Halifax JD126 damaged by flak, returned to Elvington airfield.
On the night of 23rd / 24th May 1943 the crew of this 77 Squadron aircraft were tasked with flying an operational flight to bomb Dortmund and took off from Elvington airfield at 22.51hrs. They bombed the target markers from 17,500 feet, while flying near Recklinghausen in the Ruhr Valley the aircraft was hit by flak. The crew were able to make a safe return to Elvington landing at 03.47hrs.
Pilot - Sgt Dennis Arthur Robert King RAAF (416684).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Arnold Richard Downes RAFVR (1464831).
Navigator - Sgt A J Birch. (Possibly Sgt Arthur John Birch RAFVR (1433328)).
Bomb Aimer - F/O George Albert Renshaw RAFVR (129484).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Thomas William Elwood Terry RAFVR (1029668).
Air Gunner - Sgt Charles William George Graham RAFVR (1377569).
Air Gunner - Sgt Dennis Frank Holway RAFVR (813075).
Arnold Downes was born in Hackney, London in 1920, he was sadly killed flying in Halifax JD465 on 24th August 1943 when the aircraft crashed near Biesenthal on Ops to Berlin. He is buried in Berlin War Cemetery.
Charles Graham received a commission on 7th January 1944 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency). He was lost without trace on 20th February 1944 when Halifax LL143 never returned from Ops to Leipzig. He was thirty three years old and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
George Renshaw received a commission on 18th September 1942 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency), rising to F/O on probation (war subs) on 19th March 1943 and F/Lt (war subs) on 17th September 1944. He relinquished his rank of F/Lt on 13th July 1945 on the grounds of medical unfitness.
Dennis Holway was born in Taunton, Somerset in 1918. He received a commission on 8th August 1944 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency), rising to F/O (war subs) on 8th February 1945. He married in Bristol in 1946 and died in Bath in 1971.
Thomas Terry received a commission on 11th October 1944 (185707) to the rank of P/O on probation and rose to F/O on 11th April 1945.
He had also served with 51 Squadron.
Halifax JD126 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 6th May 1943. As a result of being damaged by flak on 24th May 1943 Cat.A/FB damage was the assessment and it was repaired on site. On 10th July 1943 the aircraft failed to return from Ops to Gelsenkirchen. Cat.Em was the damage assessment. The aircraft was struck off charge on 14th July 1943 having flown a total of 85 hours from new. The crash location was confirmed by a team from 3 BRU on 31th January 1947.
King, Downes, Birch, Renshaw, Terry, Graham and Holway survived the crash of Halifax JD320 near Skipwith, Yorkshie on 25th July 1943.