ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 191227
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| Date: | Saturday 5 September 1942 |
| Time: | dawn |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 455 Sqn RAAF |
| Registration: | AT109 |
| MSN: | UB-C |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor |
| Location: | Malvik Beach, Varenger Fjord, near Vardø, Finnmark -
 Norway
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Sumburgh, Shetland Islands |
| Vaenga/Severomorsk, Murmansk, Russia |
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AT109: Built by English Electric Co., Preston, and converted to Hampden T.B.I (Torpedo Bomber). Issued 09/05/1942 to 455 Squadron, RAAF, Coded UB-C.
Squadron Leader James Catanach and his crew took off in Handley Page Hampden serial number AT109 from RAF Sumburgh at 20:40 hours on the night of 4/5 September 1942 for Vaenja, Northern Russia as part of Operation "Orator", which was intended to provide air cover to Convoy PQ-18 between North Cape and Murmansk.
In the early hours of 05/09/1942 AT109 flying in the dawn light was damaged by flak from Uboot Jaeger 105 as they crossed the Arctic coast. They made a good forced landing in clear ground near the German fortress at Kiberg on Malvik Beach near Vardø, Finnmark, Norway. AT109 was taken by by barge to Kirkennes by the Germans. It was repaired and made at least one flight before being abandoned.
Squadron Leader James Catanach had joined 455 Squadron whilst in Bomber Command, during which he had been awarded the DFC, before the conversion of Hampdens to torpedo bombers when transferred to Coastal Command, and at 20 years old was one of the youngest pilots at the time to be a Squadron Leader outside of Fighter Command. He was later executed by the Gestapo after being picked up on the Danish border following the Great Escape.
[AT109 had experienced a great deal of flak of all calibre's as it crossed the Norwegian coast in atrocious weather conditions. The pilot struggled to hold the aircraft steady. In their course of stooging along the coast, AT109 had been fired on by all and sundry and the pilot thought or was convinced that fuel was being lost from holed fuel tanks. The pilot decided, rather than risk the engines cutting, he trimmed the aircraft right back for a slow flight across Varengern Fjord and then at the first opportunity was going to ditch in the waters. ] [Uncertain of the origin of this statement] [Over water (Varanger Fjord) in the early morning sun (at altitude) Catanach was unaware of U-Boot Jaeger 1105 under him until he was caught by a burst of 20mm automatic cannon fire hole-ing one of the fuel tanks and knocking out the port motor. In the welcoming daylight he could see clear ground in from the coast and turned for it making a good wheels-down landing - only to be arrested by German troops before they had a chance to destroy the rice-paper secret codes,
The somewhat sudden appearance of heather adjacent to a beach ahead of Jimmy offered at least the possibilities of a safe landing. Squadron Leader Catanach lowered the carriage down, AT109 touched down safely on the heather [adjoining the beach near Vardo] with an understandably rough and bumpy landing, at approximate coordinates 70.0911°N 29.0091°E. NOWHERE NEAR CORRECT
All five crew - Catanach, Anderson, Cameron, Hayes, and Davidson (Flight Mechanic) - attempted to set fire to the Hampden to destroy it, but a horde of soldiers appeared on the high ground above the beach whilst a patrol boat edged nearer and opened fire. The soldiers opened up with rifle fire too. The situation was hopeless and in a matter of minutes the five crew of Hampden AT109 had been taken prisoners.
The first night was spent in a camp containing hundreds of Russian slave labourers who existed on potato soup. Taken by lorry to Rovaniemi and then flown by Ju 52 to Helsinki, after spending one night in a cramped civilian jail the five were flown to Frankfurt and began their status as POW's at Dalag Luft.
AT109 was captured intact by German forces, but it is not known whether any use was made of this aircraft. All four crew survived, and were captured and taken as PoWs. Two died while in captivity.
Crew:
400364: Squadron Leader James Catanach DFC MID (Pilot) Died as POW on 29 March 1944.
400316: Flying Officer George Robert Anderson (Navigator/Bomb Aimer) survived crash, captured, taken as POW
404632: Flight Sgt C W Cameron (W/Op) survived crash, captured, taken as POW
404462: Sgt J R Hayes (W/Op/Air Gunner) survived crash, captured, taken as POW
5372: Flight Sgt John Donald Davidson RAAF (Flight Mechanic) Died as POW 17 March 1945.
Squadron Leader James Catanach, DFC escaped from Stalag Luft III as part of the “Great Escape” and was shot on 29 March 1944 following his recapture. He was one of "the fifty" escapees that were killed on the orders of the Gestapo. His remains were buried at Sagan but he now lies in part of the Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery. Flight Sgt John Davidson died on a forced march in the last weeks of Germany’s collapse.
Sources:
1. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/hampden.htm
2. http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/gallery/455-Hampden/Hampden_455_Sqn_Captured
3. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showpost.php?p=180976&postcount=5
4. http://kristenalexanderauthor.blogspot.com/2013/03/69th-anniversary-of-great-escape.html
5. http://finnmarkunderhakekorset.origo.no/-/bulletin/show/294093_den-tyske-landgangsprammen-ved-kiberg?ref=checkpoint (Norwegian text)
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Orator#Aircraft_losses
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangerfjord
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2194215/catanach,-james/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/231845/davidson,-john-donald/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Catanach
11. "Sink the Tirpitz" Pen & Sword 2024 ISBN 9781526784377
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Nov-2016 14:01 | gerard57 | Added |
| 04-Dec-2017 13:23 | Red Dragon | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Destination airport] |
| 19-Jul-2018 18:21 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Date] |
| 19-Jul-2018 18:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Registration, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Jul-2018 19:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Jul-2018 00:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator] |
| 11-Nov-2018 13:13 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 16-Oct-2019 09:34 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative] |
| 10-Sep-2023 08:55 | scoutair@gamil.com | Updated [[Narrative]] |
| 25-Mar-2024 10:25 | Raebel | Updated [Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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