Halifax MZ304 damaged in the air, returned to Leeming airfield.
During the morning of 25th June 1944 the crew of this 427 Squadron aircraft undertook an operational flight to bomb V1 launch sites at Gorenflos. The crew took off from Leeming airfield at 06.35hrs. They released their bomb load onto target markers from 12,000 feet at 08.59hrs. At 09.04hrs the aircraft was struck and damaged by flak over Oisemont, to evade this the pilot took evasive action, weaved and dived down to low altitude. On the way to the northern French coast machine guns and rifles opened up on the Halifax to which the air gunners returned fire. Despite the damage the crew returned to Leeming and landed safely at 11.10hrs.
Historian Hugh Halliday has located a newspaper report that mentions this incident from which this quote is drawn, it reads "It was the pilot’s final sortie on his second tour of operations and the crew who had flown with him on most of them were still anxiously awaiting the thrills they hadn’t yet experienced during assaults on enemy targets. So just to oblige them, F/L Higgins DFC, a Lion squadron skipper, ended his operational career in a blaze of glory by zooming his big Halifax bomber down to within 300 feet of the deck and gave his gunners and bomb-aimer the opportunity to strafe German troops, tanks and radio installations with machine-gun fire. It all happened during a daylight attack on a launching site for German flying bombs "doodle bugs" located near Gorenflos, France. The bomber had unloaded its cargo of T.N.T. on the target and was wending its way home when it was caught in a flak barrage about 20 miles inside the French coast. One piece of flak blasted its way through the mid-upper gunner’s turret, hit a panel in front of him, bounced back and hit him on the nose. He was not seriously hurt. Forced to take violent evasive action, F/L Higgins put his aircraft into a dive. The next thing the crew knew, they were so close to the ground that they could see German troops, tanks and radio installations looming up ahead of them. The long awaited chance had come, the mid-upper gunner, P/O Con Kelway, the rear-gunner and bomb-aimer (both Englishmen), manned the guns and went into action. "We could almost see the whites of their eyes" said the mid-upper gunner in relating the story of the shoot up. "The troops digging on the beaches fled for cover as we opened fire, but those guarding the tanks opened up on us with machine guns and rifles. "There was also a horse and cart ambling along a road. The fire from our guns startled it and it bolted. The last thing we saw it was still running. We also razed about 20 buildings close by the radio installations with long bursts before breaking off the attack. It was real fun while it lasted," he concluded.
Pilot - F/Lt Clarence Wildred Higgins DFC RCAF (J/15695).
Navigator - P/O K Stenbraaten RCAF (J/19440).
Bomb Aimer - F/O Graham Oswald Gurney RAFVR (135630).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/O Joseph Harold Gribbon RAFVR (169141).
Air Gunner - P/O Connaught Kelway RCAF (C/85137). Slightly injured.
Air Gunner - F/O Thomas William Henry Brooking RAFVR (138892).
Flight Engineer - P/O Howell Glanmore Young RAFVR (168966).
Second Pilot - F/Lt Henry Pershing Woodruff RCAF (J/9535).