Operation: Wilhelmshaven
Date: 16/17th January 1941 (Thursday/Friday)
Unit: No. 10 Squadron
Type: Whitley V
Serial: T4220
Code: ZA-S
Base: RAF Leeming, Yorkshire
Location: Lost without trace
Pilot: F/O. Henry Beaucourt Skyrme 41213 RAF Age 23. Missing - believed killed
Obs: Sgt. John Eustace Rowlett 741334 RAFVR Age 27. Missing - believed killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. George Charles Sandland 581191 RAF Age ? Missing - believed killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Eric Downing Polkinghorne 632893 RAF Age 32. Missing - believed killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Leonard Peter Brookman 974126 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed
We would appreciate any further details on this crew, in particular Sgt. Eric Downing Polkinghorne where another relative is keen to make contact.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Taking off from RAF Leeming in Yorkshire at 18:32 hrs.
Very few details are available as Whitley T4220 was last heard of through a wireless transmission at 21:15 hrs when all seemed to be fine. It is thought probable that they were brought down by flak and crashed into the North Sea.
F/O. Henry Beaucourt Skyrme. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 30. Born on the 8th October 1917 in Bexhill-on-Sea, the son of Major and Mrs.Theophilus Garfield Skyrme and husband of Georgina Alexandra Skyrme (née Bellanti), of Glenageary, Co. Dublin, Republic of Ireland. His middle name may refer to Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre on the Somme, where his father was wounded during the First World War, subsequently losing his leg.
Sgt. John Eustace Rowlett. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 51. Son of Eustace and Ethel Rowlett of Ombersley, Worcestershire, England.
Sgt. George Charles Sandland. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 51. Son of F. Sandland, and of Annie Sandland, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England.
Sgt. Eric Downing Polkinghorne. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 50. Son of Edwin and Elizabeth Merrifield Polkinghorne and husband of Gwendoline Mary Polkinghorne, of Hornchurch, Essex, England.
Sgt. Leonard Peter Brookman. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 40. Son of George and Alice Brookman, of Liverpool, England.
Researched for Simon Bray, relative of Sgt. Eric Downing Polkinghorne. For further details our thanks to the sources shown below.
