Crew members of Halifax JD464
After completion of their training on Halifax bombers at No.1659 C.U. at RAF Leeming, F/O Robert Stewart’s crew were posted to 419 squadron on July 6th 1943. The crew would have to wait until July 24th before going on their first operational sortie with 419. As was customary F/O Stewart had to complete two turns as second pilot on board an aircraft with an experienced captain and crew before captaining his own aircraft.
Their first operation was part of a raid of 791 aircraft on Hamburg, one of many that would void of extra perils. Their next operation on the other hand was to be notable in that Sgt. Garland was to be credited with the destruction of a FW190 night fighter, which had found their Halifax just after they had crossed the French coast. The Combat Report of July 25th shows that both Garland and Northcliffe in the upper turret had both fired on the fighter. But Garland’s rounds were the ones which downed the fighter.
The night of July 27/28 their next operation was also to give them moments of tension as the heavy defences of flak around the city of Hamburg reached up and hit their aircraft causing one engine to burst into flames and badly damaging the hydraulic system. With the engine on fire and acting like a beacon to night fighter defences also in action around Hamburg, it was imperative for them to extinguish the fire as quickly as they could, which they managed to do. There are two Combat Reports recorded for this operation both with Garland’s name on them. The actual reports are missing, but guessing that since both reports have only Garland’s name the attacks must have been from astern and Sgt. Garland would have given the orders for the evasive corkscrew turns to get the aircraft out of harm’s way.
The crew flew together through five more operations without incident, On the night of August 22/23 with wireless communications were out of action and they returned to base early. Their very next operation on the night of August 23/24 was a raid on Berlin, although only August heavy icing built up on the wings at the higher altitudes. The addition drag on the airflow brought them dangerously late over the target, almost five minutes after the last wave had left the target area. Which left them the only target of any flak batteries or searchlights.
It would be a return operation to Berlin several nights later on August 31/ September 1 that would bring the crew one last time into harms way and causing the loss of three of their members.
The first by Sgt. Embley who’s account I have summarized. The Halifax was jumped while on it’s way to the target, or at least prior to dropping it’s bomb load, by a Ju88 night fighter presumably from the rear wounding Sgt. Garland on the right side of the head. As Embley tells it to MI9 , Northcliffe had pointed out to him that Garland the rear gunner was wounded and needed help in escaping the aircraft. Embley moved through the damaged aircraft and managed to get Garland out of the rear turret, or Garland had managed to remove himself. The rear gunners parachute which is stored in the area behind the gunner was found by Sgt. Embley to have been burnt, shot up and of no use to Garland.
Sgt. Embley had Garland wrap his arms around him . Between his back and the inside of Embley’s parachute and then to wrap his legs around the waist and they would jump together in this way.
It would have to assumed as the report given does not state it, that Garland still had some sense of what was going on even with the heavy loss of blood from his head wound. For the two of them to have moved around the tossing turning fuselage and escape through the hatch with or without help is a miracle.
During the decent in the parachute with the two of them hanging on to each other Garland was able to talk to Embley a couple of times. But at some point he started to slip away from Embley’s grasp and by the two thousand foot mark he completely slipped away into the night into the Black Forest below.. Once Embley had landed he searched around him for some time through the area of the Forest were he thought Garland’s body would be found.
That is all that was stated in that report.
In the above version no mention is made of Sgt. Tenny, Sgt. Cleveland or P/O Stewart, only what was happening in the rear area of the Halifax with himself, Northcliffe and Garland. So it is unclear who gave the “Bail Out “ order or if F/O Stewart was keeping the aircraft level while his crew escaped.
In a second account of the story as related by Sgt. Tenny, the Flight Engineer, in an account presented to a third party, he says to the pilot F/O Stewart that they should bail out, indicting that F/O Stewart was still alive just before the crew abandoned the Halifax.
This remembrance of the loss of JD464, happened many years later it is presumed. It mentions that the rear gunner Sgt. Garland did fire off a burst at the attacking aircraft before the attacker damages the aircraft to the extent that three of the four engines are knocked out. In the squadron operations log book (ORB), Stewart mentions in one report that Monica is working well. Did Monica the radar device mounted beneath the rear turret to help detect attacks from astern, fail JD464 or was their attacker equiped with the new radar (FuG227) that the Luftwaffe had developed which led their night fighters to our bombers by seeking out the radar waves Monica emitted. The FuG227 was thought not to have been in use until the spring of '44, but could it have been in service before then?
At this point Sgt. Tenny as Flight Engineer and closest to Stewart suggests they bail out, since the aircraft has a fire on board and they still have their load of bombs in the bay below. ( 2- 1,000 pounders, 32 -30 pounders and 360 - 4 pound incendiary bombs )
The article describes what was happening in the forward section of the doomed Halifax, but fails to mention anything about Sgt. Cleveland, P/O James or what happened to F/O Stewart. It only mentions that three of the crew were lost and four jumped to safety.
F/O Stewart was only recently married before his loss on the night of August 31/ September 1 1943.
Sgt. Leonard Northcliffe had returned to Winnipeg by March of 1944 and was giving lectures on life in German PoW camps.
While he was at Stalag IV B, Sgt. Tenny exchanged his identity via ID cards with a private of the Argyll and Sutherland regiment. That in it’s self is a whole other story which we will be adding. Tom Barker the prisoner who swapped IDs with Tenny wrote about their adventures back in 2003. He also spent time years later looking to find Tenny again. I have been told Mr.Barker passed away a few years ago.
Their first operation was part of a raid of 791 aircraft on Hamburg, one of many that would void of extra perils. Their next operation on the other hand was to be notable in that Sgt. Garland was to be credited with the destruction of a FW190 night fighter, which had found their Halifax just after they had crossed the French coast. The Combat Report of July 25th shows that both Garland and Northcliffe in the upper turret had both fired on the fighter. But Garland’s rounds were the ones which downed the fighter.
July 27/28 1943
The night of July 27/28 their next operation was also to give them moments of tension as the heavy defences of flak around the city of Hamburg reached up and hit their aircraft causing one engine to burst into flames and badly damaging the hydraulic system. With the engine on fire and acting like a beacon to night fighter defences also in action around Hamburg, it was imperative for them to extinguish the fire as quickly as they could, which they managed to do. There are two Combat Reports recorded for this operation both with Garland’s name on them. The actual reports are missing, but guessing that since both reports have only Garland’s name the attacks must have been from astern and Sgt. Garland would have given the orders for the evasive corkscrew turns to get the aircraft out of harm’s way.
Their Eleventh Op.
The crew flew together through five more operations without incident, On the night of August 22/23 with wireless communications were out of action and they returned to base early. Their very next operation on the night of August 23/24 was a raid on Berlin, although only August heavy icing built up on the wings at the higher altitudes. The addition drag on the airflow brought them dangerously late over the target, almost five minutes after the last wave had left the target area. Which left them the only target of any flak batteries or searchlights.
It would be a return operation to Berlin several nights later on August 31/ September 1 that would bring the crew one last time into harms way and causing the loss of three of their members.
Two Eye Witness Accounts of the loss of JD464
Sgt. Embley’s account from reords made after his release
The first by Sgt. Embley who’s account I have summarized. The Halifax was jumped while on it’s way to the target, or at least prior to dropping it’s bomb load, by a Ju88 night fighter presumably from the rear wounding Sgt. Garland on the right side of the head. As Embley tells it to MI9 , Northcliffe had pointed out to him that Garland the rear gunner was wounded and needed help in escaping the aircraft. Embley moved through the damaged aircraft and managed to get Garland out of the rear turret, or Garland had managed to remove himself. The rear gunners parachute which is stored in the area behind the gunner was found by Sgt. Embley to have been burnt, shot up and of no use to Garland.
Sgt. Embley had Garland wrap his arms around him . Between his back and the inside of Embley’s parachute and then to wrap his legs around the waist and they would jump together in this way.
It would have to assumed as the report given does not state it, that Garland still had some sense of what was going on even with the heavy loss of blood from his head wound. For the two of them to have moved around the tossing turning fuselage and escape through the hatch with or without help is a miracle.
During the decent in the parachute with the two of them hanging on to each other Garland was able to talk to Embley a couple of times. But at some point he started to slip away from Embley’s grasp and by the two thousand foot mark he completely slipped away into the night into the Black Forest below.. Once Embley had landed he searched around him for some time through the area of the Forest were he thought Garland’s body would be found.
That is all that was stated in that report.
Points about the report
In the above version no mention is made of Sgt. Tenny, Sgt. Cleveland or P/O Stewart, only what was happening in the rear area of the Halifax with himself, Northcliffe and Garland. So it is unclear who gave the “Bail Out “ order or if F/O Stewart was keeping the aircraft level while his crew escaped.
A Third party account of Sgt. Tenny‘s remembering the event
In a second account of the story as related by Sgt. Tenny, the Flight Engineer, in an account presented to a third party, he says to the pilot F/O Stewart that they should bail out, indicting that F/O Stewart was still alive just before the crew abandoned the Halifax.
This remembrance of the loss of JD464, happened many years later it is presumed. It mentions that the rear gunner Sgt. Garland did fire off a burst at the attacking aircraft before the attacker damages the aircraft to the extent that three of the four engines are knocked out. In the squadron operations log book (ORB), Stewart mentions in one report that Monica is working well. Did Monica the radar device mounted beneath the rear turret to help detect attacks from astern, fail JD464 or was their attacker equiped with the new radar (FuG227) that the Luftwaffe had developed which led their night fighters to our bombers by seeking out the radar waves Monica emitted. The FuG227 was thought not to have been in use until the spring of '44, but could it have been in service before then?
At this point Sgt. Tenny as Flight Engineer and closest to Stewart suggests they bail out, since the aircraft has a fire on board and they still have their load of bombs in the bay below. ( 2- 1,000 pounders, 32 -30 pounders and 360 - 4 pound incendiary bombs )
The article describes what was happening in the forward section of the doomed Halifax, but fails to mention anything about Sgt. Cleveland, P/O James or what happened to F/O Stewart. It only mentions that three of the crew were lost and four jumped to safety.
One Last Sidebar to the story
F/O Stewart was only recently married before his loss on the night of August 31/ September 1 1943.
Sgt. Leonard Northcliffe had returned to Winnipeg by March of 1944 and was giving lectures on life in German PoW camps.
While he was at Stalag IV B, Sgt. Tenny exchanged his identity via ID cards with a private of the Argyll and Sutherland regiment. That in it’s self is a whole other story which we will be adding. Tom Barker the prisoner who swapped IDs with Tenny wrote about their adventures back in 2003. He also spent time years later looking to find Tenny again. I have been told Mr.Barker passed away a few years ago.
