Wellington HE367 damaged by flak, returned to Topcliffe airfield.
This 424 Squadron aircraft took off from Topcliffe airfield at 19.37hrs on 12th March 1943 to undertake an operational flight Essen. The crew bombed the target area at 21.42hrs from 13,000ft. The aircraft received small holes caused by flak to the main spar and tail and on the return trip the aircraft's TR9 radio set and the wireless transmitter both failed, probably because of flak damage. The pilot made a safe landing at Topcliffe on 13th March 1943 at 00.54hrs.
Pilot - Sgt William Dove RAFVR (1219582).
Navigator - P/O H M Brown.
Bomb Aimer - P/O Robert Geoffrey Crouch RAFVR (130507).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Waldo Osbourne Simpson RAFVR (1272597).
Air Gunner - Sgt Walter William Tucker RCAF (R/126957).
Wellington HE367 was built to contract B.124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong's Ltd. at Hawarden. It was received by 48 MU at Hawarden on 1st September 1942 and remained in store until being initially taken on charge by 427 Squadron at Croft on 2nd March 1943. For some reason it was then transferred to 424 Squadron at Topcliffe the following day on 3rd March 1943. The aircraft was first used operationally and also received minor flak damage on the night of 12th / 13th March 1943 which saw the damage assessment being graded as Cat.A(c)/FB and a repair on site at Topcliffe being made. It was used operationally the following night. On 2nd April 1943 it overshot landing at Topcliffe and came to rest in a field. The damage sustained was initially assessed as being Cat.B/FA but once repairs were underway on 10th April 1943 a second assessment of the damage saw it deemed too badly damage for a repair to be made. The aircraft was Re-Cat.E/FA that saw it written off. It was struck off charge on 10th April 1943.
On 2nd May 1943 the crew named above were carrying out a training flight in Wellington HE692 when the aircraft crashed in North Wales. Sadly P/O Crouch and Sgt's Dove and Simpson were killed. Sgt William Dove was twenty two years old and is buried in Melbourne Cemetery, Derbyshire. F/O Crouch was twenty three years old and is buried in Chorleywood Road, Rickmansworth. Hertfordshire. He received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on Sgt Waldo Simpson was twenty one years old and is buried in Pwllheli Borough Cemetery, Wales.
Walter Tucker was born in 1923 in Greencastle, Indiana, USA and was living there when he enlisted into the RCAF in Windsor, Ontario in September 1941. He was injured in the crash in Wales in May 1943 but as 424 Squadron had moved to North Africa in the period that he was in hospital and recovering. When he fit he was posted to Topcliffe and joined 429 Squadron towards the end of June 1943 and then joined 429 Squadron who had moved in. For service with 429 Squadron he was awarded the DFC, Gazetted on 6th June 1944. Hugh Halliday has located the recommendation for his DFC from March 1944 which states that he had flown thirty operational flights between 4th February 1943 to 6th March 1944. This recommendation reads.."Pilot Officer Tucker has taken part in thirty operations against the enemy, many of them against the most heavily defended areas of Germany, including Berlin, Essen, Hamburg, and Hannover. His keenness and ability as a rear gunner have contributed in a large measure to the safety of his crew and his cheerful devotion to duty have been an inspiration to his crew members and to the squadron." After his time with 429 Squadron he was posted to 22 O.T.U. probably to instruct.