ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 279522
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| Date: | Sunday 12 July 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 405 (Vancouver) Sqn RCAF |
| Registration: | W1097 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | RAF Aberporth, Blaenannerch, West Wales -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Topcliffe, Yorkshire |
| RAF Aberporth, Cardiganshire |
Halifax W1097 her experienced crew were on a practice night navigation/bombing exercise, just to hone their skills. The route out went without any drama, however when they were over the Irish sea, they experienced a problem with the fuel gauges and had to make an emergency forced landing onto one of the many airfields of the Western Approaches of West Wales, the emergency dictated that any of the bigger airfields that lay further southwest may be unreachable, so Sgt Slezak decided to go for RAF Aberporth. Sadly, this station was too small for the big heavy Halifax, bur Slezak had no choice. He brought W1097 in as slow as he dared but she still over ran the short runway. As soon as she hit the grass at the end of the runway her undercarriage gave in and collapsed, she slide at a rapid speed and ended up in the hedge at the end of the field where the nose section was completely smashed. Sgt Slezak switched off and everyone got out without any problems, the rear gunner had hit his head during the crash, as for W1097, she was a complete write off!
Crew:
F/Sgt Henry Maximilian Slezak R/80198 RCAF. Pilot. Safe.
P/O Norman Leslie Lang 22yo J/15432 RCAF. Engr. Safe.
F/Sgt Arthur Douglas Swansburg R/76207 RCAF. 2nd Pilot. Killed.
Sgt John Walter Macaulay R/73010 RCAF. W/Op-A/Gnr. Safe.
Sgt Joseph Daniel Creede R/83409 RCAF. A/Gnr. Safe
Sgt Kenneth Story Watson 574343 RAF. A/Gnr. Safe.
F/Sgt Thomas Austin Withers R/79045. A/Gnr. Injured.
F/Sgt Gerald Robert Titus R/86352 RCAF. Obs/Bdr. Safe.
The crew were involved in the massed bomber raid on Hamburg on the 26th of July 1942, Sgt Withers stood in for the regular rear gunner on Halifax W1230, the rest of the original crew of W1097 were flying Halifax W1186 carrying the replacement codes ‘LQ-P’ the same ones from W1097. They took off at 23:12 hours on the night of the 26th from RAF Pocklington. Suspected detonation of bomb load from electric charge caused the bomber to explode over marshy ground in the vicinity of stein on the S bank of the Elbe 10 km SE of Stade, the stand in P/O gunner was who had just come across from No10 squadron on the 25th, was P/O Douglas Alfred Street J/9585 RCAF. W/Op. Safe. 9. Street had a lucky escape in another Halifax W1155 crash on the 12th of June, he suffered cuts and bruises.
It was planned that Sgt Withers would return to his crew under F/Sgt Slezak for the night raid planned on the 27th.
Sources:
www.veterans.gc.ca
battleofbritainmonument.com
rafcommands.com
nationalarchives.gov
canadianfallen.ca
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Jun-2022 08:38 | Davies 62 | Added |
| 01-Dec-2023 10:46 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator] |
| 08-Apr-2024 20:23 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative, Operator] |
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