Ives, J L
Evader 1941-08-19
Birth Date: unkown date
Born:
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Decorations: MiD
Service
RCAF
Unit
51 Sqn- Squadron
Base
Rank
Sergeant
Position
Sergeant
Service Numbers
R/62735
Target
Colgne Germany
Took off from Dishforth at 21:51 in Whitley Mark V (Sqn code: MH-S Bomber Command).
Crew abandoned near Maastricht. Aircraft crashed near Vliermaalroot, Belgium
After landing, he hid in a wood to avoid capture, and remained there for four days. He drank some water in a field, which gave him fever and was later found by a farmer and taken to a farmhouse. On 28 August 1941 he made his way, alone, to Brussels, where he stayed until 6 November 1941, when he left with a guide and two companions. They were escorted across the French Belgian Frontier and then made their way alone and left the Zone Interdite on 6 November 1941. Travelling via Paris and Bayonne, he reached the Spanish Frontier on 10 November 1941. He was repatriated from Gibraltar on 30 December 1941
Those who dared - A Comprehensive List of World War ll Allied Escapers ; Escape to Live by E A Howelladdendum 1: Please refer to page 352 and note the following - IVES, FS John Learned(R62735) - Mention in Despatches - No.51 Squadron (AFRO gives unit only as "Overseas") -Award effective 1 January 1943 as per London Gazette of that date and AFRO 232/43 dated 12February 1943. Enlisted in Sherbrooke, Quebec, 23 July 1940. Trained at No.2 ITS (graduated 1 October 1940), No.2 AOS (graduated 17 January 1941), No.2 BGS (graduated 3 March 1941) and No.1 ANS (graduated 5 April 1941). DHist file 181.009 D.1636 (RG.24 Vol.20604) hasapplication for Operational Wings dated 14 February 1944. Claimed to have flown 29 sorties(160 operational hours) with No.51 Squadron, June 1941 to March 1942. Shot down overenemy territory, September 1941 [sic; see below]; evaded and returned to UK after five months.Instructed at No.32 OTU in 1943. Later commissioned (J92827) and killed on operations 28April 1945 with No.271 Squadron (Dakota KG406); name on Runnymede Memorial. PublicRecords Office Air 2/5684 has recommendation and identifies unit. This airman was a memberof the crew of an aircraft which bombed Cologne on 18th August 1941. He was compelled tobale out near Maastricht. Immediately he landed he hid in a wood to avoid capture andremained there for four days. He drank some water in a field which gave him fever and he waslater found by a farmer and taken to the farmhouse. On 28th August he made his way, alone, toBrussels. Here he lived until 6th November when he left with a guide and two companions. Theywere escorted across the Franco-Belgian frontier and then made their way alone and left theZone Interdite on 6th November. Traveling via Paris and Bayonne they reached the Spanishfrontier on 10th November. He was repatriated from Gibraltar on 30th November 1941. Detailprovided by H. Halliday, Orleans, Ontario.
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
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
Wikipedia Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
YouTube Armstrong Whitworth Whitley
Harold A Skaarup Web Page