Lancaster W4316 damaged by flak, returned to Breighton airfield.
On the night of 20th / 21st April 1943 the crew of this 460 Squadron aircraft were tasked with an operational flight to bomb Stettin, they took off at 21.50hrs and bombed the target area at 01.15hrs from 12,000 feet. The aircraft was hit by flak which damaged the port inner and outer engines, the bomb bay, the port aileron and the hydraulic system was also damaged. The pilot later reported that the aircraft was fired upon during the return flight by people defending bridge and later by submarines. The damaged aircraft landed at 06.33hrs at Breighton despite the seeming fairly serious damage.
Pilot - F/Sgt Donald Buchan Moodie RAAF (414249).
Navigator - F/Sgt Alan Louis Aitken RAAF (11723).
? - Sgt Stanley James Bethel RAAF (411987).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Roy Roberts Stain RAAF (402619).
? - "Sgt G Sutton" (Probably Flight Engineer - Sgt Edward Geoffrey Sutton RAFVR (994635)).
? - Sgt S W Williams RAAF.
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Hedley John McWaters RAAF (416504).
Donald Moodie was born on 2nd March 1921 in Brisbane, Queensland and enlisted into the RAAF there in August 1941. He was awarded the DFM for service with 460 Squadron, Gazetted on 10th September 1943 and later served possibly 25 RAAF Squadron.
Alan Aitken was born on 6th January 1923 in Murrumbeena, Victoria and enlisted into the RAAF in Melbourne. He died in April 1981 in Victoria, Australia.
Stanley Bethel was born on 18th February 1920 in Rockdale, New South Wales and enlisted into the RAAF in Sydney. He later received a commission and was flying in Lancaster PB542 on 12th December 1944. Buried Reichswald Forest War Cemetery and was twenty four years old.
Roy Stain was awarded the DFM for service with 460 Squadron, Gazetted on 10th September 1943. He later received a commission but died on 24th December 1943 when Lancaster JB711 failed to return from Ops to Berlin while serving with 156 Squadron and possibly on his first operational flight with 156 Squadron. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. He was twenty two years old.
Edward Sutton was involved in a flak incident to Lancaster W4331 in January 1943, and earlier in April 1943 in Lancaster ED369. Sgt Edward Sutton was awarded the DFM for service with 460 Squadron, Gazetted on 16th November 1943. He received a commission on 5th May 1944 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency), he was later promoted to F/O on 5th November 1944 and F/Lt on 5th May 1946.
Hedley McWaters was born 24th September 1915 in Worlds End, South Australia and enlisted into the RAAF in Adelaide.
Lancaster W4316 was built to contract B.69274/40 by A.V. Roe and Co. Ltd. at Chadderton and was taken on charge by 460 Squadron at Breighton on 18th October 1942. On 8th January 1943 it received Cat.Ac/FA damage in a flying accident but no details of what happened are yet known. There is no mention of any incident in the squadron records. The aircraft was repaired on site and was returned to 460 Squadron on 30th January 1943. As a result of battle damage on 21st April 1943 Cat.Ac/FB damage was the assessment. A repair on site begun on 26th April 1943. It was returned to 460 Squadron on 22nd May 1943 but they had moved to Binbrook some days earlier. On 13th June 1943 it failed to return from Ops to Bochum that saw six of it's seven crew died. Cat.E(m) damage was recorded on the paperwork.