A Halifax Mk2
On the 23rd of May 1944 this Halifax took off from Wombleton at 11.10 hrs for a practice
bombing excerise and also to carry out air-to-air firing. At 12.35 hrs the aircraft was flying
just off the Yorkshire Coast when an engine problem developed which caused the port outer engine
to catch fire. The pilot ditched the aircraft 500 yards off Saltwick Nab and they escaped and
were rescued by a local fishing boat, the "Silver Line", whos crew that day were Mr C Eglon
(Skipper), Mr W T Winspear, Mr C Eglon Jnr and Mr James Pearson who were crab fishing when they saw the aircraft hit the water. The airmen originally headed for the shore in their dingy after escaping the aircraft, as the sea was rough the fishing boat crew managed to attract the attention of the airmen and direct them away from the rocky shore and certain death if they had tried to go ashore where they planned. The fishing boat picked up the airmen and the dingy and took them into Whitby where a crowd had gathered. The aircraft remained afloat for the 30 minutes before
sinking. All seven on board were ok. In later years it was planned to raise the aircraft from
the sea bed, the families of the crew were contacted and were to be invited over to witness it
happening, however I am told that the invite never came so I do not know the fate of the
aircraft now. I would assume that it still isnt on the sea bed in one peice as the historic
value of it now would be priceless, being one of the only "complete" Halifax's anywhere.
Pilot - F/O Gordon L Heron RCAF, ok.
W Opp / Air Gunner - F Sgt Jim Beetham RCAF, of London, Ontario, Canada, ok.
Rear Gunner - F/S Archibald, nicknamed "Archie".
F/O Balmer.
F/O Christie.
F/S Fox.
Sgt Hynes.
F/S Neill.
Five were Canadian, one American and one Brit were on the aircraft. The Flight Engineer I suspect to be the Brit however I do not know which he is yet.
I have not yet visited this site!
""Dad never did say (at least to my knowledge) why they had to ditch in
the North Sea. But he always prefaced his story with the fact that
during drill's he could never reach the top hatch and had to be
boosted to get out. This time when the actually ditched he was one of
the first two men out and they were pulling on the life raft to help it out
of the wing compartment (i.e. they were out before it had fully
inflated!) AND he still had his parachute on - which he says is
impossible to do.
Once they were in the raft they started paddling as fast as they could,
as they had been told to get away from the craft quickly otherwise
when it sank, it could take them down with it. So they paddled, and
paddled and didn't seem to get any further from it, so they paddled
harder and harder, still to no avail... Then someone spotted Archie still
holding onto the tail of the craft!
Once that was fixed they managed to start paddling away from the
craft, whereupon a fishing trawler spotted them and from a distance
hollered "Ahoy, you got any bombs left on board?!"... Archie... of
course... said "Yeah, a couple of 1000lb'ers" ... which of course...
caused the trawler to stop and move back about 500 yards and
informed them to "paddle over here!"
We were raised with this story, and a few others, Having crashed
once in all three environments he had a few stories to tell, as well as
other anecdotes.""
""Flight Lieutenant Heron has completed numerous successful sorties against the German and occupied targets. Despite stiffest opposition from combined enemy defences, this officer has invariably pressed home his attacks with coolness and determination. His enthusiasm for operational duties and his constant request to be on any and all sorties are highly commendable.""
Not only gaining the DFC, F/L HERON was awarded the Chevalier, Legion of Honour (France) Award effective 12 March 1948. Along with the Croix de Guerre whilst with 420 Squadron awarded 19 October 1945. The recommendation read as follows:
""This officer was captain of an aircraft detailed to attack enemy troop concentrations in the Caen area on the morning of July 17th. Just after their bombs were released, their aircraft collided with another bomber causing extensive damage to their own aircraft and making it extremely difficult to control. A few minutes later, while still over the target area, Flight Lieutenant Heron was engaged by very accurate heavy flak and suffered further damage to the fuselage and mid-upper turret. Realizing the consequences of abandoning the aircraft in that area and subsequent danger of crashing among our own troops, this officer displayed outstanding coolness and fortitude in struggling back to England with his damaged aircraft. Flight Lieutenant Heron has taken part in many raids on military targets in occupied France, and his care and precision in bombing, together with his inspiring gallantry, have greatly contributed to the liberation of our French allies.""
Public Records Office Air 2/9645 has recommended citation edited from the above, as follows:
""This officer was captain of an aircraft engaged in attacking enemy troops concentrations on the morning of July 17th. Just after the bombs were released their aircraft collided with another causing extensive damage to their aircraft. Soon after this incident they were engaged by very accurate heavy anti-aircraft fire and suffered further damage. With outstanding coolness and fortitude this officer flew his damaged aircraft back to base in England. He has displayed a very high degree of gallantry and leadership.""
The source for this info has a footnote of ""This award was announced again as being a Croix de Guerre with Palm (France), effective 12 March 1948 as per AFRO 153/48 of that date. Why repeat the announcement except to modify it ?""
My thanks to Mr R Beetham for contacting me regarding this and other incidents in his father's flying career, most of the information carried on this webpage is down to him. The passage quoted below is what he recalls of his father's story of the ditching incident, it is in his own words from the email I received, I have also received a press cutting about the incident from him which I quote from in the text above.
Later in the War, the promoted F/Lt Heron (J27687) gained the DFC with 420 Squadron, the Award effective 5 February 1945. It appeared in the London Gazette dated 16 February 1945 and AFRO 563/45 dated 29 March 1945. He was born in Victoria, Canada in 1914 and lived prewar in Vancouver. He enlisted in Vancouver on 30 April 1942 and commissioned in 1943.
No citation other than "completed...numerous operations against the enemy in the course of which [he has] invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty." has recommendation dated 9 November 1944 when he had flown 35 sorties (171 hours 10 minutes).
The citation reads..