Halifax LK918 at Dishforth airfield.

On the night of 28th / 29th January 1944 the crew of this 431 Squadron aircraft undertook an operational flight to bomb Berlin. They took off from Croft airfield at around 23.40hrs and released their bomb load over the target at 03.18hrs from 20,000 feet. On their route home the crew must have experienced navigation trouble and possibly a fuel leak because they were forced to make a "Darky" request to ask for assistance in getting them down to land. Dishforth control replied to their request for help. At 08.42hrs they found Dishforth but the aircraft swung off the runway resulting in the undercarriage collapsing with just two engines running through lack of fuel.

Pilot - P/O James Cyril King RAAF (412558).

Second Pilot - F/Sgt John Kenneth Gustafson RCAF (R/132529).

Flight Engineer - Sgt John Thomas Henry Beech RAFVR (1583055).

Navigator - F/Sgt A Barnes RAFVR (1581382).

Bomb Aimer - F/O Oswald Merwin Gilmour RAFVR (136910).

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Frederick Daniel Pym RAFVR (1320555).

Air Gunner - Sgt Joseph Benoit Aristide Lamoureux RCAF (R/159383).

Air Gunner - Sgt Ivor Howard Black RAFVR (1309586).

Many of this crew were later awarded the DFC for completing a Tour with 431 Squadron.
P/O Gustafson was killed flying with 431 Squadron on 29th July 1944 when Halifax LK845 failed to return from Ops to Hamburg. Ge has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. 431 Squadron lost five aircraft on this night with a total of twenty eight airmen being killed.

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