Halifax HX339 at Leeming airfield.
On the night of 12th / 13th July 1944 this 429 Squadron aircraft was flown on an operational flight to bomb a target at Acquet and took off from Leeming airfield at 23.14hrs. The crew released their bomb load from 10,000 feet at 01.27hrs. During the flight an enemy Me109 was seen by the rear gunner who ordered evasive action. The enemy aircraft then lined itself astern but after the two air gunners opened fire it disappeared from view. Owing to heavy rain and poor visibility at Leeming this crew landed at Dishforth on their return to Yorkshire, landing at 03.55hrs. Later that morning once visibility had improved slightly the crew made the short flight from Dishforth back to Leeming. At around 10.10hrs it landed at Leeming but with visibility still reduced it over-ran the perimeter fence. The pilot kept the engines running and it taxied back to a dispersal point with a broken H2S perspex blister. The pilot was posted back to Canada two weeks after this incident while the rest of the crew were posted between 425 and 419 Squadrons.
Pilot - P/O V M Rand RCAF (J/86544).
Navigator - P/O Earl Norman Gildner RCAF (J/28872).
Bomb Aimer - Sgt G H P Smith RCAF (R/171278).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Thomas Edward Smith RAFVR (1880903).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt J M A Saulnier RCAF (R/76475).
Air Gunner - Sgt L A Corbett RCAF (R/162841).
Air Gunner - Sgt Leo William Bouvier RCAF (R/128388).