Sgt White
started flying operation with the squadron
in February. On 22/23rd he flew on a mission
to Düsseldorf, with a crew captained by P/O
Owen. They took off at 02.00 but due to
problems with the ASI the primary objective
was abandoned and the crew attacked Schiphol
airfield instead at 05.56. The crew landed
safely at 08.30.
On 25/26th
he was part of an attack on Düsseldorf
again, this time flying with a crew
captained by Sgt. Stiles. They took off at
18.15, attacked the target and were back at
base at 00.35.
On the
night of 28/1 may the squadron attacked
Wilhelmshaven. Sgt White flew as second
pilot with yet another crew captained by P/O
Hildyard. However, shortly after take off at
20.15 the starboard engine cut out and the
mission had to be aborted. 15 minutes later
the crew was back at Linton.
The next
night, 2/3 May, Sgt White flew a mission to
Brest with P/O Fullerton's crew. They took
off at 18.00, bombed the target with good
results and were back at base at 00.55.
12/13th May
saw a mission to Hamburg with the crew of
P/O Hildyard again. This was again a mission
with good results. Sgt White flew again with
this crew a mission on 20/21th May to
Lorient, which again was completed
successfully.
With the
same crew, Sgt White flew a mission to
Berlin on 23/24th May. This was the first
time to the Big B and the longest mission to
date. They took off at 19.55 and did not
return till 06.45. The mission was again
successful.
30/31th May
saw a mission to Brest. This time with yet
another crew, that of P/O Lay. After taking
off at 19.00 the plane touched down after a
successful mission at 01.55.
On 7/8
April 1941 the squadron participated in a
mission to Kiel and Emden. This time Sgt
White was second pilot with a crew captained
by P/O Ronald Carrapiett. The other members
of the crew were observer P/O Cecil Jones
from Northern Rhodesia, wireless operator
Sgt Arthur Mason and tail gunner Sgt Arthur
Wroath.
58 squadron
is ordered to attack the harbour in this
city. At 20.55 the crew takes off from their
base, Linton-on-Ouse, in Whitley T4145 GE-P
for 'Peter'.
Most likely
on the way to the target area the
Whitley is intercepted by a German night
fighter, piloted by Oberfeldwebel Paul
Gildner of 4./NJG1. He is stationed at
Leeuwarden airfield.
At 00.27 Gildner attacks the
Whitley. After being hit by a burst of
the German's cannons, the Whitley explodes.
Burning pieces of wreckage come down in a
wide area; the tail section comes down on
the Woortmansdijk in the town of Waterhuizen,
just 7 kilometers south west of the city of
Groningen. Another piece of the fuselage
crashes near the farm of the Steen brothers
in Waterhuizen. Several of the bombs aboard
explode. Seven others are found the next day
in fields nearby.
The wreckage
of Whitley T4145. (picture courtesy of
Nachtjagdarchiv Horst Diener via Ab Jansen
in Wespennest Leeuwarden, vol. I,
page 118)
That the
explosion was violent can be deducted from
the fact that a part of the right wing is
found two kilometers from the main wreckage.
Four of the
five crew members die. They are found
between the spread out wreckage of the
plane. The only crew member to survive is
Sgt Arthur Mason. He lands by parachute
near the shipyard of the van Diepen
Brothers. He was apparently wounded by the
neck due to his landing in a tree. He was
taken by father and son Wiegers, who hear
him calling out for help and find him
wounded and bleeding, to the house of the director of the shipyard.
He is given some brandy and
is known to have said that this was the
third time he had "come down" and had
"enough of it". It was not possible to keep
the flier in hiding as many people,
including collaborators knew he had come
down and was known to enjoy the hospitality
of Mr. van Diepen. He was taken to the
hospital in Groningen by the Germans. After
his recovery and interrogation he spent the
rest of the war in a PoW camp.
German
soldiers inspecting the wreckage at the
Woortmansdijk near Waterhuizen. (Picture
courtesy of Co Maarschalkerweerd)
The right wing
that was found approximately 1,5 kilometers
from the rest of the wreckage and
close to were Sgt Mason landed by Parachute.
(Picture courtesy of Co Maarschalkerweerd)
German
soldiers inspecting the wreckage of T4145.
(Picture courtesy of Co Maarschalkerweerd)
The same
night thebody of P/O Carrapiett is found in
a field nearby. The body of a second crew
member, possible Sgt White, is found,
sitting up on the bank of a small creek.
That same day Jan and Hendrik Steen are
ordered by the Germans to salvage the
wreckage. The Germans want to cut it up so
they can transport it easier. When the two
brothers pull away a large piece of
wreckage, the are confronted by a crew
member with a machinegun on his lap, in a
pose ready to shoot. A German quickly pulls
Hendrik out of the line of fire. However,
the man was killed in the crash and is
probably observer P/O Cecil Jones.
The salvage
operation takes from 10 April till 16 April
when the last bombs in the fields are
detonated.
Sgt White and
Sgt Wroath's early grave in Groningen
(picture courtesy of Mr. Andrew Stevens)
(picture
courtesy of Mr. Andrew Stevens)
Sgt White buried at the Esserveld cemetery
in Groningen, Plot RW. Row Class 2. Joint
grave 1.
Picture
courtesy of Mr. Derek Riley
(picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)