action the aircraft lost around six thousand feet in height. As a result of not knowing how badly damaged their aircraft was and having lost so much height the crew jettisoned the bomb load and made for home, making a safe return to Linton on Ouse and probably landing after midnight.
Pilot - F/Ldr Alfred Johnstone Hughes RCAF (J/3990).
Navigator - Sgt William Harold Boles RCAF (R/101526).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Frederick Donald Rawlings RAFVR (1330230).
Bomb Aimer - F/O George Harry Buchanan RCAF (J/20911).
Flight Engineer - Sgt William James McLean RAFVR (1365143).
Air Gunner - Sgt Fred Wilkinson RAFVR (2208870).
Air Gunner - Sgt Kenneth William Sawyer RCAF (R/164404).
Alfred Hughes was born on 23rd February 1918 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Alfred and Agnes Hope Hughes (nee Minnis). Both his parents were born in Northern Ireland but had emigrated to Canada before they were married. Alfred (Jnr) was working as a salesman/clerk in a hardware store in Hamilto up until enlisting for RCAF service in Hamilton on 2nd July 1940. He received a commission on 11th February 1941 the same date as being awarded his pilot Wings. He then appears to have served in Canada until being posted to the UK in December 1942. On arrival in the UK he trained at 14 (P)AFU and then 23 OTU before posting to 428 Squadron on 18th May 1943. Days later on 28th May 1943 he was posted to 426 Squadron but as they were about to convert to fly Lancasters he was posted to detachment to 1679 Conversion Flight to undertake the conversion training in June 1943 and returned to 426 Squadron when this training was complete. On 7th October 1943 he was the pilot of Lancaster DS762 undertaking an operational flight when, outbound, off Beachy Head, the Lancaster was fired upon by the crew of another Lancaster that was seen to fly just below them, this so called "friendly fire" damaged the hydraulics and also a bullet wounded S/Ldr Hughes in the thigh. The crew turned for England, jettisoned the bomb load but as the doors would not open they released the 4,000lb in the aircraft and the weight of it broke open the bomb doors. The undercarriage would also not lower properly so they used an emergency air bottle to make it deply and they made a safe landing at Tangmere airfield. S/Ldr Hughes was admitted to Chichester hospital, he recovered from this injury and was posted back to 426 Squadron.
Only weeks later all of the above named were to be killed on 27th November 1943 while flying Lancaster DS679 on Ops to Berlin. All have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
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