Research List 7
626 Squadron RAF Wickenby 9-12-43 to 20-12-43
100 Squadron RAF Waltham 20-12-43
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Sgts Hicks, Hatchard, Carr, Glen, Francis and Hardy - On 24 th March 1944 this crew
flew with F/Lt A J H Wright on the operation to Berlin, with the exception of Sgt
J F Francis.
Their ranks at that date were -
F/Sgt S M Hicks
Sgt H Hatchard
F/Sgt T W Carr
Sgt F D Glen
F/Sgt G R Hardy
F/Sgt J Jacques -171471P/O John Arthur Jacques, commissioned w.e.f. 20-1-44.
P.o.w. 15-16th Feb 1944
Crew - It is not clear whether the crew accompanying F/Sgts Jacques and Ives on
December 13th 1943 were Sgts Hicks, Hatchard, Carr, Glen, Francis and Hardy and would
have become Jim Ives’ new crew, or, whether it was the crew with whom F/Sgt Jacques
flew - Sgts Phillips, Farran, Morton, Seddon, Holford and O’Donnell (shot down on
15-16th February).
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100 Squadron RAF Waltham 20-12-43
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S/Ldr Grant-Dalton OC ‘B’ Flight - 88036 Acting S/Ldr Hugh Harold Grant-Dalton
F/Lt Pirie - F/Lt George Pirie, 100 Squadron’s navigation leader.
W/Co J Dilworth OC 100 Sqn - 40044 W/Co John Frederick Dilworth.
The loss of 100 Squadron’s CO S/Ldr Holford on ‘Black Thursday’ took W/Co Dilworth
to 100 Squadron as CO.
W/Co Dilworth was killed on the operation against Schweinfurt on 24 th /25 th February
1944.
Sgt Denis Claridge Cornes – flight engineer.
W/O2 Iverson Frederick‘Bud’ Ruppel RCAF – navigator.
F/Sgt Robert George Fenton RNZAF – bomb-aimer.
Sgt Donald Percy Judge Savage – w.op/ag.
Sgt Harold Johnson RCAF – mid-upper gunner.
Sgt Derrick Sissons – rear gunner.
Their previous pilot – F/O Kenneth Parke Dunckley – South African in the RAF.
100 Squadron Pilots serving from 23rd December to end Jan 1944
S/Ldr Breakspear - S/Ldr Harold Breakspear had joined 100 Squadron in November 1943.
F/Lt Major - F/Lt Ken Major was, in January 1944, the longest serving Officer on
100 Squadron.
S/Ldr Major eventually became Chief Test Pilot at the Marine Aircraft Experimental
Establishment, Felixstowe,
flying Saunders Roe twin jet seaplane fighters.
He was killed on ‘Battle of Britain day’ 17 th September 1949 when his aircraft
crashed into the sea.
F/O Gillam - F/O Donald Francis Gillam had joined the Squadron in November and had
completed 23
operations when he was assigned to the Special Duties Flight.
F/O Richmond - F/O Jeffrey Foster Richmond.
F/O Sheriff - F/O Peter Sheriff.
P/O Henderson - P/O Gerald William Henderson RCAF aged 22 yrs from Victoria, British
Columbia, Canada, k.i.a. 2 nd January 1944.
W/O Heyes - later P/O Thomas Victor Heyes commissioned 1 st March 1944.
DFC gaz 18 th April 1944.
Sgt Wadge - 1318538 F/Sgt Francis Wadge DFM aged 22yrs, married, from Feltham, Middlesex,
k.i.a. 24 th February 1944.
Francis Wadge is believed to have flown his ‘second-dickie’ trip with W/O Tommy Heyes
on 23 rd December operation to Berlin.
F/Sgt Crabtree - 171003 P/O John Athalstan Crabtree, from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough,
Yorkshire, commissioned w.e.f. 27-1-44, k.i.a. 30 th January 1944.
F/Sgt Jameson - 860478 F/Sgt Derek Bellingham Jameson, from Datchet, Bucks., k.i.a.
24 th December 1943.
F/Sgt Chinery - 568065 F/Sgt Roy William Chinery, aged 23yrs, married, from Wentworth,
Yorkshire, k.i.a. 2 nd January 1944.
F/O Parker - 150097 F/O Richard Morgan Parker was from Old Brumby, Lincolnshire,
k.i.a. on the Berlin raid of 30 th /31 st January 1944.
F/Sgt Smith - F/Sgt Alastair Smith, shot down 25 th February 1944 and interned in
Switzerland.
P/O Tritton - P/O Franklin Hare Tritton, awarded DFC gazetted February 1944, promoted
to F/O in March.
F/O Sidebotham - 150181 F/O George Roy Sidebotham, posted ‘missing’ 19 th February
1944, shot down by a night-fighter near Stendal, all survived to become Ps.o.W.
W/O Neal - Patrick Richard Murray Neal awarded DFC gaz 4 th February 1944. W/O
Neal was commissioned P/O, gaz. 31 st March 1944.
W/O Tunstall - 171001 P/O Ernest Edmund Tunstall, commissioned w.e.f. 26-1-44, k.i.a.
15-2-44 .
Sgt Cook - Sgt (later P/O) Terry F Cook RNZAF DFC completed a full operational tour
and returned to New Zealand after the war.
Sgt Rouse - 174929 P/O John Wallis Rouse, from Ilford, Essex, commission w.e.f. mid-May
1944, k.i.a. 23 rd May 1944.
F/O Hamilton - (later F/Lt) Jack K Hamilton DFC, arrived with crew from 1656CU at
100 Squadron on New Years Eve and made his debut operation to Braunschweig on 14
th /15 th January 1944.
The navigator in F/O Hamilton’s crew was W/O (later P/O DFC) James Douglas Hudson
whose memoirs ‘There and Back Again, a Navigator’s Story’ catalogue his remarkable
experiences as a P.o.W. of the Vichy French in North Africa following a forced landing
en route to Malta in a 101 Squadron Blenheim.
Having been liberated and repatriated following the Allied victory in North Africa,
Douglas went on to fly a full operational tour during the ‘Battle of Berlin’ and
up to ‘D- Day’ with F/O Hamilton’s crew.
Sgt Evans - 409678 P/O Kenneth Winston Evans RAAF, from Ellwood, Victoria, Australia
k.i.a. 22 nd March 1944.
F/Sgt Mortimer - flew his ‘second-dickie’ trip with W/Cdr Dilworth on 28 th January
1944. Commissioned just prior to the Nuremberg raid at the end of March 1944.
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