Archie - A Pilot in RAF Bomber Command - W1037 ZA-U from 10 Squadron

W1037 ZA-U from 10 Squadron

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March 30/31 1942
Air Raid onTirpitz

April 27/28 1942
Air Raid on Tirpitz

April 28/29 1942
Air Raid on Tirpitz

Battleship Tirpitz

On 30th March 1942, the crew of Halifax W1037 ZA-U from 10 Squadron took off at 1843 hrs from RAF Lossiemouth on the North East Coast of Scotland to participate in an attack on the German Battleship Tirpitz which was moored at the time in Fættenfjord in Norway.

The crew were unable to locate the target due to 10/10th's low cloud obscuring the fjords and valleys.

The aircraft and crew returned safely to base landing at RAF Lossiemouth at 0253 hrs with all mines still onboard on 31st March .

Rank	Name	Force	Crew Position	Age	Home Town	Fate
F/L	MILLER		Pilot			Returned
Sgt	HAMPTON		2nd Pilot			Returned
P/O	ROBERTS		Navigator			Returned
Sgt	RYDER J		W/Op Air Gunner			Returned
Sgt	STOTT		W/Op Air Gunner			Returned
Sgt	CURRAN		Tail Gunner			Returned
Sgt	ANNABLE		Flight Engineer			Returned

On 27th April 1942, the crew of Halifax W1037 ZA-U from 10 Squadron took off at 2032 hrs from RAF Lossiemouth on the North East Coast of Scotland to participate in an attack on the German Battleship Tirpitz which was moored at the time in Fættenfjord in Norway.

The10 Squadron Operation Records Book states that the aircraft failed to return and no contact was heard from the crew after take off from Lossiemouth.

Rank	Name	Force	Crew Position	Age	Home Town	Fate
F/L	MILLER	RAAF	Pilot		Australia	POW
Sgt	GREGORY	RNZAF	2nd Pilot		New Zealand	POW
P/O	ROBERTS		Navigator			POW
Sgt	RYDER J		W/Op Air Gunner			POW
Sgt	STOTT H H		W/Op Air Gunner	22	Selby, Yorkshire, England	Died
Sgt	CURRAN		Tail Gunner			POW
Sgt	ANNABLE E	RAF	Flight Engineer		York, England	Died

The aircraft and crew had infact reached the target area, located Tirpitz and dropped their load. As the aircraft flew away from Tirpitz and into the next fjord to start making for home it was hit by heavy gun fire from some of the German ships. Initially the crew were unaware that any damage had been done to the aircraft and continued to fly on. However, the tail gunner, Sgt Curran, alerted the pilot to the fact that one of the wings was on fire and that they were trailing around 300 feet of flames.

The pilot, F/L Miller, knew that with the wing on fire he didn't have much time to get the aircraft down and told the crew that he was going to ditch the Halifax on the Åsenfjord, three miles from the shore at Røkke in Skatval, which was fortunately flat calm at the time. During the landing the wing exploded. Both the flight engineer, Sgt Annable, and the 2nd wireless operator, Sgt Stott, died either during the crash landing or as a result of having been hit by flak.

Three of the crew, F/L Miller, Sgt Ryder and P/O Roberts were rescued from the freezing water by a kriegsmarine (German sailors) patrol vessel which was guarding the U-boat nets at the entrance of Åsenfjord and then were taken onboard the German battleship, Prince Eugen, where they spent the rest of the night before being taken ashore as pow's.

P/O Roberts (Navigator) carrying Irvine Jacket, F/L 'Dusty' Miller (Pilot) at top of steps and Sgt Jake Ryder (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) on extreme left after being taken POW by the Germans.	Sgt Gregory RNZAF, 2nd Pilot from W1037 ZA-U after being taken POW

Photo: J Morrison	Photo: J Morrison

The tail gunner, Sgt Curran, and the 2nd pilot, Sgt Gregory, had managed to climb into the aircrafts life raft and through the rest of the night paddled and drifted until they came ashore near Malvik. They were discovered as day broke and taken pow.

Sgt Annable and Sgt Stott are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England.