Halifax near Cowesby Hall.

On the 29th of January 1944 the crew of this Halifax took off from Skipton on Swale at 00.19hrs. The aircraft was badly shot up over the target area, Berlin, by a Junkers Ju88 aircraft. This action damaged the Halifax's fuselage, port wing and starboard rudder which became unserviceable, and infact part of it was shot away. A fuel tank was also holed. The result of the damage was they were loosing fuel and had no rudder control. The gunners did not spot the enemy aircraft and as a result did not fire a shot. The pilot got the aircraft much of the way home, after after crossing the Yorkshire Coast the fuel was getting very low, he ordered the crew to bale out. The aircraft came down near Cowesby Hall, north of Thirsk. Sadly the rear gunner opened his parachute too early and it got caught up in the remaining part of the aircrafts tail, he went down with the Halifax and was killed. The pilot landed in the yard of a "manor house" close to where the aircraft came down; its exact location is not yet known. In all 677 aircraft had taken part in the raid in which much damage was reported in the city, broken cloud covered the target at the time of the raid.

Having been contacted by the pilot in late 2006 I received has account of what happened. In his own words; it reads ""We were approaching the target "Berlin" at approximately 22000' with a full bomb load as part of a 1000 bomber raid when without any warning tracers went by my port window and there was vibration on my left rudder. I immediately took evasive action, diving to port and returning to level, it was not a good idea to do too much maneuvering around with 999 other aircraft in the vicinity. Luckily we threw him off without sustaining any more damage, apparently it was a Junkers 88 who came up from below us and our gunners never saw him until he fired a burst. The gunners were not injured during the attack, as a matter of fact I had reamed them out after we headed for home because they had not spotted him or fired a shot. We continued on through the target and dropped our bombs then made a gradual 180 degree turn and headed north towards Denmark. We got reports from the crew to see if we could determine how badly we were damaged, some of the wing tanks had been holed on the port side and the left rudder was just about destroyed, then it was finally decided that we could possibly make the coast of Britain with the fuel we had left, the alternative was a POW camp in Germany or ditch in the North Sea. After flying over Denmark, we headed straight west for Britain. We gradually lost altitude as the engines failed one after the other. We eventually reached the coast with one engine still supplying enough power to keep almost level when I gave the order to abandon the aircraft. The wireless op handed me my chute and then he and engineer and the navigator and bomb aimer went out the front hatch. I was still in my seat when the aircraft dived straight for the ground, that must have been when the tail gunners chute hit the right rudder. I dived from the pilots seat directly through the front hatch without touching a thing then pulled my ripcord, I could hear the plane spiraling down and then crashing and then I hit the ground. It was just getting daylight when I first looked around to find I was in the front yard of a big manor house. The owner, I assumed, came out and I told him what had happened so he phoned Skipton and told them where we were. It was only about an hour before someone arrived to take me to base. My navigator says he landed near a farm house probably back towards the coast.""

The aircraft was built to contract ACFT/1688/C4/C by Handley Page Ltd at Radlett and delivered directly to 433 Sqdn in November 1943. It sustained Cat.E2/FB damage in the incident detailed above on 29th January 1944.

Pilot - F/Sgt Jack E Mitchell RCAF (J86237), aged 22, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Ok.

Flight Engineer - Sgt G Lumsden RAF, ok. From the Newcastle area.

Navigator - F/O John K (Jack) Shedden RCAF (J22076), aged 22, ok.

Bomb Aimer - F/O Rod D Wilson RCAF, ok.

Wireless Operator - WO2 Stewart McDougall RCAF, ok.

Mid Upper Gunner - Sgt J F McDonough RCAF, ok.

Rear Gunner - F/O Henry Cox RCAF, aged 26, of Comox, British Columbia, Canada. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery.

F/O Cox's gravestone at Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery. The crew's replacement gunner was Sgt Stan Bodaly RCAF.

Jack Mitchell enlisted in November 1941 and did his initial training in Canada before completing his training in England with his crew named above. The main part of the crew had done their OTU training at Gaydon, in Warwickshire on Wellingtons, here they completed their first operational flight; to Boulogne. From Gaydon they were posted to the Heavy Conversion Unit at Croft to pick up their other gunner and flight engineer and complete their training. They joined 433 Squadron in late 1944. He was Commissioned in 1944. P/O Mitchell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross whilst he was serving with 433 Squadron in 1944. The Award was effective from 15 September 1944 although the Medal was not presented until 18th June 1949. The citation gives more details of his actions in January 1944 and the incident detailed above...

""Pilot Officer Mitchell has completed many sorties over enemy territory including attacks against some of the most heavily defended areas in Germany. On one occasion when attacking Berlin his aircraft was attacked by a Junkers 88 and sustained much damage. One of the petrol tanks was pierced and much of the contents were lost. Nevertheless, Pilot Officer Mitchell pressed home his attack. En route for home one engine became useless. Pilot Officer Mitchell held resolutely to his course but, when nearing the English coast, the petrol supply became exhausted and he was compelled to give the order to leave the aircraft by parachute. In the face of great difficulty this officer displayed exceptional determination and devotion to duty.""

His recommendation for a medal was made on 19th July 1944 when he had flown 35 sorties (204 hours 45 minutes); a complete Tour, combined with the events of January 1944 seem more than enough to qualify for such an award. The recommendation for the Award reads....

""This officer has completed a record of 36 complete sorties over enemy territory which includes attacks on the most heavily defended areas in Germany such as four trips to Berlin, Leipzig, Essen and Stuttgart. On one occasion when detailed to attack Berlin, the aircraft in which Pilot Officer Mitchell was flying was attacked by a Ju.88 from below and dead astern. Severe damage was done to the fuselage, port wing and starboard rudder which became unserviceable. Also the starboard petrol tank was holed and a heavy loss of petrol was thereby suffered. Despite this, Pilot Officer Mitchell pressed home his attack with the utmost determination and bombed the target. On the return trip whilst ten miles off Flamboro the starboard inner engine cut and the petrol guages read zero. The crew were unable to get any response on "Darky" and finally, due to lack of petrol, Pilot Officer Mitchell gave the order to abandon aircraft. All members of the crew safely took to their parachutes with the exception of the rear gunner whose ‘chute fouled in the tailplane. This officer's dogged determination, skill and devotion to duty in my opinion fully merits the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross (Immediate).""

F/O John K Shedden also gained the Distinguished Flying Cross for this his actions on this flight, his award being effective as from 4th November 1944. The citation reads..

""This officer has completed many operational sorties over such heavily defended targets as Berlin, Magdeburg, Stuttgart and Essen. On one occasion, during an attack on Berlin, his aircraft was severely damaged by a Junkers 88. Despite this he successfully navigated the bomber to within a few mile of his base when owing to a petrol shortage he was forced to leave it by parachute. At all times Flying Officer Shedon has displayed outstanding skill and determination.""

The aircraft came down towards the right side of this photograph, the location of the site is out of view but it is though to be just behind the small hill at the far right right of the photograph. Due to its private nature of the land I have not located the site.

I would like to express my thanks to the pilot of this aircraft, Mr Jack Mitchell for contacting me in early 2007, without the information he has kindly allowed me to see this webpage would not be as detailed. During the correspondance we are encountering some email problems, I would like to thank him for being patient with me ! My theory is to keep this page updated so that he can see that the information he is kindly sending is very much appreciated and of great intrest to me.

As for the other crew members,not much is known, the navigator is thought to be the only other living member of the crew in Canada. Nothing more is known of the English flight engineer as yet. A G. Lumsden RAF (1369688) was made a PoW at some point in the War, he was held at Camp 4B. He may well be the same airman as involved in the incident above. Likewise a R.D.Wilson RCAF (R/193036) was made a PoW at some point during the War, he was held at Camp L1. Again, he may well be the same airman the names man above.

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