Henderson, Selby Roger
- Date of birth:
- April 24th, 1918 (Winnipeg/Manitoba, Canada)
- Date of death:
- April 4th, 1940
- Buried on:
- Air Forces Memorial Runnymede
Plot: 8. - Service number:
- 40826
- Nationality:
- Canadian
Biography
Before the war Selby Henderson was a member of the Fort Garry Horse Cadets, and joined the Royal Air Force in March 1937, having already gained a civilian pilot’s licence. Qualifying as a Navigator, he was posted to No. 206 Squadron, a Coastal Command unit, but within a matter of hours of the commencement of hostilities, he had been despatched to No. 110 Squadron to serve as Navigator to Squadron Leader Kenneth Doran in one of 15 Blenheims detailed to carry out the first offensive strike of the War in the attack on the Admiral Scheer in Wilhelmshaven.
Henderson received his D.F.C. at an investiture at Buckingham Palace in February 1940 and was married to a Norfolk girl that May. Tragically, however, he was posted missing in Hudson N. 7368 in a search mission off Texel on 4 July 1940. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
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Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Pilot Officer
- Awarded on:
- January 1st, 1940
"At 1145 hours on 8th November 1939, an aircraft on reconnaissance duty over the North Sea, piloted by Pilot Officer S.R. Henderson, encountered two Dornier 18 flying boats. He immediately approached the leading one and after attempting to bomb it, carried out four attacks using his front gun and turning to allow his rear gun to fire at the end of each dive. Bursts were seen to enter the engines and after part of the hull, and during the third dive the rear gunner of the Dornier was seen to be incapacitated. At the conclusion of the fourth dive the front gun jammed and Pilot Officer Henderson withdrew from the action and rectified the stoppage. At this stage the second pilot, Pilot Officer R.H. Harper, took over the controls and continued the attack until the ammunition of the front gun was expended. He then withdrew from the action and Pilot Officer Henderson again took over the controls. He at once returned to the attack using his rear gun only, and several bursts were seen to enter the wings and engines of the Dornier flying boat. The aircraft then withdrew from the action and returned to base.
This officer had no previous experience in air fighting tactics and yet, besides showing considerable flying ability, also showed coolness, and great determination in pressing home his attacks so long as his ammunition lasted. It should be pointed out that this officer was navigator in the aircraft flown by Squadron Leader Doran in the raid on Wilhelmshaven on 4th September 1939."
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal (1939-1947)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Sources
- - The London Gazette Issue 34765 published on the 2 January 1940
- Dix Noonan Webb
- Air Force Association of Canada
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