419 Squadron RCAF 1941 to 1945 Crew of Halifax DT731

Crew of Halifax DT731

F/S Hopkins and his crew seem to be yet another of those crews where very little is known about them. The squadron ORB has no mention of their arrival; I can only find this one operation they took part in. There are no 2nd. Pilot sorties listed for F/S I. V. Hopkins. And there loss in the summary, is just the letter of the aircraft and Hopkins name.

Berlin January 20/21 1944

Fortunately there is some information of their operation on this night with Halifax DT731. It was not the best of beginnings.
After fifty minutes of being airborne the Halifax had only reached 5,000 feet and the enemy coast was getting nearer.
The F/E, Sgt. Chambers checked the engine gauges and could find nothing wrong. As they continued to try and locate the cause of the problem it was noticed by Tech. Sergeant Paules that the undercarriage had not fully retracted, the wheels could still be seen. Hopkins tried to cycle the undercarriage and still after trying the wheels could still be seen protruding below their housing.
VR-M had now managed to gain a few more thousand feet as it was crossing the coast line. They needed to add more height between themselves and the defences below. Dropping the incendiaries proved to be of great benefit as as they had now made it to climb to 20,000 feet.

The Return from Berlin

They continued on to the target, completed their operation and began to head home. Shortly after making the turn at point "P" a fighter streaked past in front of them.
It was the beginning of a series of synchronized attacks. As the first fighter was just going out of sight, rear gunner Sgt. Caghey called out for a corkscrew to starboard.
As they began the corkscrew the starboard outer engine began to catch fire. This was even before the second attacking fighter had begun to open fire. Whether it was engine failure or if the engine had been hit from below and the crew were unaware of the engine being hit, is unknown. Hopkins and the Flight Engineer feathered the engine and put the fire out.
Within seconds and before they again had time to take in what was happening, a third Ju88 came in from below blasting away at the fuselage from one end to the other. Sgt. Caghey was able to fire off a short burst as the night fighter came within his sights.
The fighters made one more attck, the fourth attack followed as VR-M went into another evasive manoeuver. The starboard inner engine which had been showing indications of heating up now caught fire. A stream of bullets from the fourth attacker hit the undercarriage selection box near the pilot, and the wheels finally dropped down.
Shrapnel had also hit Hopkins in the leg and shoulder as he worked at feathering the second starboard engine.
There were now fires in the bomb bay, inside the fuselage and the Halifax was failing to respond to controls as it began falling. With no hope of slowing it down the decent, the bail out order was given and carried out successfully. All the crew escaped the falling aircraft.
The crew were all captured shortly after parachuting to the ground below and sent to various prisoner camps.

Sgt. Paules who was Camp Leader at Stalag Luft VI, was moved to Stalag Luft IV at Gross Tychow the Commandant there refused to accept Paules as a Camp Leader at IV.
Paules is mentioned in a number of sources expanding on this story.

Warrant Officer MacKenzie lost during The Long March

The Navigator WO Warren MacKenzie was later killed during the Long March. When the line of marching POWs were strafed by Allied aircraft near Gresse.

Crew of Halifax DT731

Berlin January 20/21 1944

The Return from Berlin

Warrant Officer MacKenzie lost during The Long March

Flight Sergeant

I.V. Hopkins

Pilot
POW #270046 Stalag VIB

Warrant Officer

Warren Ellwood MacKenzie

Navigator Age 30
POW Stalag Luft VI/357
Killed in Action April 19th 1945
From Durham, Pictou County, Nova Scotia Burial Berlin 1939 - 1945 War Cemetery

Technical Sergeant

Frank S. Paules USAAF

Bomb Aimer
POW #772 Stalag Luft VI and IV
From Lansdale Pennsylvania
US Camp Leader while at Stalg Luft VI

Pilot Officer

A. Cormack

WAG
POW #3301 Stalag Luft III and Stalag VIB

Sergeant

J. Chambers RAF

Flight Engineer
POW #270015 Stalag IVB

Sergeant

E.R. Jenkins RAF

Air Gunner
POW #270049 Stalag VIB

Sergeant

W.D. McCaghey

Air Gunner
POW #270063 Stalag VIB

Crew of Halifax DT731

Berlin January 20/21 1944

The Return from Berlin

Warrant Officer MacKenzie lost during The Long March

Flight Sergeant

I.V. Hopkins

Pilot POW #270046 Stalag VIB

Warrant Officer

Warren Ellwood MacKenzie

Navigator Age 30POW Stalag Luft VI/357 Killed in Action April 19th 1945 From Durham, Pictou County, Nova Scotia Burial Berlin 1939 - 1945 War Cemetery

Technical Sergeant

Frank S. Paules USAAF

Bomb Aimer POW #772 Stalag Luft VI and IV From Lansdale Pennsylvania US Camp Leader while at Stalg Luft VI

Pilot Officer

A. Cormack

WAG POW #3301 Stalag Luft III and Stalag VIB

Sergeant

J. Chambers RAF

Flight Engineer POW #270015 Stalag IVB

Sergeant

E.R. Jenkins RAF

Air Gunner POW #270049 Stalag VIB

Sergeant

W.D. McCaghey

Air Gunner POW #270063 Stalag VIB

Pilot
POW #270046 Stalag VIB

Navigator Age 30
POW Stalag Luft VI/357
Killed in Action April 19th 1945
From Durham, Pictou County, Nova Scotia Burial Berlin 1939 - 1945 War Cemetery

Bomb Aimer
POW #772 Stalag Luft VI and IV
From Lansdale Pennsylvania
US Camp Leader while at Stalg Luft VI

WAG
POW #3301 Stalag Luft III and Stalag VIB

Flight Engineer
POW #270015 Stalag IVB

Air Gunner
POW #270049 Stalag VIB

Air Gunner
POW #270063 Stalag VIB