419 Squadron RCAF 1941 to 1945 Crew of Halifax DT669 and JB923

Crew of Halifax DT669 and JB923

As the end March of 1943 was drawing to a close the crew of Warrant Officer George Smallwood were on their first operation. It was to be an eventful night for the new crew and had an encounter which could have ended their flying operations and possibly their lives. Having survived that night only to be lost that same very date one month later.

DT669 VR-L

On the night of March 28/29th over St. Nazaire the aircraft was flipped over by the force of a flak blast and went into a dive in this upside down position. The pilot was blinded by the glare of searchlights shining from below which now flooded the cockpit in its inverted position. Smallwood was unable to judge the aircrafts attitude. Orders were given from the pilot to bail out just before he managed to regain control. Then within the instant cancelled the bail out order. The Rear Gunner, Sgt. Gourde was on the point of leaving when he heard the bail out order cancelled. During this time even with the maneuvers and upside nature of the aircraft the Bomb Aimer W/O Douglas had managed to leave the aircraft. Possibly not hearing the bail out order cancelled from loss of his headset or the noise of opening the hatch. The other members of the crew stayed with the aircraft and managed to make it to base safely.
In a twist of fate Douglas had become a POW while escaping what appeared to be a doomed aircraft and was tragically killed on April 19 1945 after over two years imprisonment by friendly fire. WO Douglas was one of thirty Allied POWs strafed and killed while being in a forced march from one POW camp to another. The attack by RAF Typhoons occurred near Gresse , in the North of Germany.

DT669 was again involved with a second incident several days later with a different crew on board. On April 3 1943 on a raid on Essen three crew members of Sgt. Phillip Johnson were wounded when an ME-110 shot up the rear gun turret, in addition to the rear gunner the upper gunner and bomb aimer were wounded. Again DT669 was able to bring the crew home, landing at RAF Coltishall.

JB923 VR-Q

One month later Sgt. Smallwood and his crew from DT669 with their new Bomb Aimer F/S O'Connor took off at 20:42 on the night of April 28/29 for a mining operation to Skagerrak, to an area designated as "Silverthorne". The operation was not successful for the Moose squadron aircraft, with three of the eight aircraft not fully completing their mining operations because of weather for two of 419's Halifax and a flak hit to the hydraulics of a third Halifax. This would be the third sortie together for Smallwood's crew who had escaped injury or death in DT669 now along with their new Bomb Aimer F/S O'Connor's on his second sortie with this crew ( on his 24th operation in total) were not to return.
Cloud cover was the cause of the unsuccessful completion of the operation for the crews and at least one who did drop their mines it was done by guess work owing to cloud cover. The weather may have played a factor in the loss of the aircraft while performing these dangerous low level Gardening Operations over the sea.
In some sources the aircraft I have identified as JB923 is listed as JB929, which follows the error in the squadron ORB for that night. Halifax JB929 continued on with 419 Squadron for many months after the loss of JB923.

Crew of Halifax DT669 and JB923

DT669 VR-L

JB923 VR-Q

Warrant Officer II

George Kenneth Alfred Smallwood

Pilot Age 21 7 Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Toronto Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant Officer

John William Carley

Navigator Age 24 5 Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Saskatoon Saskatchewan
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Sergeant

James Arthur Lawrence Allan

F/E Age 29 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From St. James Manitoba
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant OfficerII

James Michael Barry O'Connor

Bom Aimer Age 24 24th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Sarnia Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Flight Sergeant

Robert Russel Gourde

Rear Gunner Age 27 5th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Longview Washington USA
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Flight Sergeant

Lloyd Joseph Charles Murphy

A/G Age 20 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From From Whitby Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant OfficerII

James Gordon Acker

WAG Age 21 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Toronto Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant Officer

Robert Gordon Douglas

Bomb Aimer Age 24 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 19 1945
From Vancouver B.C.
WO Douglas was one of two 419 airmen POWs killed at Gresse by RAF aircraft strafing the column of men. Burial Berlin 1939 1945 War Cemetery

Crew of Halifax DT669 and JB923

DT669 VR-L

JB923 VR-Q

Warrant Officer II

George Kenneth Alfred Smallwood

Pilot Age 21 7 Op. Killed In Action April 28 1943 From Toronto Ontario Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant Officer

John William Carley

Navigator Age 24 5 Op. Killed In Action April 28 1943 From Saskatoon Saskatchewan Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Sergeant

James Arthur Lawrence Allan

F/E Age 29 4th Op. Killed In Action April 28 1943 From St. James Manitoba Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant OfficerII

James Michael Barry O'Connor

Bom Aimer Age 24 24th Op.Killed In Action April 28 1943 From Sarnia Ontario Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Flight Sergeant

Robert Russel Gourde

Rear Gunner Age 27 5th Op.Killed In Action April 28 1943 From Longview Washington USA Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Flight Sergeant

Lloyd Joseph Charles Murphy

A/G Age 20 4th Op.Killed In Action April 28 1943 From From Whitby Ontario Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant OfficerII

James Gordon Acker

WAG Age 21 4th Op.Killed In Action April 28 1943 From Toronto Ontario Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Warrant Officer

Robert Gordon Douglas

Bomb Aimer Age 24 4th Op.Killed In Action April 19 1945 From Vancouver B.C. WO Douglas was one of two 419 airmen POWs killed at Gresse by RAF aircraft strafing the column of men. Burial Berlin 1939 1945 War Cemetery

Pilot Age 21 7 Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Toronto Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Navigator Age 24 5 Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Saskatoon Saskatchewan
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

F/E Age 29 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From St. James Manitoba
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Bom Aimer Age 24 24th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Sarnia Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Rear Gunner Age 27 5th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Longview Washington USA
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

A/G Age 20 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From From Whitby Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

WAG Age 21 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 28 1943
From Toronto Ontario
Remembrance Runnymede War Memorial

Bomb Aimer Age 24 4th Op.
Killed In Action April 19 1945
From Vancouver B.C.
WO Douglas was one of two 419 airmen POWs killed at Gresse by RAF aircraft strafing the column of men. Burial Berlin 1939 1945 War Cemetery