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Nickerson, John Bayman (Flight Sergeant)

PoW Early Release 1941-August-17

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Service
RCAF
Unit
58 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Alis Nocturnis On the wings of the night
Base
RAF Linton-on-Ouse
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Observer
Service Numbers
R/65222
PoW: 39329

Whitley V Z6729

Bombing Cologne Germany 1941-August-16 to 1941-August-17

58 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Linton-on-Ouse

51 Squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Whitley V aircraft Z 6729 GE-T was shot down by night- fighter pilot Oberleutnant Willi Dimter 1/NJG1 during an operation against targets in Cologne, Germany. The bomber crashed near Diaconessen Hospital at Breda - Zundert, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands with the entire crew surviving to become Prisoners of War

Flight Sergeant John Bayman Nickerson (RCAF), Sergeant Sidney Frederick Davidson (RAFVR), Sergeant Bernard Agur Hammond (RAFVR), Sergeant Terrance Anthony Nichols (RAFVR) and Sergeant Ronald Denis Wagstaff (RAFVR) all survived to become Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 13 July 1941 - 29 May 1942 The early Years Part 2 by Theo Boiten, page 30

General Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

General Aviation Safety Network

General Results

The Winnipeg Tribune November 9, 1943

The Geneva Convention made provision for the repatriation of all Prisoners of War, even during hostilities. It was only possible for the British and Germans to reach agreement over the seriously ill and disabled. For the majority of the 40,000 British servicemen who were taken prisoner in 1939 and 1940, the war was to be a very long and dispiriting experience. Negotiations, conducted through the Red Cross, over the repatriation of seriously wounded men, had begun in late 1940. They did not progress very far because there were far fewer German men in this category than British. It was only after substantial numbers of Germans were taken prisoner in the Desert campaign of 1942 that the talks resumed. The actual exchange of prisoners did not take place until October 1943. Ullapool Museum, Ullapool, Scotland

General The Manchester Guardian, 1943-October-19 page 5

  1. Warrant Officer Edward Bradley Argue
  2. Warrant Officer Marie Joseph Alfred Jean Aumond
  3. Flight Lieutenant Donald Charles Dougall DFC
  4. Sergeant Howard Wallace Fullard
  5. Flight Lieutenant Ross Raymond Gillespie
  6. Flight Lieutenant William Minto MacKay
  7. Flight Lieutenant Donald Robert Morrison, DFC, DFM
  8. Flight Sergeant John Bayman Nickerson
  9. Warrant Officer James Alexander Smith
  10. Warrant Officer Jack Arthur Westwood
  11. Warrant Officer Walter Gordon Wilcox
Target
Google MapCologne Germany

Whitley Z6729

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

Source: Harold A Skaarup Web Page (RAF Photo)

The Armstrong Whitworth AW 38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engined, front line bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World War. Alongside the Vickers Wellington and the Handley Page Hampden, the Whitley was developed during the mid-1930s according to Air Ministry Specification B.3/34, which it was subsequently selected to meet. In 1937, the Whitley formally entered into RAF squadron service; it was the first of the three medium bombers to be introduced. Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Whitley participated in the first RAF bombing raid upon German territory and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive. In 1942 it was superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. Its front line service included maritime reconnaissance with Coastal Command and the second line roles of glider-tug, trainer and transport aircraft. The type was also procured by British Overseas Airways Corporation as a civilian freighter aircraft. The aircraft was named after Whitley, a suburb of Coventry, home of one of Armstrong Whitworth's plants.

John Lloyd, the Chief Designer of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, selected the Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IX radial engine to power the Whitley, which was capable of generating 795 hp (593 kW). One of the more innovative features of the Whitley's design was the adoption of a three-bladed two-position variable-pitch propeller built by de Havilland; the Whitley was the first aircraft to fly with such an arrangement. Lloyd was unfamiliar with the use of flaps on a large heavy monoplane, they were initially omitted from the design. To compensate, the mid-set wings were set at a high angle of incidence (8.5°) to confer good take-off and landing performance. Although flaps were included late in the design stage, the wing remained unaltered; as a result, the Whitley flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude when at cruising speed, resulting in considerable drag. The Whitley holds the distinction of having been the first RAF aircraft with a semi-monocoque fuselage, which was built using a slab-sided structure to ease production. This replaced the tubular construction method traditionally employed by Armstrong Whitworth, who instead constructed the airframe from light-alloy rolled sections, pressings and corrugated sheets.

The Whitley had a crew of five: a pilot, co-pilot/navigator, a bomb aimer, a wireless operator and a rear gunner. The pilot and second pilot/navigator sat side by side in the cockpit, with the wireless operator further back. The navigator, his seat mounted on rails and able to pivot, slid backwards and rotated to the left to use the chart table behind him after takeoff. The bomb aimer position was in the nose with a gun turret located directly above. The fuselage aft of the wireless operator was divided horizontally by the bomb bay; behind the bomb bay was the main entrance and aft of that the rear turret. The offensive armaments were stowed in two bomb bays housed within the fuselage, along with a further 14 smaller cells in the wing. Other sources state there were 16 "cells" total: two groups of 2 in the fuselage, and four groups of 3 in the wings, plus two smaller cells for parachute flares in the rear fuselage. Bomb racks capable of holding larger bombs were installed on the Whitley Mk III variant. Wikipedia

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

YouTube YouTube Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-11-01 19:56:19

Whitley V Z6729

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