Halifax JB863 damaged by flak, returned to Elvington airfield.
On the night of 14th / 15th April 1943 the crew of this 77 Squadron aircraft undertook an operational flight to bomb Stuttgart and took from Elvington at 21.22hrs. They bombed the target area from 15.000ft but around twenty miles north of the target the aircraft was damaged in the fuselage by heavy flak. They were able to make a safe return to base and landed at Elvington at 04.41hrs.
Pilot - Acting S/Ldr Frederick Kitchener Bainbridge RAFVR (64285).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Frank Galsworthy Shaw RAFVR (994312).
Navigator - Sgt J R Randall.
Bomb Aimer - Sgt E Walton.
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Ernest Charles Pryor RAF(AAF) (800645).
Air Gunner - Acting W/Co Arthur Ernest Lowe RAF (42966).
Air Gunner - Sgt John Andrew Bacon RAFVR (1386461).
Halifax JB863 was built to contract ACFT/1808/C4 by English Electric Co.Ltd. at Samlesbury and was taken on charge by 77 Squadron at Elvington on 16th March 1943. As a result of flak damage on the nights of 14th / 15th April 1943 and then on 29th / 30th May 1943 Cat.A/FB damage was the damage assessment each time that saw it twice repaired on site. On 19th June 1943 it had just taken off for an operational flight to bomb Le Creusot when it crashed near Heslington. Sadly all on board were killed. Cat.E2/FB Burnt damage was the damage assessment and it was struck off charge on 30th May 1943 having clocked up a total of 105.45 hours total flying time.
Arthur Lowe was born in either 1914 or 1915. He joined the RAF at the age of sixteen and trained as a wireless operator mechanic and joined 208 Squadron in 1936 where he became an air gunner. At the start of the war he was serving with 77 Squadron and was serving as aircrew during their early operational flights of the war in Whitleys. He was granted a commission in the RAF as P/O on probation on 17th January 1940, rising to F/O (War subs) on 17th January 1941 and to F/Lt (war subs) on 17th January 1942. He was appointed to an MBE on 1st January 1942 but the reasons behind this are not yet known when this webpage was created. He was later granted the rank of F/Lt on 10th March 1943 but around this time was already serving as Acting W/Co and was the Commanding Officer of 77 Squadron when the flak incident in April occurred. While in the rank of Acting W/Co he was awarded the DFC for service with 77 Squadron, Gazetted on 9th July 1943, and on completion of his second Tour he was posted to the CGS. Post-war he was granted a permanent commission of S/Ldr on 1st September 1945, rising to W/Co on 1st July 1947 and G/Cpt on 1st January 1957. He was appointed a CBE in June 1959 and died in February 2003.
Frank Shaw received a commission to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) on 20th April 1943 (146401), he rose to F/O on probation (war subs) on 20th October 1943 and to F/Lt (war subs) on 20th April 1945.
On 20th/21st December 1943 he was flying in Halifax LL125 on Ops to Frankfurt, the aircraft was attacked and shot down by a night-fighter over Belgium and it would appear that only two of the crew (including Shaw) were able to bale out before the aircraft crashed. He became a PoW, the other survivor evaded capture while the remaining five airmen were killed. He remained in the RAFVR until reliquishing his commission on 10th February 1954.
Ernest Pryor was probably born in Islington, London in 1920. He was awarded DFM for service with 77 Squadron, Gazetted on 9th July 1943, the citation for his DFM reads.. "During the course of a large number of operational sorties F/Sgt Pryor has consistently displayed courage and devotion to duty of a high order, setting an admirable example to all with whom he came in contact". He received a commission on 19th September 1943 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency)(158399), he was later promoted to F/O (war subs) on 19th March 1944 and F/Lt (war subs) on 19th September 1945.
John Bacon was killed on 13th August 1943 while flying on Ops to Milan in Halifax JD125 when the aircraft crashed in France. He is buried in Verneuil-Sur-Avre Communal Cemetery, France.
Sgt J R Randall may have been a Sgt John Robert Randall RAFVR (1126662) who received a commission in March 1943 but the notification was not printed in the London Gazette until after April 1943. He was later awarded the DFC for service with 102 Squadron in September 1945.
Frederick Bainbridge received a commission on 24th April 1941 to P/O on probation and was promoted to F/O (war subs) on 24th April 1942 (with seniority back dated to 9th April 1942). He was Mentioned in Despatches on 1st January 1943, crash landed Halifax JB849 at Elvington on 18th March 1943 and was promoted to F/Lt (war subs) on 24th April 1943. He was awarded the DFC for service with 77 Squadron, Gazetted on 14th May 1943, the citation reads.."F/Lt Bainbridge has taken part in many operational sorties to targets in enemy and enemy occupied territory and also in an anti-submarine patrol". By May 1944 he was instructing with 10 OTU, on 12th May 1944 he was the pilot of Whitley Z9302 when it suffered port engine failure on take off and he force-landed the aircraft at Stanton Harcourt airfield without injury. Post-war he transferred to the Admin and Special Duties Branch and was appointed to a Class CC commission as S/Ldr on 15th December 1945. Post-war he flew with BOAC, piloting the infamous Comet. As a result of landing Constellation G-ANNT on one wheel at London Airport after hydraulic failure on 11th August 1957 he was awarded the Certificate of Commendation.