Operation: Anti-Submarine patrol

Date: 11th/12th June 1944 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit No: 224 Squadron, 19 Group, Coastal Command

Type: Liberator GR.V

Serial No: BZ940

Code: XB:S

Location: Off the west coast of the Brest Peninsular

Base: RAF St. Eval, Cornwall

Pilot (Captain): Flt Lt. James Elliot Jenkison 411410 RNZAF Age 25. MiA (1)

1st Pilot: Flt Sgt. Kenneth Gordon Edward Graves 1498580 RAFVR Age 22. MiA

Nav: Flt Lt. Alan Munro McLeod 402202 RNZAF Age 24. MiA (2)

Nav B: Flt Sgt. Thomas Stephen Jones 425683 RAAF Age 20. MiA

Flt Eng: Flt Sgt. Robert Thomas Green 1628825 RAFVR Age 19. MiA

WOp/ Air: Plt Off. Cyril Chilton Chitty 173584 RAFVR Age 21. MiA

WOp/Air: WO. Francis John Reid 1376394 RAFVR Age? MiA

WOp/ Air: Flt Sgt. Laurence Albert Starr 1190559 RAFVR Age? MiA

WOp/ Air: Sgt. Arthur Jenkins 1311544 RAFVR Age 33. MiA

WOp Mech/ Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Leslie Dixon 1238845 RAFVR Age 22. KiA (3)

Above: Courtesy of the Evening Post, volume cxxxviii, Issue 133, dated 2nd December 1944

Above Flt Sgt. Thomas Stephen Jones from his service record

REASON FOR LOSS:

Liberator GR.V BZ940 took off from RAF St. Eval at 01:05 hrs on the 12th June 1944 to undertake an anti-submarine patrol in the western approaches to the English Channel.

Note: Liberator GR.V BZ940 was built as B-24D #42-64017.

At 03:05 hrs a message was received from the aircraft reporting a sighting of two U-Boats at Lat/Long 48 37N, 05 28W which is about 78 km (48½ miles) WNW of the port of Brest in France.

At 03:15 hrs a second message was received reporting a further sighting of two U-Boats at Lat/Long 48 12N, 05 54W which is about 55 km (34¼ miles) SW of the 1st reported position.

At 05:02 hrs a message was sent to the aircraft asking “have you attacked”. The message was not acknowledged. The aircraft failed to return at the expected time.

There are uncorroborated reports that one of the U-boats was U-441, however, this encounter is not recorded as one of the attacks on this boat. See the entry for U-411 on uboat.net. No records of a U-boat encounter with an aircraft on this date and in the area have been found.

(1) The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) database incorrectly spells the name of Jenkison as Jenkinson.

James Elliot Jenkison enlisted in the RNZAF on the 6th May 1940. However, he was not called forward until the 21st March 1941 and posted to the Initial Training Wing (ITW) at Wereroa, RNZAF Station Levin.

After completing his initial training on the 14th April he was posted to No.3 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at RNZAF Station Harewood, for elementary flying training.

Upon successfully completing this stage of his flying training on the 25th May he was posted to No. 2 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at RNZAF Station Woodbourne, located west of Blenheim. On the 5th July 1942 he successfully completed his flying training and was awarded his Pilots Wings.

He was appointed to a commission and promoted to Plt Off. on the 16th August 1941. On the 31st August 1941 he embarked for the United Kingdom (UK). He arrived in the UK on the 18th October 1941 and reported to No. 5 Personnel Reception Centre (PRC) in Bournemouth, Dorset.

On the 22nd November he proceeded to No. 3 School of General Reconnaissance at RAF Squires Gate, Blackpool for a Maritime Navigation course, which he completed during February 1942.

In early March 1942 he was posted to No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Silloth in Cumberland to train on the Lockheed Hudson.

He was promoted to Fg Off. on the 16th August 1942.

In November 1942 he completed a Beam Approach course at No. 1509 (Beam Approach Training) Flight at RAF Dyce near Aberdeen. After joining up with his crew Fg Off. Jenkison was posted to 224 Squadron flying the Liberator, first at RAF Beaulieu in Hampshire and in April 1943 at RAF St. Eval, in Cornwall.

He was promoted to Flt Lt. on the 16th August 1943.

Flt Lt Jenkinson took part in 34 operational missions and logged a total of 975 hrs which included convoy escorts, shipping patrols, anti-submarine patrols over the Atlantic, and the Bay of Biscay, and on air sea rescue search missions.

(2) Flt Lt. McLeod had previously flown operationally in the Middle East with 38 Sqn and 221 Sqn.

On the 5th November 1942 he was the Navigator aboard a Wellington engaged in a transport flight from Shallufa in Egypt to Malta for 69 Sqn. The pilot’s report and details of the crew and passengers are as follows:

‘As pilot of Wellington VIII HX507 I was proceeding in transit from LG.226 to Malta. Roughly 120 miles from Malta the port engine cut out for five minutes and then revived, continuing to cut at frequent intervals. The Navigator and W/Op sent an SOS, position, course, speed and turned IFF to Stud 3 [Mayday]. All movable equipment was jettisoned. All possible efforts were made to determine the trouble, fuel lines, oil, emergency pumps, etc., but there was no effective result. The port engine finally caught fire, was extinguished but failed to revive again. At this time the starboard engine began to cut and ditching became necessary. We landed on track 86 miles from Malta [02:00 hrs 6th November]. The 6 aircrew and 3 of the 4 passengers were saved. The fourth went down with the aircraft which sank immediately. The dinghy inflated but was punctured and had no equipment of any sort aboard i.e. Bellows, patching outfit or plugs etc. The position sent by the Navigator was accurate and we were rescued by an ASR Launch at 11:00 hours’.

The crew of six were uninjured :

Pilot (Captain): Plt Off. J.N. Ritter J8193 RCAF - 38 Sqn
2nd Pilot: Sgt. E.J. Powell 1033300 RAFVR - 106 Sqn
Nav (B): Plt Off. A.M. McLeod 402202 RNZAF - 221 Sqn
WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. J.F. Whitlock R796821 RCAF - 221 Sqn
WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. A.R. Sadler 1188561 RAFVR - 221 Sqn
WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. J.G.R. Cooper 1169711 RAFVR - 221 Sqn

The four passengers were all from 458 Sqn:

LAC. Ian William Batton 18762 RAAF Age 20. - Missing believed killed;
AC1. John Andrew ‘Jack’ Baxter 22524 RAAF Age 24. - Fractured ribs;
LAC. John Thornes Lilly 16242 RAAF Age 21. - Fractured left arm and right knee cap damaged. He discharged from the RAAF as medically unfit with a permanent disability;
AC1. James Holden ‘Jim’ McInnes 16506 RAAF Age 26. - Lacerations.

On another flight on the 6th December 1942 his aircraft crashed on take off with engine trouble. The crew were uninjured. The details of this incident have not been found.

He had logged 903 hrs on operations.

(3) The body of Flt Sgt. Dixon was later recovered off the Île Molène which is about 14 km (8½ mls) WNW off le Conquet on the Brest Peninsular. He was initially buried in the Île Molène communal cemetery.

Burial Details.

Above: The Runnymede Memorial (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC))

Flt Lt. James Elliot Jenkison. Runnymede Memorial Panel 262. Born on the 27th December 1918 in Motueka, Tasman. Son of Jon and Jeanie Jenikson of Wellington, New Zealand.

His brother John ‘Jack’ Jenkison also served in WW2.

Flt Sgt. Kenneth Gordon Edward Graves. Runnymede Memorial Panel 218. Born on the 5th November 1921 in West Ham, Greater London. Son of Edward Albert C. and Grace Amelia (née Rogers) Graves of Midhurst, Sussex, England.

Flt Lt. Alan Munro McLeod. Runnymede Memorial Panel 262. Born on the 16th June 1919 in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Son of John James and Margaret Jane Lena McLeod of Mosman, New South Wales, Australia.

Flt Sgt. Thomas Stephen Jones. Runnymede Memorial Panel 260. Born on the 28th February 1924 in Kingaroy, Queensland. Son of Thomas and Florence Dorothy Jones of Memerambi, Queensland, Australia.

Flt Sgt. Robert Thomas Green. Runnymede Memorial Panel 218. Born in 3rd Qtr of 1924 in West Ham, Essex. Son of Harry and of Katherine Mary (née Hunt) Green of Forest Gate, Essex, England.

Plt Off. Cyril Chilton Chitty. Runnymede Memorial Panel 210. Born 3rd Qtr of 1922 In Blean, Kent. Son of Henry and Lilian (née Chilton) Chitty. Husband of Gwendoline May (née Parrott) Chitty of Bromham, Bedfordshire, England.

WO. Francis John Reid. Runnymede Memorial Panel 214. No further information found.

Flt Sgt. Laurence Albert Starr. Runnymede Memorial Panel 222. Left effects to a Frederick Albert and Beatrice (née Woodstock) Starr of Birmingham, England.

Sgt. Arthur Jenkins. Runnymede Memorial Panel 232. Born on the 26th February 1911 in Kemsey, Worcestershire. Son of Arthur and Annie (née Southam) Jenkins of King's Heath, Birmingham, England.

Above the Pornic War Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC))

Flt Sgt. Leslie Dixon. Recovered and laid to rest at the Pornic War Cemetery Grave 2.F.12. Born on the 17th June 1948. Grave Inscription: ‘ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS. ONE OF THE BEST. DAD,MAM AND BROTHER GEORGE’. Son of George and Ethel Mary Dixon of Sheffield, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape (Aircrew Remembered) and dedicated to the relatives of this crew.

Other sources listed below:

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