The crew was
posted to 7 squadron, flying lancaster
bombers out of Oakington. The first four
missions, George flew as a co-pilot with
different crews. 27 August 1943 to
Nuremburg with P/O Wilby, on 30 August 1943
with F/L Harcourt to Munchen-Gladbach and
mission 3 and 4 both with
F/L Foster. On 31 August 1943 to Berlin and
on 5 September 1943 to Mannheim. On his
fifth mission, he got to fly with his own
crew.
(courtesy of
Robert Woodberry)
(courtesy of
Robert Woodberry)
On 23 November
1944 the crew took off from Oakington at
17.16 in Lancaster III JA932-M. It would be
F/S Tindle's 20th mission.
Their target
for tonight was the German Capital Berlin.
On the way back to base, between 22.00 and
23.00 the plane crashed near the town of
Oudeschild on the Island of Texel.
Mr J.J. Bakker
was a child living in Oudeschild in 1943.The
aircraft crashed near his
home, whilst he was in bed. He remembered
the 23rd as a cold night. Around 1800 they
heard planes coming over and the rattling of
machineguns, something that had become a
rather familiar sound in the skies over
Texel.
At 22.10 the
four engined Lancaster crashed in Oudeschild,
just beside the church. Apparently the pilot
had tried to crash-land the plane. The
crewmembers were found in the wreckage. One
of them was found the next day in a small
pool, which in the winter was used as a
skating ring. The pilot was found in his
seat, hands still on the control column. One
of the engines broke off and hit an
electricity cable, causing a black out in
the town. That same engine also crashed into
the farm of the Dros family. The father was
out that night with the fire brigade, and
his four children slept in the attic. they
were lucky to survive with their lives.
It is not
certain what caused the JA932 to crash. Most
likely the plane was hit by flak, either
over the target or on its way back.
The whole crew
perished and were buried in Texel (Den Burg)
Cemetery on 25 November 1943, where they
rest today.
The following
story appeared some time after F/S Tindle's
death:
"Manaia man
believed killed on operations
After a series of lucky escapes Flight
Sergeant George W. Tindle, formerly of
Manaia, was described by fellow airmen as
"living on borrowed time." That time was
short, however, because soon after his
escape from death in a damaged bomber he was
reported missing and recently was listed
missing, believed killed.
In a letter to his wife, Mrs. M. P. Tindle,
Manaia, received after he was posted
missing, Flight Sergeant Tindle gave a vivid
account of his adventures on some of the 17
flights he had then made over the enemy
territory.
"In the Soup Properly"
"When I first went on operations our plane
did three trips without striking trouble,"
he wrote, "but then we got in the soup
properly. In a Berlin raid we were caught in
anti-aircraft fire. There were shells
exploding all round us and we were hit
several times. However, we managed to pull
through, and not a soul was hurt, but my
plane was shot to ribbons. We had about 40
holes in the crate and there was one in the
wing you could have crawled through."
Two trips later Flight Sergeant Tindle said
he and his crew encountered more trouble. "When
we were over Mannheim one night," he wrote,
"we were coned by about 100 searchlights for
a period too long for me. I dived, twisted
and turned, with red hot pieces of flak
bashing our old crate. The searchlights were
so bright that I was blinded, and the shells
were bursting so close that they threw us
all over the sky. Finally we got back on one
wing and a prayer."
Spell of Good Luck
Then for a spell the crew had good luck and
although they continued to go through just
as much gunfire and as many fighters they
were not hit. "One night in Ruhr," continued
Flight Sergeant Tindle, "we stooged for over
an hour through a hell fire and searchlights
to drop our eggs, and we didn't even lose
and paint off our plane. 'Now luck has
changed again, for we have been hit four
times out of the last six trips." His letter
described how, while over Hagen in Germany,
one rudder and half the tail fin of the
bomber were blown off by a direct hit, and
there were several holes in the fuselage.
His luckiest escape was made on an operation
in which he was caught in anti aircraft fire
at 19,000 feet, said the writer. After he
managed to manoeuvre the bomber out of the
guns' range to a certain extent a "dirty
stinking fighter dived in out of the dark
and let us have it."
Missed by Cannon Shell
He did not see the fighter until something
crashed through the windows of the plane. "It
was an exploding cannon shell," he explained,
"and had I not leaned forward to attend to
something I should be minus my head now. All
the chaps here say I'm living on borrowed
time."
Flight Sergeant Tindle said he had 27 more
operations to do on bombers before he was
due for a long leave in which he could visit
New Zealand. "I came over here with the
intention of going on fighters," he added
however, "and after I have finished with
Bomber Command they can't stop me from going
on fighters. I want to fly a fighter just to
get even with some of the Jerry fighters."
But Flight Sergeant Tindle's luck did not
hold out long enough for him to realise his
ambition. He was posted missing, and later
his wife was advised by the Air Ministry
that he went missing and believed killed on
operations."[1]
F/S Tindle was
23. He is buried in Plot K. Row 2. Grave 46.
(picture
courtesy of Mr. Alan Wagener)
(picture by Wim Bastiaanse)