Crew of Halifax JD214 VR-U
Information presented here is a summary of data accumulated in the 1960's and from the squadron
Operations Record Book. Other sources are "A Kriegie's Lament" by George Neale and an an article
written by Joop Siepermann and C.B Troost from interviews.
There are variations on the events, as told my each of the men. This is normal when more then six decades pass before being told.
It is a story of bravery, friendship, harsh treatment, un-dampened spirit, and survival.
There are variations on the events, as told my each of the men. This is normal when more then six decades pass before being told.
It is a story of bravery, friendship, harsh treatment, un-dampened spirit, and survival.
June 21/21 1943
The crew came together at No. 22 OTU at Wellesbourne. Neale had selected Sergeants McLeod, McLachlan, Jaffray, and Griffiths for his crew. When they were posted to a Heavy Conversion Unit they added Sgt. Cleaver and Sgt. Kenwell.
It had been almost exactly a month since Sgt. George Neale and his crew had arrived at 419 Squadron, and now they were to set out on their first operation together.
The operation went well and the crew had managed to beat off an attack by a Luftwaffe night fighter. They could check off one sortie towards the thirty they would need to complete a Tour.
There also is a Combat Report filled out by Sgt. McLeod, giving his account of an encounter with an ME110 on
this operation:
While on the way to the target and over the Dutch coast South West of Rotterdam McLeod saw a lone enemy
aircraft at 400 yards on the starboard quarter below flying parallel with his Halifax.
Neale went into what was termed a mild evasive action when the fighter was seen. The night fighter turned into to attack the starboard quarter when at 250 yards McLeod opened fire with a burst of 150 rounds. This made the fighter break off the attack and disappear below. The night fighter did not have a chance to open fire.
Neale went into what was termed a mild evasive action when the fighter was seen. The night fighter turned into to attack the starboard quarter when at 250 yards McLeod opened fire with a burst of 150 rounds. This made the fighter break off the attack and disappear below. The night fighter did not have a chance to open fire.
June 22/23 1943
Their next operation was a Gardening op., planting vegetables in a set pattern in an area designated as the garden. The familiar sounding code names used for the laying of mines from low flying aircraft. The terms disguised the dangerous task of flying low over dark waters at night while keeping steady and level to drop the mines precisely on the locations needed. The pattern of the mine fields were designed to make it difficult for enemy ships to pass through while leaving a known route for friendly ships to navigate through.
The GEE set on board Neale's Halifax was the only way to accomplish the task successfully. The GEE using signals from towers along the English coast directed aircraft to the proper drop points.
On this night the GEE on board JD214 was failing in it's task. Sgt. Neale flew around the area for 30 minutes without the device pointing to the correct locations. They had no other choice but to return to base.
The failure of GEE caused the crew the loss of a credit towards their Tour total.
June 24/25
This was the crew's third operational start. And the third sortie with VR-U Halifax JD214, nick named "Midnight Cocktail" by Neale. Sgt. Neale and both gunners McLeod and Kenwell give the story of the attack:
At 0100 hours while circling south of Cologne in an effort to use up time, JD214 was attacked by three FW190s.
The night fighters came in simultaneously from the rear. One fighter coming in directly astern while one each came in from astern quarter down on port and starboard sides.
The starboard fighters fire hit along the starboard rudder and ailerons. The aileron was shot away. The fighters path of destruction then hit the engines. The propeller of the outer starboard engine was damaged and thrown out of balance. The resulting vibrations tore the engine from its mounting and it then fell into the darkness below. The starboard inner engine did not escape damage it was also hit and set a fire. The engine remained on fire for another 20 to 30 minutes
The Focke Wulf which was directly astern opened fire on the rear gunner blowing the top half of the turret away. The rear gunner Sgt. McLeod escaped injury from the hail of fire sent in his direction. The enemy fire continued along the fuselage, the fighter's fire was concentrated on the forward section of the Halifax. The wireless equipment was hit and it too was on fire but quickly extinguished.
The port side attacker made his attempt at bringing down the Halifax but appeared to make no contacts with his gun bursts.
There is a differences of opinion between the crew members as to how the attack actually took place. In one source the crew is reported to have remained unharmed by the attacks. Although Sgt. McLachlan had been wounded in the arm during the attacks. McLachlan's own account mentions being hit. The source may have meant no fatalities.
Heading for Home
Even with the bomb load having been jettisoned the aircraft was losing height. The damaged surfaces on the aircraft were causing such a severe drag that the remaining two engines were not able to overcome. To add to the drag problem bomb doors which had been opened to release the bombs could no longer be closed due to loss of the hydraulics.
The first thoughts were to try and make it to the North Sea and ditch. The condition of the aircraft and constant loss of height soon changed those thoughts to one of landing the Halifax.
During this period Sgt. Kenwell had lost the location of his parachute. Reaching down to his flight boots to retrieve a small flashlight he kept in the boot, he found the flashlight had been smashed by one of the many bullets that had penetrated the fuselage. The flash light may have saved him from being wounded.
An "SOS" signal was sent from JD214 at 0137 hours. A third class fix was given as 51 12"N 06 46" E.
At 0143 another request for a fix was sent by Sgt. Griffith. This time a First Class Fix was given from Hull (England), Bearing 118 degrees.
Three minutes later another fix was requested. A Third Class Fix of 51 56"N 05 32" E was sent. After that request no more was heard from the crew of JD214.
The fixes were given by ground stations in England bouncing signals off an aircraft, then triangulating the aircrafts
location. The First Class Fix was more accurate then a Third class.
The Wireless Operator would be given a frequency and a code at the operation briefing before the operation. These were only to be used in an emergency such as what was happening to the Neale crew. This is the one of the few times when the aircraft would ever send out a radio message during a sortie.
The Wireless Operator would be given a frequency and a code at the operation briefing before the operation. These were only to be used in an emergency such as what was happening to the Neale crew. This is the one of the few times when the aircraft would ever send out a radio message during a sortie.
( Sgt. Kenwell has a little less fortunate while a POW. With the war ending and the food situation being almost if not totally non-existent a nervous camp guard shot him in the arm. He was attended to by a French doctor also imprisoned at the camp.)
The Landing
With the objective now changed to landing the aircraft, a pasture provided a possible landing site and Neale turned on the landing lights and headed in. The crew took up the crash positions and followed the crash procedure as read off by Sgt. Jaffray.
Sgt. Neale performed an ideal belly landing even with the bomb doors open, the aircraft skidding to finally stop within yards of the farmers house.
Neale had been thrown from his pilot's seat by the impact. Fortunately one line was missing from the crash check list. He had not strapped himself into his seat. Had he have remained in the pilot's seat the control column would have pierced him and most likely killed him.
Two (or maybe all)of the crew now completed the full destruction of the equipment on board. As the farmer and his family watched from the window of their home only yards from the Halifax wreckage.
The Halifax named by Neale as "Midnight Cocktail",JD214 was only on this it's fifth operation was now a complete wreck, with engines missing and damage to the tail section and forward fuselage shot up.
The crew split up into three groups and headed off in different directions to evade capture. The first two groups left ahead of the Bomb Aimer and Navigator. After destroying all the sensitive devices and documents Jaffray and McLachlan then set out on their own.
Capture, Camp Hardships and "The Long March"
For Sgt. McLachlan and Jaffray the need to have McLachlan's wound attended to was followed by a mutually agreed call for the local police. The two men had been seen, in fact a crowd now knew they were at the local doctor's office and they did not want any reprisals against the people of the town.
For Neale, Cleaver, and Griffiths it was similar situation. They had been noticed by someone and by some means had were taken to the mayor of Openheusen. Here again a mutual decision was made to inform the German authorities that they were at the mayor's office. And with in 30 minutes the German's arrived.
The two gunners had also been captured and their journey into captivity began. The well kept diary of Sgt. Neale brings the whole story of their round up and travels to Germany and Stalag Luft VI. In Neale's diary he often mentions the activities and events the crew had while POWs. The hardships as for those captured deepened as the war came near to a close. And as far as I can tell Neale and the others were part of the "Long March". When the Germans forced the POWs around from camp to camp tying to use them for their own benefit as the circle of the Nazi world grew smaller and smaller.
(From what was later learned the crashed Halifax became a tourist spot for the three weeks it lay in the field guarded by German troops until it was taken apart and removed.)
More Information is found on these three pages:
The recollections of the pilot George Neale are summarized here.
While the story of Jaffray and McLachlan are presented here.
The story behind the landing and the people involved is told in Their Last Flight by Joop Siepermann and Cees.B. Troost of the "World War II Working Group" of the historical Circle Kesteren located in Holland.
The airmen's ranks here are those of each man on that night. While in Stalag Luft their ranks changed, Sgt. Reg Cleaver received his promotion to Flight Sergeant on April 19th 1944 while at Stalag Luft VI. I was unable so far to locate dates for the promotions of the other crew members. Neale was commissioned prior to coming to 419 and that story is found on his page and I have no details on his final rank.
Post War
Sgt. Ross McLachlan became Post Master of Kamloops. Kamloops being the home town of 419 Squadron's first Commander John "Moose" Fulton.
Sgt. George Neale returned to Hamilton Ontario, working as CPA and business advisor. He passed away December 2011.
Sgt. William "Jaff" Jaffray weight was only 100 pounds when he was finally liberated. He recuperated at his aunt's home in Scotland before returning to Canada. Mr. Jaffray held high offices in the Ontario government, he passed away in May 1985.
Sgt. Jack Griffiths-RAF, moved to Canada and became a VP at CIBC banks. He passed away in July 2002.
Sgt. "Ken" Kenwell, was shot in the arm by a camp guard during his time as a POW. He returned to Minesing Ontario where he was bricklayer. he passed away in December 2001.
Sgt. Reg Cleaver RAF continued to do engineering work in the British aircraft industry. He passed away in November 2011 after a motoring accident.
Sgt. Bill "Dusty" McLeod returned to ranching and continued on into his senior years, riding the range before handing the ranch over to his son.
