Crash Site Vickers Wellington IV R1785-FV

At 0435 hours on the 9th January, 1942, Wellington R1785 of 458 Squadron, RAAF took off from the Holme-on-Spalding Moor air base in East Yorkshire. Their mission was to join with 30 other bombers to bomb the port of Cherbourg in occupied France, to mount a diversion for a larger group of 131 RAF bombers that were assembled and dispatched to the French harbour of Brest to find and destroy the German pocket battleships, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Weather conditions over the Normandy peninsula that January morning were appalling, snow was falling, visibility was negligible and to make matters worse the German flak was particularly active. Only three of the 31 aircraft were able to drop their bombs and many were forced to turn back.
Wellington R1785 disappeared completely. The log books of the crew were signed off in red ink with the notation: "OPERATIONS AS ORDERED, BUT FAILED TO RETURN".

Crew members:
Flight Sergeant Albert Sidney Austin (1159702) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Robert Birnie (403773) (RNZAF) (Observer)
Sergeant William Wallace Forgan (407639) (Front Gunner)
Flying Officer Bernard Peter Hickey (404431) (Pilot)
Sergeant Fred Hinton (752964) (RAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Victor William Johnstone (400716) (Second Pilot)

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Rudi Triki