Took off from Pocklington at 23:49 in Halifax Mk II (Sqn code DY-H Bomber Command) on an operation to Leipzig Germany.
Out-bound, the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Siedener Moor near Maasen, Niedersachsen Germany.
Killed includes Clark:
Pilot Officer Kenneth George Cummings RCAF J/19803 pilot KIA Hanover War Cemetery grave 12. C. 4.
Sergeant Norman Frank Lingley RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Sergeant Robert Patrick Rees RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Sergeant John Torrance RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Bombing Leipzig Germany 1944-February-20 to 1944-February-20
(B) Sqn (RAF) Pocklington
Battle of Berlin
Cummings with his complete original crew of McInerney, Lingley, Rees, Torrance, Giddings and Clarke took off ten minutes before midnight, climbing into a dark sky lit only by the blue exhaust flames of 102 Squadron Halifaxes. It was cloudy and snowing sporadically, but the visibility was generally good with light winds out of the north-northeast. There were 823 aircraft in the bomber stream this night.
Crews reported heavy engagement from night fighters along the route. It was a running fight to and from the target. Five 102 Squadron aircraft returned to base early with various technical problems that prevented them from reaching the target and releasing their bombs"” fuel flow, engine and radio problems and one because it was damaged by flak that had also their injured radio operator. Tail winds were stronger than had been predicted and many bombers arrived early and had to orbit the target awaiting the Pathfinders, further increasing the likelihood of being picked off, either by flak or fighters. In the end, 78 of the bombers were shot down this night, accounting for nearly 550 men. When the last Halifax chirped down on the Pocklington runway at 7:30 am that morning, two of the squadron aircraft were not among them"” "B" for Beer, Flying Officer W. Dean commanding and Ken Cummings' "H" for Harry (JN927).
Halifax JN972 was shot down and had crashed into a moor in the vicinity of Sulingen, Germany, about 40 kilometres south of Bremen. Of the crew of "H" for Harry, only two survived. What had happened wasn't known until Owen McInerney was interviewed following his release from a Prisoner of War camp in May of 1945. In addition to McInerney, the navigator, Les Giddings, the wireless operator survived both the crash and POW camp. The main escape hatch for the Halifax forward compartments was on the floor below the Navigator's seat, so it makes sense McInerney would be out quickly. The Wireless Operator was the next closest. The Pilot was above this level and needed to squeeze down a couple of steps to access the hatch. The Engineer's closest escape was aft through the crew door. Luckily for me as a researcher, McInerney was a Canadian so his post war account of the event was in Cummings' service file.
McInenery reported that the aircraft, hit by a night fighter or possibly flak, was spinning out of control and that Cummings had ordered the aircraft abandoned. He saw the Wireless Operator Lingley drop through the escape hatch, then followed him. Just before he went he looked up and saw that the Bomb Aimer Clarke was ready to follow him from his position in the nose and he saw Cummings coming down the steps as the aircraft began to spin more violently. And that was the last anyone ever saw of Ken Cummings, brother of the first Canadian to die in the war. As aircraft captain he was the last to attempt to get out of his dying aircraft.
McInerney's account was to the point and unadorned as it should be for a humble and straight forward airman making a report, but it belies the utter chaos of the moment. Unspoken are the terrors of the engines howling, the claustrophobic and nearly pitch-black compartment lit only by a small task light, the choking smell of cordite, aluminum, smoke and fear, the massive pull of centrifugal force as the giant Halifax spiralled in the black void, the vibration so extreme that focus is impossible, the flying grit and maps, the dry mouth, the fumbling for hatch and parachute harness, the shriek of the icy slipstream through the open hatch, the muffled shouts of men attempting to save their lives.
The next day, a captured McInerney was reunited with Giddings who told him that he saw both gunners Torrance and Reese ready to follow him out of the rear door when he leapt free. They were unable to get out of the spinning aircraft however and they died when the aircraft hit the ground. Though Lingley had made it out, he was also killed "” perhaps his parachute failed to open.
source: from THE FIRST by Dave O'Malley of Vinatge Wings
Killed:
Flight Sergeant George Charles Clark RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: 12. C. 5.
Pilot Officer Kenneth George Cummings RCAF J/19803 pilot KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: 12. C. 4.
Sergeant Norman Frank Lingley RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Sergeant Robert Patrick Rees RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Sergeant John Torrance RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
POWs:
Sergeant Leslie George Kingsley Giddings RAF POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus.
Flying Officer Owen Patrick Joseph McInerney RCAF J/22486 POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan and Belaria.
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.
Cummings with his complete original crew of McInerney, Lingley, Rees, Torrance, Giddings and Clarke took off ten minutes before midnight, climbing into a dark sky lit only by the blue exhaust flames of 102 Squadron Halifaxes. It was cloudy and snowing sporadically, but the visibility was generally good with light winds out of the north-northeast. There were 823 aircraft in the bomber stream this night.
Crews reported heavy engagement from night fighters along the route. It was a running fight to and from the target. Five 102 Squadron aircraft returned to base early with various technical problems that prevented them from reaching the target and releasing their bombs"” fuel flow, engine and radio problems and one because it was damaged by flak that had also their injured radio operator. Tail winds were stronger than had been predicted and many bombers arrived early and had to orbit the target awaiting the Pathfinders, further increasing the likelihood of being picked off, either by flak or fighters. In the end, 78 of the bombers were shot down this night, accounting for nearly 550 men. When the last Halifax chirped down on the Pocklington runway at 7:30 am that morning, two of the squadron aircraft were not among them"” "B" for Beer, Flying Officer W. Dean commanding and Ken Cummings' "H" for Harry (JN927).
Halifax JN972 was shot down and had crashed into a moor in the vicinity of Sulingen, Germany, about 40 kilometres south of Bremen. Of the crew of "H" for Harry, only two survived. What had happened wasn't known until Owen McInerney was interviewed following his release from a Prisoner of War camp in May of 1945. In addition to McInerney, the navigator, Les Giddings, the wireless operator survived both the crash and POW camp. The main escape hatch for the Halifax forward compartments was on the floor below the Navigator's seat, so it makes sense McInerney would be out quickly. The Wireless Operator was the next closest. The Pilot was above this level and needed to squeeze down a couple of steps to access the hatch. The Engineer's closest escape was aft through the crew door. Luckily for me as a researcher, McInerney was a Canadian so his post war account of the event was in Cummings' service file.
McInenery reported that the aircraft, hit by a night fighter or possibly flak, was spinning out of control and that Cummings had ordered the aircraft abandoned. He saw the Wireless Operator Lingley drop through the escape hatch, then followed him. Just before he went he looked up and saw that the Bomb Aimer Clarke was ready to follow him from his position in the nose and he saw Cummings coming down the steps as the aircraft began to spin more violently. And that was the last anyone ever saw of Ken Cummings, brother of the first Canadian to die in the war. As aircraft captain he was the last to attempt to get out of his dying aircraft.
McInerney's account was to the point and unadorned as it should be for a humble and straight forward airman making a report, but it belies the utter chaos of the moment. Unspoken are the terrors of the engines howling, the claustrophobic and nearly pitch-black compartment lit only by a small task light, the choking smell of cordite, aluminum, smoke and fear, the massive pull of centrifugal force as the giant Halifax spiralled in the black void, the vibration so extreme that focus is impossible, the flying grit and maps, the dry mouth, the fumbling for hatch and parachute harness, the shriek of the icy slipstream through the open hatch, the muffled shouts of men attempting to save their lives.
The next day, a captured McInerney was reunited with Giddings who told him that he saw both gunners Torrance and Reese ready to follow him out of the rear door when he leapt free. They were unable to get out of the spinning aircraft however and they died when the aircraft hit the ground. Though Lingley had made it out, he was also killed "” perhaps his parachute failed to open.
source: from THE FIRST by Dave O'Malley of Vinatge Wings
Killed:
Flight Sergeant George Charles Clark RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: 12. C. 5.
Pilot Officer Kenneth George Cummings RCAF J/19803 pilot KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: 12. C. 4.
Sergeant Norman Frank Lingley RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Sergeant Robert Patrick Rees RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
Sergeant John Torrance RAF KIA Hanover War Cemetery Ref: Coll. grave 12. C. 6-8.
POWs:
Sergeant Leslie George Kingsley Giddings RAF POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus.
Flying Officer Owen Patrick Joseph McInerney RCAF J/22486 POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan and Belaria.
Leipzig Germany
