Halifax LK626 damaged by flak, returned to Skipton on Swale airfield.

On the night of 3rd / 4th October 1943 the crew of this 427 Squadron aircraft took off for an operational flight to bomb Kassel at around 18.30hrs. The flight probably began from Skipton on Swale airfield because their home airfield of Leeming was having the runways resurfaced during early October 1943. 427 Squadron crews and ground crews had been using Skipton on Swale while this work was carried out at Leeming. During the course of the night this aircraft was hit and slightly damaged by flak, while the damage was not serious unfortunately a piece of shrapnel hit and injured the navigator. The crew were able to return the aircraft to Yorkshire and probably landed at Skipton on Swale. The injured airman was then admitted to hospital. This incident seems a fairly basic incident but I feel it right to also try to detail below some of the other events surrounding this crew that occurred in the coming weeks and months.

Pilot - P/O William Arthur Cozens RAFVR (133615).

Navigator - P/O Laurence George Biddiscombe RAFVR (144998). Injured.

Bomb Aimer - Sgt William Leslie Stockford RAFVR (1396830).

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt H P Whittaker RAFVR (1437751).

Air Gunner - Sgt Ross Bell Nairn RCAF (R/183594).

Air Gunner - Sgt C Hopper RAFVR (1685419).

Flight Engineer - Sgt John McGowan RAFVR (1861916).

On the night of 3rd / 4th December 1943 Cozens, McGowan, Hopper, Stockford, Whittaker and Nairn were flying together on Ops to Leipzig in Halifax DK181 but suffered a failure of the starboard inner engine while outbound, the engine later caught fire so the crew opted to abandon the flight and return to the UK. While over Suffolk the pilot ordered hus crew to bale out and he then force landed it (probably wheels-up) at Woodbridge airfield. The aircraft was badly damaged and was not repaired. Sgt Hopper injuried his ankle in landing by parachute and appears to have been on leave recovering for a few weeks.

Laurence Biddiscombe recovered from his injuries sustained in October 1943 and returned to flying operationally with this crew. Sgt Hopper was still recovering from his injuries in January 1944.

On the night of 20th / 21st January 1944 Cozens, McGowan, Biddescombe, Stockford, Whittaker and Nairn were again flying together with 427 Squadron (Hopper was replaced by another air gunner). This time the target was Berlin in Halifax LL191. On their return to England they were attempting to land at Coltishall but crashed at Westwick, Norfolk. With the wreckage on fire a man, George Thomas "Joe" Mutimer, managed to drag three members of the crew away from the burning wreckage. His fiancee or wife Noel (nee Artis) assisted. George/"Joe" Mutimer was later awarded the British Empire Medal for his actions. Numerous other websites state that his wife was also awarded the BEM but I cannot find any evidence of this. The citation was printed in the London Gazette on 11th July 1944 and reads.. An aircraft crashed and burst into flames. Mutimer at once rushed to the scene and, with assistance, rescued one of the crew who was trapped in the wreckage. By this tune the port side of the aircraft was burningfiercely, the fire was spreading to the fuselage and ammunition was exploding. Mutimer, although warned that explosions were imminent, climbed into the nose of the machine and, with assistance, succeeded in rescuing two other trapped and injured members of the crew. Mutimer showed courage and coolness and it was largely due to his leadership that all the injured were rescued from the aircraft." As a result of their injuries Biddiscombe died as a result of the crash whilst Cozens died later that night, and McGowan and Stockford died of their injuries two days later. Sgt's Nairn and Whittaker survived with injuries. Twenty year old P/O Cozens is buried in Moden Churchyard, Surrey. McGowan is buried in Chilton Cemetery, Durham, while Biddescombe and Stockford are buried in Cambridge City Cemetery.

Ross Nairn's subsequent death was probably a war crime and I feel his name deserves to be known because of this. He was born on 31st July 1923 in Fullerton, Ontario, Canada and was the son of William Eliss and Adella Marguerite (nee Bell) Nairn. After leaving school he began work as a farmer, at his father's farm at St.Marys, Ontario but later switched to driving lorries there for a different employer. He enlisted for RCAF service in London, Ontario on 4th August 1944 and after training in Canada he was awarded his air gunner's flying badge on 23rd May 1943. On arrival in the UK he trained at 24 OTU and 1664 HCU before posting to 427 Squadron on 19th September 1943. He was posted to 405 Squadron on 11th May 1944 and worked up to being awarded his Path Finding badge. He received a commission on 23rd August 1944. On the night of 25th / 26th August 1944 he was flying Ops to Russelsheim when Lancaster PB233 was attacked and damaged by night-fighters. The rear gunner was injured in the attack and control was briefly lost. Probably believing that the aircraft permanently out of control he and two others took it upon themselves to abandon the Lancaster over Germany before the pilot (and captain) had given the order. As it turned out, the pilot regained control and flew the Lancaster back to England, making a safe landing and the injured rear gunner was subsequently taken to hospital. Ross Nairn may have landed in the Homburg area possibly safely but was then captured, murdered and his body hidden in a wood. His service file has a lot of paperwork that relates to an unidentified body located in woodland in 1945 but was then lost (removed) before it could be identified properly by a British identification team. The body was thought to be his. As such he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial while the other two who baled out were taken PoW and survived the War.

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