Halifax LK811 damaged in the air, returned to East Moor airfield.
On the night of 22nd / 23rd April 1944 this 432 Squadron aircraft was flown on an operational flight to bomb Dusseldorf. It took off from East Moor at 22.34hrs. The crew released their bomb load from 20,000 feet at 01.19hrs. While over the target area the aircraft was struck from above by falling incendiary bombs suffered minor damage to the fuselage. The crew were able to make a safe return to East Moor airfield and land at 03.45hrs where the minor damage was repaired.
Pilot - F/Sgt Howard John Menzies RCAF (R/157627).
Flight Engineer - Sgt John Clarke RAFVR (1300857).
Navigator - P/O John Gouinlock RCAF (J/24556).
Bomb Aimer - P/O Donald Elliott Rutherford RCAF (J/26725).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt W S Rowan RAFVR (1344656).
Air Gunner - Sgt Thomas Findlay McClay RAFVR (1795998).
Air Gunner - F/Sgt Herbert Henry Rogers RCAF (R/57959).
Halifax LK811 was built to contract ACFT/891 by Fairey Aviation Co. Ltd at Stockport and was delivered directly to 432 Squadron at East Moor on 11th March 1944 where it commenced operational flying on 18th March 1944. Cat.Ac/FB damage was the damage assessment following the incident on 23rd April 1944 and repair was carried out at East Moor. It was returned to 432 Squadron on 10th May 1944. The aircraft was lost on ops to Bourg Leopald on 28th May 1944 on it's fourteenth operational flight. Many of those named above were in the aircraft when it came down near Budel, Holland with the loss of five of the crew including F/Sgt Menzies, Sgt Clarke, P/O Rodgers and Sgt McClay. F/Sgt Menzies is buried in Groesbeck Canadian War Cemetery. P/O Rodgers and Sgt's Clarke and McClay have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. F/O Gouinlock, F/O Rutherford and F/Sgt Rowan baled out, the latter becoming a PoW but Gouinlock and Rutherford evaded capture.
Howard Menzies was born on 25th June 1923. He had commenced operational flying with 432 Squadron on 24th February 1944 but was lost on his eleventh operational flight. He had done one operational flight as a second pilot and ten as Captain in his own right. He received a commission after his death.
John Clarke was the son of Albert and Cecilia Clarke and was working for the Airedale Dyeing Company in Keighley when he enlisted into the RAFVR at the start of the War. He died when Halifax LK811 crashed in Holland and was twenty eight years old. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial and is also listed on the Ingrow War Memorial, Keighley.
Mr Jack Gouinlock has given his memories of the incident in which he was taken PoW to the Canadian Veteran Affairs website from which the following has been found; he spent about two months after being shot down over Holland in Belgium, hiding from the Germans and staying with different people and moving around. He was initially taken prisoner by the Germans in Liege but was let go the next day as they did not know he was a Canadian soldier some forty days after landing after witnessing the German guards murder two Belgians.