Cuth Thompson reported missing on 5/22/1940 my great grandmother received a telegram from the air ministry, to say that her son, Sergeant 581052- squadron 77 was reported missing.
No. 77 Squadron Motto: "Esse potius quam videri" ("To be, rather than seem"). Badge: A thistle. The thistle commemorates the fact that the squadron was formed in Scotland. Authority: King George VI, April 1938. No. 77 Squadron was formed at Edinburgh on 1st October 1916, and its work during the First World War was Home Defence against enemy airships, co-operation with the Forth garrison batteries and the Scottish Command in case of enemy landings, and the training of night-flying pilots for overseas. It was disbanded in 1919. In June 1937, No. 77 Squadron was re-formed at Finningley, Yorkshire, as a bomber unit. When war came again it was flying Whitleys from Driffield and during the early months of the war was employed on dropping Nickels, or propaganda leaflets, over enemy territory. Leaflets were dropped on the Ruhr, Vienna, Prague and Warsaw and, usually, the Whitleys operated from an advanced base in France. It was during the operation to Warsaw (Bomber Command's second visit to Poland but No. 77's first visit), on the night of 15/16th March 1940, that one of the squadron's crews performed a feat which probably remained unparalleled for the rest of the war. Having dropped their Nickels on Warsaw they returned safely across Germany and then, because the weather was bad, put down as soon as possible after crossing - as they thought - the Franco-German frontier. A few words with the local peasantry quickly disillusioned them, but by that time German troops were approaching on cycles. The quick-witted crew promptly dashed back into the aircraft, took off under rifle fire, and landed safely, but rather shaken, at a French airfield!1. In addition to Nickelling, No. 77 was employed on reconnaissance and Security Patrols during the early months of the war and in the course of some of its Security Patrols dropped bombs on what appeared to be harbour and seaplane base landing lights at or near Borkum, Sylt and Nordeney. The spring of 1940 saw the squadron start bombing in earnest and during the period March to June it figured in several notable Bomber Command "firsts". On 19/2Oth March it took part in the first attack on an enemy land target (Hornum, on the island of Sylt); on 11/12th May it took part in the first big attack on the German mainland (the exits of Munchen-Gladbach); and on 11/12th June it took part in the first attack on Italy (primary target the Fiat works at Turin). No. 77 Squadron continued its offensive against enemy land targets until April 1941, and then, early in May, was posted to Chivenor, North Devon, for temporary duty with No. 19 Group, Coastal Command. From Chivenor the Whitleys were mainly employed on flying anti-submarine patrols over the Bay of Biscay and on 3rd September one of them attacked and sank with depth charges U-705. Back in Yorkshire with its old parent Group (No. 4) No. 77 Squadron began to convert to Halifaxes in October 1942, and was ready in plenty of time for the Battle of the Ruhr which opened in the following spring. The, squadron continued with Halifaxes for the rest of the European war and, in addition to playing a prominent part in the bomber offensive, also participated in Bomber Command's highly-successful Gardening, or minelaying, campaign. It also shared - in September/October 1944 - in the task of flying nearly half a million gallons of petrol to an airfield near Brussels for the Second Army which was then desperately short of petrol for its lorries and tanks. On 7th May 1945, No. 77 Squadron was transferred to Transport Command. 1. The aircraft involved in this incident was Whitley VN1387, "L-Love" captained by Flight Lieutenant Tomlin. A WW1 parallel to this story will be found in the history of No. 100 Squadron. Bomber Command WWII Bases: Driffield : Jul 1938-Aug 1940 Detachments in France (Villeneuve, code name Sister) at various times during period Oct 1939-Mar 1940. Detachments at Kinloss, Nov 1939 (on loan to No.18 Gp. Coastal Command) & Apr/May 1940. [*]Linton-on-Ouse : Aug 1940-Oct 1940 [*]Topcliffe : Oct 1940-Sep 1941 [*]Leeming : Sep 1941-May 1942 [*]Chivenor (on loan to No. 19 Group, Coastal Command) : May 1942-Oct 1942 [*]Elvington : Oct 1942-May 1944 [*]Full Sutton : May 1944-May 1945 Transferred to Transport Command 7.5.45. Bomber Command WWII Aircraft: Armstrong Whitworth Whitley III and V : Nov 1938-Oct 1942 Handley Page Halifax B.II, B.III, B.V and B.VI : Dec 1942-May 1945 Code Letters: During the 1938 Munich crisis No. 77 was allotted the code letters "ZL". In WW2 the sqdn's a/c were coded "KN". First Operational Mission in WWII: 5/6th September 1939 : 2 Whitley III's dropped Nickels over the Ruhr. First Bombing Mission in WWII: 12/13th December 1939 : 1 Whitley bombed "scattered lights" on edge of island of Borkum and in harbour there, and another Whitley bombed lights in sea off island of Sylt. Both a/c were flying security patrols. Last Operational Mission in WWII: 25th April 1945 : 19 Halifaxes bombed gun batteries on island of Wangerooge.
Last Operational Mission in WWII: 25th April 1945 : 19 Halifaxes bombed gun batteries on island of Wangerooge. Aerial Bombing | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Regards Tom
Hi, I cannot find a 77sqdn loss for this date, the only Thompson i can find on CWGC near this date is C.W. Thompson, kia 23/05/40, but was with 15sqdn, and no Thompson in pow list for this date. Regards.......Alan.
Found him - sgt | a/c | p/o | 1940 | 2184 | Flight Archive POW - Third column, half-way down, just above "London Gazette"
Hi Dave, Nice bit of spotting, i have also found the reason why i did not find him. Chorley has him as A.C. Thomas, (not Thompson) on board Whitley N1384, on ops to Cambrai 20/21st May 40, which force landed near Abbeville, but he also states that the crew returned to Driffield and resumed their operational duties, which may be why Clutton-Brock does not list him in his list of Bomber Command pow's, but your list in Flight Global cleary states pow.
I don't know if the person who asked the original question has popped back past to check on any responses, but might as well continue anyway... Thanks for the extra info Alan - typing "Whitley N1384" into google gets a few hits, most of which agree with what you have provided. One hit actually states that one crew member was taken POW - 77 Squadron RAF, Whitley Losses and Casualties, September 1939 to May 1942. Cumulative Operational losses - 9 Date - 20/May/40 Aircraft - N1384 Aircraft Status - lost Killed or Missing - 0 POW - 1 Interned/ ''safe' or evader - 4 Target - Catillon Pilot - D D Pryde I wonder what happened, why was only one member taken POW??
The pilot picked up a DFC for this mission, and the citation contradicts the force-landed theory: 11/06/40 The London Gazette announced that Flying Officer David Douglas Pryde has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation read: On 20th May 1940, this officer was detailed for a collaboration operation involving an attack on the communication centre at Hannapes. Despite difficult conditions, he succeeded in identifying the target from a very low altitude. Although his aircraft was hit heavily, Flying Officer Pryde climbed to 3,000 feet and executed a successful bombing attack. His aircraft subsequently caught fire, but he continued flying and when height could no longer be maintained, the entire crew landed by parachute. Flying Officer Pryde has completed sixteen operational flights during six months of war flying and has displayed considerable courage and determination. Whitley N1384/KN- 77 Squadron Flying Officer David Douglas Pryde Pilot Officer A W Dunn Sergeant A C Thomas Aircraftsman 1st Class T B Kennedy Aircraftsman 1st Class F Crawford Whitley took off at 2036hrs for an operation near Cambrai. It was reported to have forcelanded near Abbeville (Somme), France. The crew soon returned to Driffield and resumed their operational duties.