Halifax HX244 at Leconfield airfield.

On 11th November 1943 the crew of this 466 Squadron aircraft took off from Leconfield airfield for a training flight but as the aircraft left the ground it then sank bank towards the runway. The pilot was able to raise the aircraft and continue with the flight but the undercarriage was damaged and then locked half-open. On the return to Leconfield at 11.10hrs the pilot crash landed on the runway and the aircraft received damage.

Pilot - S/Ldr Alan Ower McCormack RAAF (A.375).

Pilot - F/Lt Frank Wharton Mack RAAF (412463).

Alan McCormack was still flying with 466 Squadron when Halifax HX294 failed to return from Ops to Berlin on 28th / 29th January 1944. The aircraft crashed into the Baltic with the loss of one of the crew while he and five others survived to become PoWs. Post-ww2 he remained in the RAAF and for outstanding service during floods in New South Wales in February and March 1955 he was awarded the Air Force Cross.

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