Lancaster ED354 damaged on Ops, returned to Breighton airfield.
On the evening of 2nd February 1943 the crew of this 460 Squadron aircraft were to undertake an operational flight to bomb Cologne and took off at 18.31hrs. The crew completed the flight and landed safely at Breighton at 23.59hrs but the bomb doors were found to have been buckled, probably due to icing on the airframe during the course of the flight.
Pilot - P/O Lorraine Joseph Simpson RAAF (401542).
Bomb Aimer? - Sgt Colin William McLeod RAAF (403071).
Navigator? - Sgt Alastair Kennedy RAAF (403619).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Frederick John King RAAF (15471).
Wireless Operator? - Sgt Ronald Searle RAAF (412194).
Air Gunner - Sgt Walter Thomas Maltby RAFVR (1425111).
Air Gunner - Sgt K Sutton RAF.
A photograph of all of the named airmen found on the Australian War Memorial website. Left to right.. Sutton, McLeod, Simpson, King, Maltby with Kennedy and Searle leaving aircraft.
Lancaster ED354 was built to contract B.69274/40 by A.V.Roe and Co.Ltd. at Chadderton and was delivered to 460 Squadron at Breighton on 1st December 1942. It was first used by them operationally on 26th January 1943. As a result of the minor damage on 2nd February 1943 Cat.A/FB damage was the assessment and it was repaired on site to next be used on operations on 7th February 1943. On 27th March 1943 it was lost on Ops to Duisburg with it's then crew of seven being killed. Cat.E(m) damage was recorded on the paperwork. The aircraft was struck off charge on 31st March 1943.
Laurie Simpson was born on 22nd August 1918 in Deniliquin, New South Wales and enlisted in Mebourne. He was awarded the DFC for sercive with 460 Squadron, Gazetted on 9th July 1943. On the night of 27th / 28th January 1944 Simpson, Kennedy and McLeod were still serving with 460 Squadron, they were flying Ops to Berlin in Lancaster JB296 and failed to return and crashed near Cherbourg with all of the crew baling out. All were reported having taken as PoW. Laurie Simpson's son Andrew Simpson's book "Victory at all Costs" details his father's time in the RAAF. Colin McLeod was born on 21st October 1915 in Dalby, Queensland and enlisted in Sydney. Little else is known about his RAAF service.
Alan Kennedy was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland on 29th August 1918 and enlisted into the RAAF in Sydney. He survived baling out of Lancaster W4816 on 17th January 1943 over Bridlington. For service with 460 Squadron he was awarded the DFM, Gazetted on 9th July 1943. He was made a PoW on 28th January 1944 in Lancaster JB296.
Frederick King was born on 3rd December 1920 in Sydney and enlisted there in June 1940. He initially undertook ground crew duties but later re-mustered as a flight engineer. He married a Goole lady whilst stationed in Yorkshire and received a commission on 8th April 1943. He was later posted to 12 Squadron. On the night of 24th / 25th March 1944 he was flying Ops to Berlin in Lancaster JB359 when the aircraft failed to return, he was initially buried locally to the crash site in Germany and is now buried in Berlin War Cemetery. He was twenty three years old.
Ronald Searle was born on 12th February 1920 in Ryde, New South Wales and enlisted in Sydney, Australia.
Walter Maltby later received a commission (169516) on 17th November 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation and was promoted to F/O (War Subs) on 17th May 1944 and F/Lt on 17th November 1945. He was probably born in Nottingham in 1922 and died there in 2004.
Sgt Sutton's full identity is not yet known.