Halifax JB894 damaged by flak, returned to Pocklington airfield.
During the night of 28th / 29th June 1943 the crew of this 102 Squadron aircraft were tasked with bombing Cologne and left Pocklington at around 23.00hrs, the aircraft was slightly damaged by flak during the course of this night. The crew were able to make a safe return to base and land at Pocklington at 04.15hrs.
Pilot - Sgt Robert Glass Amos RAFVR (1550957).
Navigator - Sgt Basil Philip Dowthwaite RAFVR (1397808).
Wireless Operator - Sgt John Richard Fradley RAFVR (1540341).
Air Gunner - Sgt D H Brown RAFVR (1530814).
Air Gunner - Sgt Charles Gordon Dupueis RCAF (R/176437).
Flight Engineer - Sgt E J Williams (probably Sgt Enoch Jones Williams RAFVR (1130519)).
Bomb Aimer - Sgt William Henry James Smith RAFVR (1319671).
On 13th July 1943 Amos, Dowthwaite, Brown, William Smith and Fradley were flying Halifax JB894 again when the aircraft crashed in the target area of Aachen. Sgt Brown survived and became a PoW while the other members of the crew were killed. Their graves are now at Maastricht General Cemetery.
F/Sgt Dupueis was killed on 20th January 1944 while still flying with 102 Squadron in Halifax LW337 on Ops to Berlin when the aircraft broke up in the air over the target area. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. 102 Squadron lost six aircraft on this night with sixteen aircrew killed and twenty two being made PoW.
If the Sgt Williams was Sgt Enoch Williams then he was soon posted to 78 Squadron and killed flying with them on 28th August 1943 in Halifax JD406. He is buried in Souilly Churchyard, France.