Crew of Halifax DT634
419 Squadron
On September 30th 1942, P/O Charles E. Porter and crew
were posted to 419 squadron from No. 22 O.T.U. Their first operation as a crew came on
October 13th , Sgt. Budinger as Observer (Navigator), Sgt. Lanteigne Wireless Operator,
P/O Sweanor Bomb Aimer
,
Sgt. Taylor Rear Gunner. For the first three operations they flew Wellingtons until the squadron conversion to
Halifax bombers
in 1943.January 9th of 1943 the two additional crew members needed for Halifax operations Flight Engineer Sgt. Bishop and Mid-Upper Gunner Sgt. London now joined Porter's crew.
Their first Halifax mission was a Gardening run between Schiermonnikoog and Simonsand, part of the West Frisian Islands on the North coast of Holland. During the mine laying runs the crew came up against two flak ships patrolling the waters of this area. Porter's rear gunner Sgt. Taylor began exchanging fire with the ships when they came into his range. The battle was brief and Taylor was sure he had made hits on both ships with his fire. The Halifax received no damage and the crew returned to base safely.
The next operation on January 15th the aircraft's port outer engine failed forcing them to return to base. The next six operations went well with no problems reported, however the very next operation after only being airborne for eight minutes the port outer engine developed an oil leak which required Porter to jettison the bombs and return to base.
Operations carried out by the crew during the early part of the month of March caused some anxious moments. On the 22/23 as the Porter crew were nearing the target the outer engine began to have problems and as they continued on towards their target destination the engine finally gave out 15 miles from the target area. Once the bomb load was dropped they were able to gain height and return to base along the prescribed route without further problems.
Their very next operation had them circling the heavily defended Duisberg area for fourteen minutes awaiting the makers to be dropped. And when they finally were dropped they were too widely scattered for Sweanor to make a proper pattern on the target area with his bomb load.
March 27th 1943 Berlin
On this night Halifax DT634, VR-E left on a mission to Berlin. Porter and his crew had a number of engine problems during their operations with Halifax aircraft and tonight the problems with engines would again effect their lives.
The routes planned out by Bomber Command for each nights raids were selected to take the stream of bombers away from highly defended areas. The routes finalized by the squadrons Navigators zig zag and dog legged the way from the English coast to the target. They not only planned on avoiding the defended areas but also to mislead the enemy as to which target they were headed for.
For DT634 on this night the pilot and crew would be caught off guard by flak in an unexpected area south of Bremen a secluded area which should have been clear of any defences. The barrage they had flew through buffered the aircraft around, the damage from this would show up a little later when the outer starboard engine began to heat up possibly from loss of glycol from flak damage or the turbulence caused by the flak explosions. With engine feathered the crew were asked to decide whether to continue on, it was decided to go continue on. They had in the past completed operations on three engines and so on they went.
The Navigator made one stipulation though. The Halifax had to be able to maintain speed so it could arrive on the target on time or at least not so they would be the only aircraft in the sky when they arrived over Berlin.
Not being certain if they could keep up with the planned schedule the alternative target Magdeburg instead of Berlin was selected.
The Attack
With the overheated starboard engine still feathered the Halifax made it's bomb run then headed out of the secondary target area headed for the set corridor for home base.Forty five minutes after the successful attack, DT634 was attacked by an unseen night fighter. The fighter came in from below spraying cannon and machine gun fire into the Halifax. The pattern of damage started at the outer port engine leading to aft of the rear hatch.
The Pilot P/O Porter was wounded during the attack but still managed to feather the engine. Now with two engines feathered he placed the aircraft in a dive to help extinguish the fire in the port engine. Within the Halifax fire had broken out in the Wireless Operators station and within the bomb bay. The fire in the Wireless station was extinguished but the fire lower down in the bomb bay was still burning.
P/O Charles Porter gave the order to bail out. Both escape hatches were found to be jammed either by flak, damage from the attack or just frozen. Bishop, Taylor and London worked with axes to free the hatches. At the front of the aircraft Sweanor had opened the pilots escape hatch and made sure Porter had his chute. He is reported to have told Porter to get himself out as he did not believe they had much hope.
The other hatch finally was opened and the crew left, by the time Sgt. London left the aircraft they were at 1,500 or maybe
1,000 feet. Sweanor the last to leave had only 600 feet or less. His chute only opened just as he hit the tops of the
trees.P/O Porter still at the controls unable to escape as the Halifax continued it's dive. And his crew believed strongly that he did remain at the controls to save them. Leaving himself no chance of bailing out.
George Sweanor passed away Jan 3. 2021 at the age of 101.
