419 Squadron RCAF 1941 to 1945 Crew of Wellington X3359

Crew of Wellington X3359

Wellington X3359 VR-N set off from Mildenhall on night of June 16th 1942 for operations against Essen. Essen was the home of the huge Krupps factory covering many hundred acres and very heavily defended as it was one of the main producers of the guns, submarine parts and many other war materials vital to the Nazi war machine.

About 30 minutes out from the target, engine problems developed from the excessive vibration of starboard propeller. The vibration from the propeller damaged bearings and oil seals and soon the engine overheated. With only one other operating engine the Wellington lost most of the ability to hold it's altitude.

Sgt. LeBlanc the aircrafts pilot feathered the engine, and jettisoned the bombs to lighten the load. ( from information gathered more recently, the Wellington may have made it to Essen and there dropped it's bombs. It is not clear from remarks made by Angers or Watson from their MI9 reports.) But the Wellington continued to loose height, LeBlanc's next step was to dump fuel. Dumping enough to make a difference but to be able to still make it home. ( This information on dumping fuel is not mentioned in either reports made by Watson and Angers. Nor is it mentioned in a letter from Watson to Emile LeBlanc's brother some time after Watson made it back to England.

Watson did mention icing conditions which are not mentioned from the source that this page is based on.) They were continuing to loose height and only managed to level off at about 2,500 feet.

With great care and ability LeBlanc managed to inch it back up to 3,000 feet all the while no one had noticed they had wandered off course and heading for the heavily defended port city of Antwerp.

Alone and caught in the concentrated fire power of hundreds of guns all along there path, with little amount of control the aircraft became an easy target and was hit. At a height of around 1,000 feet the bailout order was given, Watson helped the young pilot, Leblanc into his parachute. A chute that he would not have the chance to use, he had deliberately remained at the controls so that the others had a better chance to get out of the hopeless Wellington.

The crew reported during their interviews later after being liberated that Sgt. Leblanc had kept his sense of humor about him all the while with the things literally failing all around them. X3359 came down near Wuustwezel 16 km to the North East of Antwerp.

Two of the crew became Evaders while two more were interned in POW camps. See F/S LeBlanc

( While some facts stated on this page do not agree entirely with the information found on the page about F/S LeBlanc, I will try and establish which is the more accurate version. Either way Sgt. LeBlanc was a man of courage and will not be forgotten.)

Crew of Wellington X3359

Flight Sergeant

Charles Emile Leblanc

Pilot Age 19
Killed In Action June 17th 1942
From From Belle Cote, Inverness Co, Nova Scotia
Burial Canadian War Cemetery at Adegem

Sergeant

Eric Alfred Winkler

Wireless Op
POW #366 Stalag Luft 3
From Hanover Ontario
Later Member of Parliment Grey/Bruce Died March 18 1995

Pilot Officer

P/O J. H. Watson

Navigator
Became an Evader
Escaped from Belgium through France, Spain to Gibraltar
See Mention in Dispatches section under "Awards and Commisions" tab
See P/O Watson Evader

Sergeant

Joseph Arthur Angus Bruneau Angers

Air Gunner
Became an Evader
Escaped from Belgium through France, Spain to Gibraltar
See Mention in Dispatches section under "Awards and Commisions" tab

Sergeant

N. W. Bradley

WAG
POW #309 Stalag Luft III

Crew of Wellington X3359

Flight Sergeant

Charles Emile Leblanc

Pilot Age 19 Killed In Action June 17th 1942 From From Belle Cote, Inverness Co, Nova Scotia Burial Canadian War Cemetery at Adegem

Sergeant

Eric Alfred Winkler

Wireless Op POW #366 Stalag Luft 3 From Hanover Ontario Later Member of Parliment Grey/Bruce Died March 18 1995

Pilot Officer

P/O J. H. Watson

Navigator Became an Evader Escaped from Belgium through France, Spain to Gibraltar See Mention in Dispatches section under "Awards and Commisions" tab See P/O Watson Evader

Sergeant

Joseph Arthur Angus Bruneau Angers

Air Gunner Became an Evader Escaped from Belgium through France, Spain to Gibraltar See Mention in Dispatches section under "Awards and Commisions" tab

Sergeant

N. W. Bradley

WAG POW #309 Stalag Luft III

Pilot Age 19
Killed In Action June 17th 1942
From From Belle Cote, Inverness Co, Nova Scotia
Burial Canadian War Cemetery at Adegem

Wireless Op
POW #366 Stalag Luft 3
From Hanover Ontario
Later Member of Parliment Grey/Bruce Died March 18 1995

Navigator
Became an Evader
Escaped from Belgium through France, Spain to Gibraltar
See Mention in Dispatches section under "Awards and Commisions" tab
See P/O Watson Evader

Air Gunner
Became an Evader
Escaped from Belgium through France, Spain to Gibraltar
See Mention in Dispatches section under "Awards and Commisions" tab

WAG
POW #309 Stalag Luft III