Whittingham, Sam James

Date of birth:: March 26th, 1921 (Whiston/Lancashire, Great Britain)
Date of death:: November 18th, 1943
Buried on:: Air Forces Memorial Runnymede
Service number:: 966702 (NCO)/159886 (Officer)
Nationality:: British

Biography

Sam James, before the war an engineering draughtsman, was a Flight Engineer who completed thirty-three operations with Bomber Command Of these twelve were flown with No.7 Squadron and eighteen with No. 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron including the attack against St. Nazaire on the night of 28th February 1943. During this operation he successfully released by hand a container of ignited incendiary bombs and then manually closed the jammed bomb doors after his aircraft was hit twice by flak. The courage he displayed that night resulted in the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal. Finally Whittingham completed three operations with No. 617 Squadron but was unfortunatley reported missing over the Bay of Biscay during a transit flight from North Africa to England following the Squadrons raid against the Antheor Viaduct on 11 November 1943.
He commemmorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 134.

Promotions:
? Flight Sergeant
24 September, 1943: Pilot Officer on Probation (emergency)

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Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Sergeant
Unit:: No. 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron, Royal Air Force
Awarded on:: May 14th, 1943

Citation:
"On the night of 28 February, 1943, his aircraft was twice hit by anti-aircraft fire when attacking St. Nazaire. A shell burst close to the starboard fuselage, causing damage and blowing in the windows on that side of the aircraft. It was discovered that smoke and flames were coming from the closed doors of the bomb compartment. Despite the flames, Sgt. Whittingham persevered and successfully released by hand a container of ignited incendary bombs. He also closed the jammed bomb doors by hand."