Halifax JB852 damaged by flak, (probably) returned to Elvington airfield.
On the night of 24th / 25th June 1943 the crew of this aircraft took off from Elvington airfield to undertake an operational flight to bomb Wuppertal and took off at around 22.00hrs. While over Germany the aircraft was damaged by flak in the bomb bay which caused a fire. The pilot was also injured by the flak burst. The crew jettisoned the bomb load five miles short of the target area and made for home. They made a safe landing (probably at Elvington) in the early hours and the pilot was admitted to hospital.
Pilot - F/Sgt Ernest James Clinch RAF (655142).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Malcolm Griffiths RAFVR (1263470).
Navigator - F/Sgt Henry Charles Hoyne RAFVR (159717).
Bomb Aimer - Sgt Myrddin Gray RAFVR (1499067).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Frederick John Gallantree RAFVR (1289114).
Air Gunner - Sgt Albert John William Saxty RAF (520481).
Air Gunner - Sgt Donald William Dufton RCAF (R/119305).
Second Pilot - Name unknown.
Donald Dufton was born on 10th December 1922 in Toronto and enlisted into the RCAF in July 1941. He had served with 10 Squadron during the latter months of 1942.
On 13th August 1943 all the above apart from Sgt Saxty were flying in 77 Squadron Halifax JD125 on Ops to Milan when the aircraft crashed in France with the loss of all of the crew. All were buried locally to the crash but when the post-war grave investigation team found their graves and exhumed them to identify them. The bodies of Sgt Gray and Sgt Griffiths we identified and then re-buried under their own names but the others could not be identified and as such are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial despite having graves in Verneuil-Sur-Avre Cummunal Cemetery, France. A memorial plaque has now been erected on the grave site in his honour.
Sgt Saxty was later posted to 10 Squadron and killed on 29th January 1944 when Halifax JD273 crashed in Denmark while on Ops to Berlin. He is buried in Aabenraa Cemetery, Denmark.