out on an anti
shipping mission near the Dutch coast. In
the Marsdiep near Den Helder the bombers
found a convoy, consisting of a not yet
finished destroyer, four freighters and ten
escorting vessels. The Beaufighters attacked
with torpedo's, rockets and gunfire. The
destroyer was sunk and three escort vessels
damaged. Several Beaufighters then attacked ground
installations with their guns. A radar
station, barracks, hangars and AA
positions are strafed.
German anti aircraft fire during the attack is fierce.
The sunk
destroyer is the T61. Also sunk are a Dutch
hopper barge 'Gooiland' and two gunboats; AF49
and AF59 and a number of smaller ships.
Two
Beaufighters are shot down. One of them is
that of W/C Tacon and F/O Wardle.
Diving down
against a hail of fire from the ships and
the harbour, their Beaufighter is badly hit
in the wing and fuel tank. Tacon fires his
rockets, before his
aircraft is again hit in the fuselage. Ammunition
in the cannon boxes catches fire and
explodes. His navigator, 23 year old F/O
Wilfred Wardle, cries out and Tacon turns
around to see him lying dead on the floor.
He begins to climb, tugging on the lanyard
of his bottom escape hatch, but it will not
open.
As flames
lick around him, burning his face and
helmet, he almost gives up hope. When his
Beaufighter is hit for the third time, Tacon
can see the gun post firing at him and
decides to take the gunners with him. He
rolls the Beaufighter on its back and dives
straight at the post. His last recollection
is of the airspeed indicator showing 360
knots. Then there is a violent explosion and
he floats through the air, pulling his
ripcord just in time.
He lands on
the island of Texel, so badly burned around
the eyes that he can hardly see. He is soon
taken prisoner by German soldiers, who
bundle him roughly aboard a boat which takes
him to Den Helder. On arrival, he is
surrounded by a group of sailors and kicked
violently before being marched him off to the
local jail. He ends up in the West compound
of Stalag Luft I.
F/O Wardle is
buried at Den Burg (Texel) Cemetery, Plot K.
Row 7. Grave 164.
Wing Commander
E. W. Tacon survives the war and remains in
the RNZAF. He dies, at age 85, on 9
September 2003, in Auckland, New Zealand.
Click here for
his obituary.
(Picture by
Rob van Voorst)
