Operation: Operation Sound 1, North Italy

Date: 24th June 1944 (Saturday)

Unit No: 148 (Special Duties) Squadron

Type: Halifax II

Serial: JP237

Code: FS:?

Base: RAF Brindisi, Italy

Location: Santa Maria del Taro / Borgo Val di Taro

Pilot: Flt Lt. Donald Ernest Hillman J17893 RCAF Age 26. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Arthur Pinder 1538939 RAFVR Age 41. KiA

Nav: WO2. Nicholas Holyk R160670 RCAF Age 35. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. James Ross Robertson R161315 RCAF Age 21. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Edward Geoffrey Chapman 1323119 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr: Sgt. Dixon Finlayson 1824006 RAFVR Age 35. KiA

Air Gnr: Sgt. John Michael Sumner 1801255 RAFVR Age 19. KiA

Under instruction: Pte. Drago Karol Bozeglav 1576 RYAF Age? KiA (1)

REASON FOR LOSS

The secret report on the fatal mission shows that the Halifax II aircraft JP237 took off at 20:11 hrs on "Operation Sound 1". Instead of a landing time, a note states:
"Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it is presumed lost."
"13 aircraft were scheduled for ops but 3 had to be cancelled owing to technical trouble. Of the remaining 10, 6 were successful and one (Fg Off. Hillman) is missing. His target was a new one in Northern Italy and nothing was heard from him after take off: Fg Off. Hillman was Acting Flight Commander of "B" Flight and making a very good job of it. His operational record was of a very high standard and the loss of such an excellent crew is a sad blow to the Squadron."

During this period 148 Squadron flew Halifax bombers but were not affiliated to Bomber Command. Their missions were of a secret nature - parachuting arms, ammunition and other supplies to resistance groups fighting behind the enemy lines. The locations for these drops were pre-arranged and normally marked by a pattern of lights hopefully visible to the crew.

As was the case for all aircraft during the war, navigation was by dead reckoning and visual recognition of land marks. Often, by the time they reached the target area, heavy cloud obscured their vision causing drop zones to be missed or a total cancellation of the mission. The resistance groups sometimes had Allied liaison officers with them and occasionally they would be parachuted in. Also, from the squadron operation log, it would appear that one of their tasks would be to drop hundreds of pounds of propaganda leaflets (‘Nickels’) onto various towns enroute back to their base at Brindisi.
It is believed that while JP237 was approaching the target it was hit by enemy fire and crashed in the mountains between Santa Maria del Taro and the Borgo Val di Taro area of northern Italy.

Above and below: Francesco Sabini and his archaeology group in Italy with recovered pieces from the aircraft.

(1) Pte. Drago Karol Bozeglav 1576, from the Royal Yugoslav Air Force was aboard under instruction and also perished. He was initially buried with the other crew at the Santa Maria Del Toro Civil Cemetery. No further information has been found.

Burial Details:

Flt Lt. Donald Ernest Hillman. Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Collective Grave III C 27-30. Grave Inscription: ‘DEARLY LOVED’. Born on the 6th May 1918 in Wartime, Saskatchewan. Son of Robert Boswell and Jane (née Robinson) Hillman of Elrose, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Hillman Bay, Saskatchewan is named after Flt Lt. Donald Ernest Hillman.

Sgt. Arthur Pinder Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Collective Grave III C 27-30. Born on the 9th April 1903 in Doncaster, Yorkshire. Son of Alfred and Rosa Pinder of Doncaster, Yorkshire. Husband to Frieda (née Slights) Pinder of Doncaster, Yorkshire, England

Plt Off. Nicholas Holyk. Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Collective Grave III C 27-30. Grave Inscription: ‘GAVE UP HIS LIFE FOR LIBERTY, EQUALITY OF PEOPLES, FREEDOM OF ALL RACES’. Born on the 19th January 1919 in Revelstoke, British Columbia. Son of William and Eva (née Oziro) Holyk of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, brother to Walter (See Ser 2 below). Husband to Sarah (née Balagn) Holyk of Mt. Cartier, British Columbia, Canada.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J92012 Plt Off. with effect 22nd June 1944.

Holyk Creek, British Columbia is named after Plt Off. Nicholas Holyk

Flt Sgt. James Ross Robertson. Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Grave III C.26. Grave Inscription: ‘YOUR KNIGHTLY VIRTUE PROVED YOUR MEMORY HALLOWED IN THE LAND YOU LOVED’. Born on the 15th November 1922 in Ebenezer, Ontario. Son of William James and Olive May (née Quigley) Robertson of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Edward Geoffrey Chapman. Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Grave III C.25. Grave Inscription: ‘IN LOVING MEMORY OF A DEAR SON. FOREVER IN OUR THOUGHTS . MUM AND ALL AT HOME’. Son of Walter Thomas Chapman and Daisy Ethel Chapman, of Staines, Middlesex, England.

Sgt. Dixon Finlayson. Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Collective Grave III C 27-30. Grave Inscription: ‘IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR HUSBAND AND OUR SON. EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS’. Son of Adam and Alice Finlayson, of Edinburgh, husband of Agnes Robb Finlayson, of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sgt. John Michael Sumner. Staglieno Cemetery Genoa, Italy. Collective Grave C III 27-30. Born in 4th Qtr of 1924 in Wandsworth, London. Son of William and Amy (née Parnell) Sumner of Wandsworth, London, England.

(2) Walter Holyk, (1921-2004), BASc (Geol Eng) 1949, died June 1, 2004 in Kelowna, BC. Walter was born March 21, 1921 in Mount Cartier, south of Revelstoke, BC. He served as navigator in the RCAF during World War II (1942-45). After graduating from UBC, he attended MIT, receiving the PhD in Geological Engineering in 1952. Walter joined Texas Gulf Sulfur as a geologist and set out to locate pyrite deposits from which sulphur could be produced in eastern Canada. As a result of his studies on massive sulphide sediments, Walter sought sulphide ores in close association with rhyolites and sediments under certain structural conditions. Half Mile Lake Mine, New Brunswick, Nanisivik zinc-lead mine, Baffin Island, and Kidd Creek deposit (zinc-copper-lead-silver) Ontario were deposits found as a result of his implementation of this hypothesis. Walter was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 1997, received CIM's Dufresne Award for Mineral Exploration in 1980, and the PDAC and no.039;s Distinguished Service Award in 1992. Upon retirement in 1976, Walter became an orchardist in East Kelowna (He likened this to a sentence to ten years hard labour). Walter leaves his wife Helen (B.Com, UBC, 1946), son Nicholas, and grandchildren Angela and James Bailey. Helen has since passed on as well to be with her husband.

Information supplied by the family of Flt Lt. Donald Hillman and John Holyk and compiled by Colin Bamford for Aircrew Remembered. Thanks also to Francesco Sabini and his archaeology group in Italy for photographs of recovered pieces (Mar 2011). New format applied by Kelvin Youngs (Web Master) (Jun 2015). Links to place name added by Colin Bamford (Oct 2019). Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered with new information (Apr 2024).

Other sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2025 Last Modified: 29 April 2024, 07:43