Operation: Saarbrücken railway yards

Date: 13th/14th January 1945

Unit Nos: 347 and 51 Squadron, 4 Group

Type: Halifax III

Serials: LL590 / MZ465

Codes: L8:L / MH:Y

Base: RAF Elvington / RAF Snaith

Location: Guerny, Northern France / RAF Ford Airfield, Sussex.

LL590:

Pilot: Adj. Edmond Jean Jouzier C3870 FFAF Age 33. Killed

Flt Eng: Adj. M. Humbert FFAF Age? Survived

Nav: Cne. Robert Paul Brachet 000718 FFAF Age 25. Killed

Bomb Aimer: Cne. C. Habez 000720 FFAF Age? Survived

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. R. Rigade FFAF Age? Survived

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Robert Memin C9257 FFAF Age? Survived (1)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Robert Paul Malterre C15486 FFAF Age 25. Killed

MZ465 MH-Y:

Pilot: Fg Off. 'Tug' Andrew Leighton Wilson 188411 RAFVR Age? Survived

Nav: Plt Off. Thomas Stanley Harris Whitehouse 189679 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Flt Eng: Sgt. Thomas Glyndwr Parsons 1897630 RAFVR Age 20. Survived

Bomb Aimer: Plt Off. David Hauber 189795 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. David Llewellyn Hewitt 1337447 RAFVR Age? Survived

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. 'Bob' G.R. Cole 1837009 RAFVR Age? Survived

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. 'Ron' R.A. Richardson 1669913 RAFVR Age? Survived

REASON FOR LOSS:

Reports differ on how these two aircraft who were returning back to England collided after a very accurate raid on the railway yards. Some say that LL590 was struck from behind by MZ465 and others say that LL590 flew across the front of MZ45. LL590 crew partially abandoned the aircraft before it crashed with 3 FFAF crew on board.

51 Squadron Halifax III MZ465 MH:Y (courtesy National Archives - via Michael Wright)

Seldom, if ever, during World War 2 did an RAF bomber land on an English airfield with more damage than 51 Squadron's Halifax III MZ465 "Y-Yorker" after its bombing attack on Saarbrücken on 13th/14th January 1945.

Halifax III MZ465 Crew Left to right: Sgt. Thomas Glyndor Parsons, Sgt. G.R. Cole or Sgt. R.A. Richardson, Fg Off. Leighton Wilson, Sgt. G.R. Cole or Sgt. R.A. Richardson and Sgt. David Llewellyn Hewitt (Can you assist in identification of the air gunners?) Courtesy Mrs Kathleen Parsons, husband is the nephew of Sgt. Thomas Glyndwr Parsons.

Nine feet of the nose was chopped completely off when the Halifax collided with another bomber, but it struggled back to RAF Ford Airfield, Sussex, England with only three of its flying instruments still working, to make a perfect landing. Some of the skin on the nose was bent round and gave some protection against the wind which whistled through the aircraft as it flew home at 7,000 feet.

The captain, Fg Off. Leighton Wilson, of Leicester with the rest of his crew were frozen as they struggled to keep the aircraft flying. The navigator and the bomb-aimer, neither of whom were then wearing parachutes, had fallen out of the aircraft at the time of the collision.

The four engines continued to function perfectly after the collision, although the propellers were dented, probably by bits of wreckage which shook loose and flew off the fuselage. The radio was still working five minutes after the collision, but had to be shut off because of shorting, blue sparks were playing around the aircraft and there was danger of fire.

In that short five minutes, before the radio was cut off, the operator was able to send out an SOS which was received in England. As a result "Y-Yorker" was given special landing aids when it landed on an emergency airfield. The intercom was unserviceable as well as the ASI, the DR compass, and many other vital instruments for flying and navigation.

"Y-Yorker" dived 1,500 feet after the collision, with the pilot struggling to gain control. He managed to do this and brought the aircraft up to 11,000 feet again. At this height it stalled, but he managed to keep it at 7,000 feet flying back to the base.

(1) Sgt. Robert Memin FFAF died in Tours, France June 2011 - Age 91.

Above L-R: P/O. Hauber, Sgt. Hewitt, P/O. Whitehouse, F/O. Wilson, Sgt. Parsons, Sgt. Eaton and Sgt. Fothergill (last two not on this flight)

Above: Left Sgt. Thomas Glyndwr Parsons at his station and right, shown on the right with his two brothers, one served in the Royal Navy the other with the army. (taken around 1992, Courtesy Mrs Kathleen Parsons )

Burial details:

Plt Off. Thomas Stanley Harris Whitehouse. Berthenonville Churchyard, Northern France. Grave Inscription: '"THINE FOR EVER, GOD OF LOVE"'. Born on the 15th September 1923 in North Bierley, Yorkshire West Riding. Son of Thomas and Edith (née Harris) Whitehouse. Husband to Annie Louisa (née Briar) Whitehouse of Oxenhope, Yorkshire, England.

The grave Plt Off. Whitehouse the only commonwealth grave in this Churchyard

Plt Off. David Hauber. St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, France. Block. S, Plot 1. Row G, Grave 18. Grave Inscription: 'DAVID, OUR BOY'. Son of Francis Albert and Dora Wilhelmina (née Thorn) Hauber of Axminster, Devon, England.

His sister Barbara Anne (née Hauber) Pirie, a Nursing Sister (QAIMNS/R), was killed on the 12th February 1944 in the Indian Ocean when the 'SS Khedive Ismail' which had sailed from Mombassa bound for Colombo was torpedoed by the Japanese. She was carrying 1,348 passengers including 996 members of the East African Artillery's 301st Field Regiment, 271 Royal Navy personnel, 19 WRNS, 53 nursing sisters and their matron, nine members of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and a war correspondent.

Further information supplied by Neil Smith and Peter Gulliver 51 Squadron History Association. Also to Michael Wright for the Halifax photographs. In remembrance of all the crew that were killed. Thanks to Kathleen Parsons for the correction to spelling of Sgt. Parsons' middle name. (Oct 2024). Service numbers for MZ465 crew added by Aircrew Remembered (Oct 2024)

Other Sources listed below:

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