On the evening of 3rd November 1943 the crew of this 102 Squadron aircraft took off from Pocklington airfield at 16.51hrs for an operational flight to bomb Dusseldorf. While over Germany the aircraft received flak damage and was also struck from above by falling incendiary bombs released by a higher flying aircraft. A fire developed inside the aircraft. An engine was also damaged and had to be shut down. The fire in the aircraft was put out by the crew but for twenty minutes dense smoke filled the cockpit meaning that the pilot had no view of the instruments on the panels so flew blind. The smoke eventually cleared and the aircraft made a safe return to Pocklington, landing before midnight. The 102 Squadron website excellently details the flying of the members of this crew and I see no point duplicating the superb research here. Millson was awarded the Bar to the DFC and also Hartley, Hoskins, Topham and Mackay were awarded the DFC, all Gazetted on 28th December 1943 with the events of 3rd November 1943 probably partly responsible for their awards.
Pilot - S/Ldr Albert Edward Millson DFC RAFVR (63420).
Navigator - F/O Thomas Topham RAFVR (145307).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Francis Alfred Philip Hoskins RAFVR (128542).
Air Gunner - P/O Hylton Lewis Mackay RAFVR (149104).
Air Gunner - F/O Ian John Hartley RAFVR (111978).
Flight Engineer - Sgt T W Doherty.
Bomb Aimer - P/O Jack Ashbrook RAFVR (148486).
Jack Ashbrook was awarded the DFC for service with 102 Squadron, Gazetted on 11th February 1944.