Wellington at East Moor.
On the 16th of July 1943 the crew of this Wellington took off from East Moor at 22.40hrs to bomb Essen. The aircraft
returned early with Gee and radio trouble but overshot the landing at 00.37 hrs and the undercarriage collapsed. Damage was caused to
the undercarriage, propellers and engines as well as some structural damage to underside of aircraft. Police reports quote that it
ended up opposite Low Carr Farm.
Cat. B/FB damage was recorded
and the aircraft went on to flying ops again.
The aircraft was built to contract B124362/40 by Vickers Armstrong's at Chester and delivered to MU storage in December 1942 and
issued to 429 Sqdn at East Moor in mid June 1943. It suffered flak damage sustaining Cat. A/FB damage on 29th June 1943 and was repaired on
site. The repairs being completed by 3rd July 1943. It then suffered this Cat. B/FB mishap on 26th July 1943 but this time was sent away and
repared in works. On completion of repair it was issued to 1485 TT Flt at Skellingthorpe in September 1943. It was later lost with Cat. E2/FA
recorded on 20th September 1943 when both engines cut on take off and it crashed 2.5 miles north-east of Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Pilot - Sgt David McMaster Smith DFM RCAF.
Nav - Sgt W Pass RAF. Posted in from 427 Sqdn on 6th May 1943, posted out to 24 OTU on 29th November 1943.
BA - F/Sgt D R Nelson RCAF, Posted in from 22 OTU on 27th December 1942. He became a POW on 26th November 1943.
W Op / AG - Sgt Abbott.
Rear Gunner - Sgt P H Davis.
""This airman was the pilot of an aircraft which attacked Gelsenkirchen one night in June 1943.
On the return flight the bomber was attacked by an enemy fighter and sustained damage to the fuselage,
the hydraulic system and the wireless equipment, while two of the crew were wounded. A fire broke out in
the bomb bay but Sergeant Smith violently dived his aircraft and the flames were extinguished by the force of
the wind. On reaching an airfield in this country he effected a successful crash landing. Sergeant Smith
displayed great skill and resource in harassing circumstances.""
F/Sgt Abbott and Sgt Nelson were both injured in the attack by the Me110, the aircraft was crash landed at
Hardwick on the 26th June 1943 at 04.50hrs.
Sgt Smith's DFM became effective as of 12th July 1943 and was gained serving with the same 429 Sqdn. It appeared in the London Gazette dated 27 July 1943 and AFRO 1724/43 dated 27 August 1943.
Born in Winnipeg in 1922, his home in was St.James, Manitoba but he enlisted in Winnipeg on 27th May 1941. He trained at No.2 ITS (graduated 25 August 1941), No.19 EFTS (graduated 24 October 1941) and No.13 SFTS (graduated 16 January 1942). His award was presented on the 8th May 1948.
The Citation reads..