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Operation: Training
Date: 2nd January 1943 (Saturday)
Unit No: 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit
Type: Handley Page Halifax II
Serial: R9388
Code: Not issued
Base: RAF Riccall, North Yorkshire
Location: Cawood, North Yorkshire
Pilot: Sgt. Thomas Davis Watson 1340991 RAFVR Age 19. Killed
Flt Eng: Sgt. Walter Frank Hewett 1417486 RAFVR Age 26. Killed
Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Jack Holder Atkinson 1391253 RAFVR Age 33. Killed
Air Gnr: Sgt. Gordon Maxwell Lipsett R113870 RCAF Age 23. Injured (1)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Weather, according to Station Operational Record Book: Fine becoming cloudy with strong wintry showers. Visibility mainly good.
Extract from 1658 HCU Operations Record Book
The aircraft was undertaking a daytime training flight when fifteen minutes after taking off from RAF Riccall at 10:00 hrs, the aircraft was flying with one engine stopped and propeller feathered.
The aircraft was seen to suddenly climb steeply, stall and then dive into the ground at 10:20 just south of Cawood, near the Tile Bridge. The aircraft had previously suffered a collapsed undercarriage at RAF East Moor in August 1942 but had been repaired.
(1) Sgt. Gordon Maxwell Lipsett of Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada. Admitted to Selby Cottage Hospital and later transferred to RAF Hospital at Raucesby. He recovered and survived the war. Passed away on the 31st October 1974 age just 53. Buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Canada. His wife, Gladys Naomi Lipsett (née Windett) with whom he married in Bournemouth, England in 1943, passed away on the 20th September 2003 age 83, buried in the same cemetery.
Burial Details:
Sgt. Thomas Davis Watson. Lanark Cemetery, St Leonard's Section B, Grave 23. Son of Thomas and Margaret Main Watson of Lanark, Scotland.
Sgt. Walter Frank Hewett. Wellington Main Cemetery, Somerset, Div. 2, Grave 2156 B. Grave inscription: 'GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS'. Born on the 2nd Qtr 1916 in Wellington, Somerset. Son of Harold Frank and Florence May (née Welsh) Hewett. Husband to Florence May (née Jones) Hewett of Taunton, Somerset, England.
Sgt. Jack Holder Atkinson. Charlton Cemetery, Greenwich, Section Q, 1st Cons. Grave 2. Grave inscription (Family grave): 'AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM'. Born on the 30th October 1909 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Son of Jack and Emily Mary (née Holder) Atkinson. Husband of Thelma (née Shutt) Atkinson of Charlton, Greenwich, England.
Researched by Steve Hunnisett for Aircrew Remembered (Apr 2019). Thanks to Sue Gresham for the correction to the name of Sgt. Hewett (Oct 2025).
Other sources listed below:
RS 16.10.2025 - Correction to name of Sgt. Hewett and other updates
History Airborne Forces • Soviet Night Witches • Bomber Command Memories • Abbreviations • Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained • USA Flygirls • Axis Awards Descriptions • 'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
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RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis • SOE Heroine Nancy Wake • Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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