Operation: Bombing of the Leiden road bridge, Netherlands

Date: 20th January 1945 (Saturday)

Unit No: 257 (Burma) Squadron, 146 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force

Type: Typhoon IB

Serial: PD598

Code: FM:T

Base: ALG B.70 Antwerp/Deurne, Belgium

Location: Near Dubbeldam, Dordrecht, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Pilot: Plt Off. William Bert ‘Bill’ Whitmore J91029 RCAF Age 25. PoW/Escaper

Above: Pilots of 257 (Burma) Sqn - Date unknown. Plt Off. William Bert ‘Bill’ Whitmore sitting of the starboard wing 2nd from the left (Courtesy of Gail Burkholder)

REASON FOR LOSS

Two flights of four aircraft led by Sqn Ldr. A.G. Todd DFC, took off at 09:50 hrs from the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B.70 to bomb a road bridge at Leiden, Netherlands. The deteriorating weather prevented them finding the target and Sqn Ldr. Todd ordered a return to base which required a turn through 10/10 cloud in snow and severe icing conditions.

Sqn Ldr. Arthur George Todd DFC, 119873 RAFVR was award his DFC whilst with 164 Sqn on the 29th August 1944. Note: his Biography can be found in the publication “Those Other Eagles” pp 597-598 by Christopher F. Shores.

Plt Off. Whitmore was one of three from the formation that failed to return to base. The other two were:

Flt Lt. Htin Yain Lao 123633, RAFVR, KiA flying Typhoon IB RB319 FM:V. He was laid to rest at the Dordrecht General Cemetery Row A, Grave 15. Htin Yain Lao was the second of four pilots from Burma to be KiA;

WO. Kenneth Edwin Button 1139408, RAFVR, KiA flying Typhoon IB MN696 FM:R. He was laid to rest at the Dordrecht General Cemetery Row A, Grave 6. As a Flt Sgt. on the squadron he survived a landing accident in Typhoon IB JR330 FM:K at ALG B.15 which destroyed the aircraft.

The engine of Plt Off. Whitmore’s Typhoon seized and he crash landed behind enemy lines near the former village of Dubbeldam to the east of Dordrecht and was captured. It was his 107th sortie with 257 Sqn. It is surmised that the loss of all three was due to the severe icing conditions.

After the war he recalled his experiences:

“I crash landed on a small farm outside Rotterdam. Not sure what happened, but the engine cut out. Maybe an engine failure or it iced up. We were flying in cloud. I had some injuries in the crash, my back hurt, cuts and bruises and I was a bit dazed.

I walked to a barn, stayed there for a while to get my bearings, then knocked on the door of the farm house. A Dutch family lived there, a young couple and their two children, a girl and a boy. They gave me some food and while I was eating, I noticed the boy had slipped out of the house. A short time later, two German soldiers with machine guns appeared at the door and rousted me out. I knew the whole family would’ve been shot if they tried to hide me, so it was the right thing for the farmer to do.

I was interrogated for three days in Dubbeldam. There were other PoWs there, but they were kept apart and we couldn’t communicate with one another. The Germans took my flying boots. I knew this would be a problem, as it was winter and I knew I would be doing a lot of marching.

I was marched and trucked to Wetzlar (Germany), which was a huge receiving depot for PoWs. I stayed there for about three days and received some medical attention, food, clothes, etc.

For three days we were marched and travelled in cattle cars to Frankfurt. I would march during the day and stand in cattle cars at night. I became friends with an American called Pete Jacobson. From Frankfurt, I was marched 8 or 10 miles to a Dulag Luft (transient camp). During the march, Pete and I escaped, but were recaptured within a few days, and returned to the line. At the Dulag Luft, I was interrogated again for 8 to 9 days.

Note: The details for Pete Jacobson are being researched.

I was then put in a cattle car for 3 days and arrived in Nuremberg, where I was marched for 3 or 4 hours to Stalag Luft III. It was a huge camp with thousands of PoWs. I stayed here for two and a half months. Conditions were poor and many prisoners were very sick and many died. It was the hardest time I had as a PoW.

I was then marched to Schwabach, and loaded into box cars to Munich. During the march, we were strafed by an American plane. Many men were injured, and some killed and it took days to restore some order. Pete and I decided then, that we would try and escape, as we were certain we wouldn’t survive much longer as PoWs. When the line started marching again, we ducked out and hid along the trees and ditches. We ran into and American and French Army. Eventually I was sent to Paris, then on to England. I stayed in England for a short time, then took the boat back to Canada”.

Flt Lt. Whitmore arrived back in Canada in mid July 1945 and was finally released from the RCAF on the 20th February 1946.

From Watrous, Saskatchewan, Bill Whitmore originally enlisted in the RCAF in January 1941 as an aircraft engine mechanic working on the Lockheed Hudson with 11 and 145 RCAF (BR) squadrons in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

He remustered to pilot in November 1942 receiving his wings at No. 13 SFTS in St. Hubert, Quebec in August 1943 and was posted that same day to 118 (F) Sqn flying the Curtiss Kittyhawk in British Columbia. 118 (F) Sqn arrived in the UK in November 1943 and was renumbered 438 (F) Sqn.

Above: Sgt. Whitmore whilst on 438 (F) Sqn, RCAF in 1943 (Courtesy of Gail Burkholder)

Above: Sgt. Whitmore in Ayr, Scotland in January 1944 propping up a Hurricane (Courtesy of Gail Burkholder)

Sgt. Whitmore flew Hurricanes (not operationally) with 438 (F) Sqn until posted to 183 Sqn on the Typhoon in March 1944. He finally joined 257 (Burma) Squadron in May 1944 and regularly flew on operations until his mishap in January 1945.

Above: William and Claire Whitmore at a PoW reunion in the UK during the 1980s (Courtesy of Gail Burkholder)

William Bert Whitmore passed away on the 31st January 2005 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Burial details:

None. Pilot survived

Researched by Francois Dutil and Gail (née Whitmore) Burkholder (daughter of Bill Whitmore). Thanks to Gail Burkholder for the photographs (Jan 2024).

Other sources as quoted below:

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