ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 170580
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| Date: | Monday 5 March 1945 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax B Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 426 (Thunderbirds) Sqn RCAF |
| Registration: | NP799 |
| MSN: | OW-J |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Wippra, Sangerhausen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire |
Crashed during a bombing mission in Germany under unknown circumstances. Aircraft came down at Wippra, Sangerhausen. According to one 2014 Facebook posting on the incident:
"The last Flight of Halifax Bomber Mk.III NP799 of 426 (Squadron) Thunderbirds- engaged me all my life. Since I was a young boy and was helping my grandfather cutting wood in the near forest, I collected wreckage of this mystic aircraft.
Now, in 2014 , I finally discovered a lot 'bout the parts and details (special Thx to my mates Rene Siegert and Tobias Raband)...The story never left my mind and so I decided to publish this case on facebook.
(I'm still working at this page. Please contact my for any advice or further informations.
Best regards, Stefan Schäfer)
"In March 1945, a British Halifax bomber with serial number NP799 crashed on the way to Chemnitz in the southern Harz/Sangerhausen.
On 5 March 1945, there was a frenzy of activity on the airbase of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Linton-on-Ouse near York in England. The weather on this winterday was bad, dark clouds moved over the isle and the wind whistled around the barracks of the airfield - ideal launch conditions looked different. The tricky weather conditions despite, the bombers of the 426th Squadron of the No. 6 Bomber Command of the RAF made ready for launch. The 426 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), which cooperated with the RAF, wearing the impressive and aptly name "Thunderbird" and consisted of machines of the Halifax MkVII and Lancaster bombers. In the Halifax MkVII every single radial engine (Bristol Hercules) brought it to a whopping 1.615 hp. The plane with a wingspan of 31.80 metres was camouflaged from air perspective (in ocher and olive green), the underside of the fuselage and support surfaces completely was kept in black.
The insert had command for the crew of Halifax NP799 in the way of "Operation Thunderclap," to attack the German industrial city of Chemnitz . The No. 6 Bomber Command should support the Red Army, which was advancing from the east to the German Empire, through targeted bombing pave the way for the capture of the city. The planes of the squadron had been involved up to various battles before, including Normandy, theArdennes, Berlin and Dresden. But that cold March-Evening should be for somecrew members, the last one.
In Linton-on-Ouse on that 5 March 1945 the crew of the four-engined HP Halifax NP799 was ready for their use. The young pilot John Kirkpatrick from Red Deer, Alberta was in good spirits, his navigator Flying Officer Robert Fennel and the radio operator Jack Larson from Montreal, as always, it relied on its cool captain. For the targeted release of the eight 500-pound bombs Bomb Aimer Bud Stillinger was responsible and to the Browning machine guns, the two shooters Harry Denison care in the tail turret and his comrade Roald Gunderson in the fuselage of the bomber. All six were Canadians and the Flight Engineer Ian Giles formed as a Brit (Scot), was the only exception on board. The men had an average age of 20 years.
The crew of Halifax NP799 learned of the complications over the radio and rolled on time at 16.45 clockon the runway. Directly in front of them a machine had crashed, but John Kirkpatrick was unimpressed and said via radio: "Ready to take off!". The sun had not yet completely disappeared and so the NP799 shimmered after their successful launch still a little in the evening sky, before classifying themselves in the long bomber stream. About the North Sea, the clouds cleared and the evening was starry. But the real challenge just lay before them: Enemy anti-aircraft guns, correct navigation and the so-called nightfighters. Although the German Luftwaffe in 1945 almost lay on the ground, in the darkness specialized Nachjagdgeschwader (NJG) rose, which consisted mainly of machinery types such as the Junkers Ju 88 or Messerschmitt Me 262 and made specifically hunt for bombers of the RAF.
At a speed of about 400 km/h aboard the NP799 so far everything goes to plan. Theoretically, the plane (codenamed OW-J) had a total reach of 2.000 km, but this should not come on that cold evening. Center across the Deutschen Reich a sudden explosion shook the NP799 and Sergeant Denison winced as the plexiglassof his gun turret and broke him a deep cut inflicted by the ear to the chin -he was not able to take his parachute. From there, he could not remember anything more - Blackout…"
Six crew members died:
F/Lt John Gillespie Kirkpatrick (pilot; J/11038) RCAF
Sgt. Ian Giles (the flight engineer; 3020559) RAF
F/O Robert Edward (Bob) Fennell (navigator; J/40052) RCAF
F/O Roy Edward (Bud) Stillinger (bomb-aimer; J/38395) RCAF
P/O John Alexander (Jack) Larson (wireless operator; J/95382) RCAF
P/O Roald Benjamin Gunderson, (tailgunner, J/95306) RCAF
Harry Denison - sole survivor, landed in a pine forest west of Chemnitz.
Five crew members are buried in the 1939-1945 Cemetery, Berlin, Germany. Sgt. Ian Giles is unaccounted for - body not found/not recovered, commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial
R.I.P.
Sources:
1. http://www.network54.com/Forum/261665/thread/1254949799/last-1264350543/New+Book+Release-+'Amazing+Airmen'
2. https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/04/07/the_man_who_fell_to_earth_ndash_and_lived.html
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2201824/JOHN%20GILLESPIE%20KIRKPATRICK/
4. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/210358/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2079442/ROBERT%20EDWARD%20FENNELL/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2761116/ROY%20EDWARD%20STILLINGER/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2201853/JOHN%20ALEXANDER%20HENRY%20LARSON/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2201381/ROALD%20BENJAMIN%20GUNDERSON/
9. Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1843/5
10. Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1843/6
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 1 November 1944 | NP771 | 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn RCAF | 5 | south of Tienray, Limburg |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Oct-2014 08:44 | gerard57 | Added |
| 15-Jun-2021 22:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Jun-2021 23:22 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Jun-2021 15:23 | Xindel | Updated [Cn, Operator, Narrative, Operator] |
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