Wilcox, Walter Gordon (Warrant Officer 2nd Class)

Prisoner of War Early Release 1942-July-27

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Birth Date: unkown date

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Service

RCAF

Unit

102 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Tentate Et Perficite Attempt and achieve

Base

RAF Topcliffe

Rank

Warrant Officer 2nd Class

Position

Air Gunner (Rear)

Service Numbers

R/88530

Target
Google MapHamburg Germany
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

Unvetted Source 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

Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 by Oliver Clutton-Brock, page 434

102 (Ceylon) Squadron (Tentate et perficite) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax Mk II aircraft W 1142 DY-A on an operation against targets in Hamburg, Germany, was shot down by flak off the German coast

Pilot Officer William Henry Baber (RAFVR) and Sergeant Gwilyn Mieron Jones (RAFVR) were killed in action

Warrant Officer 1st Class John Brian Downes (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2nd Class Walter Gordon Wilcox (RCAF), Sergeant Joseph Stanley Higgin (RAFVR), Sergeant Joseph William Vine (RAFVR) and Sergeant John Malcolm Macdonald Wilson (RAFVR) were rescued clinging to part of a wing section and captured to become Prisoners of War

It's Suicide but it's Fun, The Story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron 1917-1956 by Chris Goss, page 176

Unvetted Source Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network

Crew or Other Personnel

Halifax W1142

Pilot Officer William Henry Baber RAFVR

Pilot Officer Baber, William Henry (RAFVR)
Observer
Killed in Action
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer 1st Class John Brian Downes RCAF

Warrant Officer 1st Class Downes, John Brian (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Prisoner of War
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer Joseph Stanley Higgin RAFVR

Warrant Officer Higgin, Joseph Stanley (RAFVR)
Flight Engineer
Prisoner of War
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Gwilyn Mieron Jones RAFVR

Sergeant Jones, Gwilyn Mieron (RAFVR)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Joseph William Vine RAFVR

Sergeant Vine, Joseph William (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Mid-Upper)
Prisoner of War
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Walter Gordon Wilcox RCAF

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Wilcox, Walter Gordon (RCAF)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Prisoner of War Early Release
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Wilson John Malcolm MacDonald Wilson John Malcolm MacDonald RAFVR

Sergeant Wilson John Malcolm MacDonald (RAFVR)
Pilot
Prisoner of War
1942-July-27
cemetery unknown

Mission

Halifax B.Mk.II W1142

Bombing Hamburg Germany 1942-July-26 to 1942-July-27

102 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Topcliffe

102 (Ceylon) Squadron (Tentate et perficite) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax Mk II aircraft W 1142 DY-A on an operation against targets in Hamburg, Germany, was shot down by flak off the German coast

Pilot Officer William Henry Baber (RAFVR) and Sergeant Gwilyn Mieron Jones (RAFVR) were killed in action

Warrant Officer 1st Class John Brian Downes (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2nd Class Walter Gordon Wilcox (RCAF), Sergeant Joseph Stanley Higgin (RAFVR), Sergeant Joseph William Vine (RAFVR) and Sergeant John Malcolm Macdonald Wilson (RAFVR) were rescued clinging to part of a wing section and captured to become Prisoners of War

It's Suicide but it's Fun, The Story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron 1917-1956 by Chris Goss, page 176

Unvetted Source Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network

Unit Desciption

102 (B) Sqn Tentate Et Perficite (Ceylon)

No. 102 Squadron RFC was formed in August 1917 and served on the Western Front in WWI as a night bomber unit equipped with FE2b aircraft. It continued in this night bomber role until the cessation of hostilities. The squadron was disbanded on July 3, 1919. It was re-formed on October 1, 1935 as a bomber unit, at Worthy Down, Hampshire, where it remained until it moved to Finningley, Yorkshire in September, 1936. Further moves were to Honington, Suffolk in July of 1937, and to Driffield, Yorkshire in July 1938. The squadron originally flew Handley Page Heyford aircrft, but re-equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys before the outbreak of WWII. While the squadron remained based at Driffield, detachments were sent to Villeneuve, France between October 1939 and February 1940. There were also detachments seconded to Coastal Command at Kinloss, Scotland in November and December 1939.

The squadron's first operation was on the second night of the war, when it dropped leaflets over the Ruhr in Germany. The first bombing attack was on the night of 12/13 December 1939, when a seaplane was attacked at its base at Sylt, Germany. When Italy entered the war on 10/11 June, 1940, the squadron flew from Jersey airport in the Channel Islands to attack Turin. Between August and September 1940 the squadron was based at Leeming, Yorkshire.

The squadron was seconded to Coastal Command from September to October 1940, flying from Prestwick, Scotland. It moved to Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in October and November of 1940, and then to Dalton, Yorkshire in November 1941. In June of 1942 the squadron moved to Topcliffe, Yorkshire and in August moved to Pocklington, from which it flew until the end of hostilities, as a member of No. 4 Group of Bomber Command. From December 1941 until the end of the war, the squadron flew Handley Page Halifax aircraft. Although most of their missions were bombing sorties, the squadron also transported 134,280 gallons of petrol to Belgium to help fuel the Second Army in September/October 1944.

One of the remarkable airmen who flew with the squadron was P/O Leonard Cheshire, later G/C and VC holder. His aircraft P5005 N-Nuts was very badly holed on an attack to an oil refinery at Wesseling, Germany on the night of 12/13 November 1940. The aircraft suffered a huge hole on the port fuselage, but Cheshire was able to stabilize it and brought the aircraft home, to be awarded an immediate DSO. Overall in the course of the war, the squadron dropped 14,118 tons of bombs and laid 1865 mines. Among the awards gained by squadron personnel were 5 DSOs, 115 DFCs, 2 Bars to DFC and 34 DFMs.

The squadron was transferred to Transport Command on May 7, 1945 and was disbanded on February 28, 1946.