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Pilot Officer John (Jack) Morton - RAFVR was piloting
Halifax Mk. V LK973 coded SE-E on an operation to Frankfurt on
November 25/26, 1943. The aircraft departed Tholthorpe at
2349hrs but crashed in Seckbach, the entire crew was lost.
The crew
consisted of:
|
Name |
Service |
Trade |
Hometown |
Age |
|
P/O John Morton |
RAFVR |
Pilot |
Kearsley, Lancashire |
23 |
|
F/O Desmond Short |
RCAF |
2nd Pilot |
Toronto, Ontario |
28 |
|
Sgt Joseph LaFlamme |
RCAF |
Flight Engineer |
Montreal, Quebec |
- |
|
P/O Douglas Rands |
RAFVR |
Navigator |
Billingshurst, Sussex |
29 |
|
F/Sgt Robert Holmes |
RAFVR |
Bomb Aimer |
Torquay, Devon |
20 |
|
P/O George Milner |
RAFVR |
W/Op/AG |
- |
- |
|
P/O George Rich |
RCAF |
M/U Gunner |
San Francisco, CA |
24 |
|
W/O Michael Clynes - CGM |
RAFVR |
Rear Gunner |
- |
- |
Pilot Officer John (Jack) Morton
was the son of John and Margaret Morton of Kearsley,
Lancashire. He was with 431 squadron from its inception and
flew on the Squadron's very first operation. Due to the volume
of early returns the squadron was plagued with in 1943, John
and his crew had to abort several operations which were not
credited towards their tour of operations. He and his crew had
several encounters with the enemy and destroyed two ME-110s as
well as damaged a JU-88 prior to being lost. John
and his crew are buried in the Durnbach War Cemetery.
Operations
flown by P/O John Morton while with 431 Squadron:
|
Date |
Operation |
Aircraft |
Time Up |
Time Down |
|
2/3/1943 |
Nectarines - Mining |
Wellington Mk X HE205 SE-X |
1858 |
2217 |
|
3/3/1943 |
Nectarines - Mining* |
Wellington Mk X HE199 SE-R |
1904 |
2324 |
|
11/4/1943 |
Nectarines - Mining** |
Wellington Mk X HE476 SE-Z |
2100 |
0050 |
|
14/4/1943 |
Stuttgart |
Wellington Mk X HE201 SE-T |
2110 |
0510 |
|
26/4/1943 |
Duisberg |
Wellington Mk X HE201 SE-T |
0039 |
0550 |
|
4/5/1943 |
Dortmund |
Wellington Mk X MS475 SE- |
2240 |
0440 |
|
12/5/1943 |
Duisberg |
Wellington Mk X HE502 SE-Q |
2350 |
0500 |
|
28/5/1943 |
Beeches - Mining |
Wellington Mk X HE443 SE-O |
2315 |
0545 |
|
29/5/1943 |
Wuppertal |
Wellington Mk X HE502 SE-Q |
2240 |
0405 |
|
2/6/1943 |
Beeches - Mining |
Wellington Mk X HE265 SE-R |
0010 |
0600 |
|
11/6/1943 |
Dusseldorf |
Wellington Mk X HE201 SE-T |
2315 |
2335 |
|
14/6/1943 |
Sea Search |
Wellington Mk X HE518 SE-J |
0620 |
1005 |
|
21/6/1943 |
Krefeld |
Wellington Mk X HE201 SE-T |
2332 |
0408 |
|
28/6/1943 |
Cologne |
Wellington Mk X HE201 SE-T |
2320 |
0420 |
|
2/7/1943 |
St. Nazaire - Mining |
Wellington Mk X HE201 SE-T |
2220 |
0450 |
|
9/7/1943 |
Trefoil - Mining |
Wellington Mk X LN283 SE-P |
0115 |
0415 |
|
3/11/1943 |
Dusseldorf |
Halifax Mk.V LK898 SE-O |
1700 |
2258 |
|
18/11/1943 |
Ludwigshafen |
Halifax Mk.V |
1639 |
0050 |
|
19/11/1943 |
Leverkusen |
Halifax Mk.V LK898 SE-O |
1635 |
2254 |
|
22/11/1943 |
Berlin |
Halifax Mk.V LK975 SE-E |
1650 |
0019 |
|
25/11/1943 |
Frankfurt |
Halifax Mk.V LK975 SE-E |
2394 |
FTR |
*Attacked by JU88, claimed as damaged.
**Destroyed 2 ME110s over France
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