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I would like to put part of my Father’s story and that of his crew on record. Typical of that generation they will not be too happy with me for ‘shooting a line’!

So, Harold John Whittingham was working on his Father’s farm at the outbreak of War and so in a reserved occupation. Already fascinated by aircraft and flying he was determined to join the RAF and do his bit. Accordingly he persuaded a local haulier to give him a job as a delivery driver so that after a period of time he could then join up. I cannot recall the exact location but while making a delivery somewhere on the south coast he got caught up in an air-raid. He recalled” …hearing a pinging noise around the cabin but didn’t know what it was”. In fact his vehicle sustained slight damage from shrapnel; unbelievably his main concern was that his Boss might sack him because of the damage!

Father succeeded in joining the RAF for pilot training as he had planned. His operational career began in late 1942 flying Lockheed Ventura II aircraft with 21 Sqd then Short Sterling III with 196 Sqd and onto Avro Lancaster I/III with 15 Sqd. When hostilities in Europe finished he flew Avro York C1 transports with 246 and 511 Squadrons.

The story I have chosen to tell centres around the night of January 1st 1945 which saw 15 Squadron involved in a raid on the Vohwinkel marshalling yards.

My Father’s aircraft (D — Dog /ME850) bombed the target using G.H. On the way home the aircraft was hit by American AA South-West of Liege. Damage was severe, the spinners on both starboard engines were hit and had to be feathered. The petrol system was damaged, the petrol controls being jammed. Only 160 gallons of fuel was available from the No1 tank and this was leaking, a further 800 gallons were on board but the engineer could not switch to the remaining tanks. Additional damage comprised flak holes in the tail plane spar, gash over main door, holes in front of Mid-upper, Cockpit, Starboard wing, Pilot’s straps shot away and port inner engine hit. The instrument vacuum and artificial horizon were unserviceable as were the hydraulics. The bomb aimer had a slight wound to the neck.

Course was set for Juvincourt about 90 miles distant. On arrival at Juvincourt he was told that another aircraft was in the circuit also on two engines. On being told “prepare to land” he lowered the undercarriage using the emergency equipment and approached the runway but saw the other aircraft was not clear and had to overshoot and turn to port. The Lancaster was losing height and the port inner was losing power so he had to land down wind. The aircraft swerved to port on landing as one of the tyres had burst and finished up 90degrees to the runway with one wheel down (although the indicators were showing both legs down and locked).

The engineer sat with his back against the back of Father’s seat, hands over head holding his collar to give him more control if things went badly wrong. The mid-upper gunner left the comparative safety of being ‘parked’ behind the Bulk Head to climb back into his turret to see if the damaged Halifax from half way down the runway. He reported that the Halifax was still being towed towards the end of the runway and roughly the distance from it, allowing Father to make the decision to land.

The crew were Flight Sergeants Syd Merrifield, ‘Jock’ Graham, Grahame Dodd, Sergeants ‘Jimmy’ Hasler and Aubrey McNish. Sergeant Joe Warnock was the usual rear gunner but was on compassionate leave that night. The name of the stand-in gunner is not known.

The crew kept in touch every year after the War and although my Father died in 1997, we are still in touch with the surviving crew members; Syd, Grahame and Joe.

A twist in the tale came in approximately 1995 when a short film clip in colour showing the crashed D — Dog came from America! The aircraft was mistaken by another crew for their D — Dog lost some weeks later, this crew thought they had found the evidence that their damaged aircraft had landed itself at Juvincourt. But after much research it was amicably agreed that the footage showed D- Dog ME850.

After all these years some questions remain unanswered:

1) What Squadron was the damaged Halifax from and are any of its crew members still living? We know the aircraft would be from 4 Group Bomber Command.
2) Which American AA battery shot the Lancaster down? We suspect the 184th AAA Gun Battalion US Army but can anyone confirm or deny this.
3) We understand the 368th Fighter Group 9th Air Force was based at Juvincourt between 27 December and 5 January 1945. Do any veterans recall the events of that night?

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