Coastal Command Ops in Whitleys - The Kiwi Connection

[Antonio]

To stop hijacking 75 Sqn Thread I thought I would start this one:

This is what I have:

Observer: Sgt D J McPherson NZ401213 + CWGC: 2460335 AWM: C29647
Whitley B.V  P5070 WL-F  612 Sqn.
1941: 30th April/1st May; Plt Off F L Arney RAF . Ops: Patrol. Flew into Scaraben mountain near Dunbeith, Caithness returning from an anit-submarine patrol in bad weather. R/T failure prevented receipt of the general recall.
Crew:
P: Plt Off F L Arney + CWGC: 2654503
2P: Sgt H M Williams + CWGC: 2450785
O: Sgt D J McPherson NZ401213 + CWGC: 2460335  AWM: C29647
W.Op/AG: Sgt R F S Smith + CWGC: 2430604
W.Op/AG: Sgt A Skelhorn + CWGC: 2698886
AG: Sgt J B McKenzie + CWGC: 2458335
References: 
RAF Coastal Command Losses  Vol 1 p.119
For Your Tomorrow  Vol 1  P 120


Pilot:  Sgt M T Denham NZ415064
C23173 +
Whitley GR.V  EB363  -Q  10 OTU
1942: 17th December; Sgt M T Denham. Anti-sub patrol, Atlantic. Shot down by a fighter off the north-west coast of France and crashed into the sea with no survivors.
Crew: 
P: Sgt M T Denham NZ415064 + GWGC: 2813915  AWM: C23173
Other crew TBA.
2 bodies retrieved
3 missing
Reference:  For Your Tomorrow Vol 1 p281

Pilot: Sgt K G Edglington
Whitley GR.VIII  Z9374 GE-E  58 Sqn - 1 Op
Whitley GR.VII  BD432  - 1 Op
Whitley GR.VII  BD472  - 1 Op
Whitley GR.VII BD693  GE-D  58 Sqn - 2 Ops

[Calum]

Great info, thanks

[Dave Homewood]

This is from a post that Errol Martyn made on the RAF Commands Forum in August 2009:

Mon 3 Aug 1942
Coastal Command
Squadron move to Wick, Caithness-shire (18 Group)
58 Squadron, RAF (St Eval, Cornwall - 19 Group)
Whitley VII Z9518 - while carrying out an overshoot at 1100 stalled and spun in from 300-400 feet at Wick. All six occupants on board died, the two pilots and an RCAF wireless operator being buried at Wick.
Captain: NZ41493 Flt Sgt Malcolm William RANDALL, RNZAF - Age 25. 468hrs (318 on Whitley) 23 ops.
2nd Pilot: NZ414605 Sgt Kenneth Gordon DUNN, RNZAF - Age 20.

[Antonio]

Aug 22, 2023 17:08:40 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

This is from a post that Errol Martyn made on the RAF Commands Forum in August 2009:

Mon 3 Aug 1942
Coastal Command
Squadron move to Wick, Caithness-shire (18 Group)
58 Squadron, RAF (St Eval, Cornwall - 19 Group)
Whitley VII Z9518 - while carrying out an overshoot at 1100 stalled and spun in from 300-400 feet at Wick. All six occupants on board died, the two pilots and an RCAF wireless operator being buried at Wick.
Captain: NZ41493 Flt Sgt Malcolm William RANDALL, RNZAF - Age 25. 468hrs (318 on Whitley) 23 ops.
2nd Pilot: NZ414605 Sgt Kenneth Gordon DUNN, RNZAF - Age 20.

For Your Tomorrow:  Vol 1, p231

[Dave Homewood]

From the New Zealand Herald, 6th of April 1943:

SAVED FROM SEA

AUCKLAND AIRMAN

COASTAL COMMAND MISHAPS

SYDNEY, April 2

A Coastal Command squadron lost three of its Whitley aircraft on successive days off the south-rust coast of England, but within four days all three crews had returned — rescued after intensive efforts by aircraft, air-sea rescue launches and naval vessels. This is reported by a London correspondent of the Sydney Sun.

News of the men's adventures has been disclosed by the Air Ministry. One of the crews drifted in their dinghy in wild weather for 84 hours, another for 75 hours, and the third for 34 hours. Two of the crews were picked up by a Polish destroyer, and the other crew by a British naval vessel.

When one of the Whitleys force-landed on the sea, the tail gunner, Sergeant Harry McEwan, a Canadian, broke three ribs, but he carried out his dinghy drill and help to clear it from the sinking aircraft.

"But for the gunner," said the pilot "we might never have been rescued. McEwan put up a great show. We got the dinghy out, filled it with our emergency rations, and then scrambled aboard. In spite of his three broken ribs, he held the dinghy against the aircraft. After that he was very quiet. He suffered a lot."

Another of the aircraft was piloted by Squadron-Leader G. H. Coates, of Auckland, New Zealand, who the previous day had taken part in the search for McEwan's Whitley.

Squadron-Leader Coates and his navigator, Sergeant E. J. Hone, of Australia, owe their lives, they consider, to the pluck of Sergeant Harry C. Sharp, their English wireless operator. The captain and the navigator, injured and dazed by the crash, struggled out, but found the dinghy had broken loose. Sharp dived from the dinghy into the sea and pulled them to safety. The dinghy, with the three men in it, was found by Squadron-Leader C. P. Towsey, also from Auckland, who immediately volunteered to look for his pal when he knew he was missing.

Squadron-Leader Towsey's search started with a guess.

"About there," suggested the squadron commander, sticking a pin in a map. Towsey went "just there" — and found the dinghy at once.

The other crew consisted of six sergeants—five Scotsmen and an Englishman. After they had climbed safely into the dinghy, a large wave threw them into the sea. They managed to hang on until rescued.