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Those known to have served at RAF Leconfield during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Gordon Thomas Donald McKinlay. F/O. (d.26th Feb 1943)
- Harveye Ronald George. LAC
- Harveye Ronald George. LAC
- Latham Francis Graham. Sgt. (d.5th May 1943)
- Matthews Wilf.
- Nicholls Thomas Archibald. LAC.
- Pugh Harold Kenneth. F/O. (d.18th April 1945)
- Stainer. Peter H.. Sgt.
- Webster James Robert. F/Sgt.
- Willsher Ronald Joseph Hicks. Sergeant
- Wisbey DFC.. James. F/Lt. (d.28th Jun 1944 )
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
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Want to know more about RAF Leconfield? There are:118 items tagged RAF Leconfield available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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LAC Ronald George Harveye 76 Squadron My father LAC Ronald George Harvey was at Holm-on-Spalding-Moor for part of the second world war with 76 Squadron. He joined in 10/4/1940. He was also at Leconfield and RAF Cosford. In March 1945 he was sent to the Middle East and discharged on 18/12/45. My father died in 1996 and I have his RAF records. If anyone is still alive who knew him or can give me any more information on him and his service I would be very grateful as I am researching my family tree.
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LAC Ronald George Harveye 76 Squadron My father LAC Ronald George Harvey was at Holm-on-Spalding-Moor for part of the second world war with 76 Squadron. He joined in 10/4/1940. He was also at Leconfield and RAF Cosford. In March 1945 he was sent to the Middle East and discharged on 18/12/45. My father died in 1996 and I have his RAF records. If anyone is still alive who knew him or can give me any more information on him and his service I would be very grateful as I am researching my family tree.
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Sergeant Ronald Joseph Hicks Willsher 52 Squadron My Grandfather served in WW2. My Nan & Grandad were supposed to be getting married & everything was ready for the big day. My Grandfather could not get back in time so they had the party with all the guests as planned & then when he got back they were married.
He died whilst in service & had a military funeral. He was stationed all over the place. I know he was in Penang, Singapore for a while. He was at RAF Leconfield,Yorkshire when he died & is buried at the church there. I do have some photos of his funeral. However there are some missing & I was wondering if anyone knew if there were any copies of the funeral photos?
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Wilf Matthews 51 Squadron Our crew was stationed with 51 squadron on three separate occasions, as we had three different skippers & two different bomb-aimers, which meant going back to con-unit for the necessary training with these chaps. We did our christening on the Nuremberg trip of 30 March '44, and made a forced landing at Wing (Otu) near Leighton Buzzard, Beds. After which our skipper, F/lt Joe Pawell, who was an American, flying in the RCAF, went to hospital in London with an ulcer, and after that first visit we didn't see him again. Back on the squadron, we did 'spare bod' trips, during which we lost our bomb aimer, Bob Burgum, on a raid near Aachen.
we went back to 'con unit', where we crewed up with new Skipper, F/o Danny King, RAAF. and bomb-aimer 'Grem' Emlyn-Jones. Danny had been with 77 Sdn, where we understand, he pranged on take-off with a bomb-load and was awarded an M.I.D. that he never talked of, but he did wear the emblem. Later on, we met one of his previous gunners, a F/sgt 'Herby' Holroyd. "Grem' came to us from a crew who had pranged at Garrowby Hill, where he has since erected a memorial to them. I remembered one of his gunners from my training days, a nice guy named Sid Booker. Grem and I are in fairly regular contact. We only did five trips with Danny, and on the last one he had a break-down, 17/7/44, was taken off flying 'heavies', and the last we knew, was on single -engined planes.
Back to con-unit where we teamed up with F/O Bob Gray, and at the end of his training we returned to Snaith to do a 'Bull's- eye' to Overflakee on 17/9/44, after which we carried on the usual squadron life up to the end of the war. The only change being that the squadron moved from Snaith to Leconfield, to do the 'final trip' to Wangerooge on 25/4/45. I am fortunate to still have my log-book and a stack of memories. I'm also grateful to my daughter, who is always ready for my stories, and who found this web-site.
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F/O. Thomas Donald McKinlay Gordon 196 Squadron (d.26th Feb 1943)  Tom Gordon was my only uncle but sadly he was killed 5 years before I was born. He was a navigator in 196 Squadron and was in a Wellington X bomber serial BE161 code ZO when it crashed near Middleton on the Wold, Yorkshire on 26 February 1943. There were no survivors.
The only other name from the flight that I have found is a Sergeant G.A.A. Ranken.
I have found it extremely difficult to ascertain whether Tom and his fellow crew members were embarking or returning from an operation or whether it was a training flight but there is a suggestion that an unsecured piece of canvas blew out of the bomb bay and lodged in the tail ailerons.
I have plenty of photographs of Tom including some taken during his training in South Africa on Avro Ansons that I would be pleased to post if anyone was interested.
Editors Note:
Flying Officer Thomas Donald McKinlay Gordon served with 196 Squadron Royal Air Force during WW2 and was killed on the 26th February 1943.
The squadron was operating from RAF Leconfield, East Riding of Yorkshire from December 1942 to July 1943.
Crew List:
- Ranken, George Alexander Aitken (1052516) RAFVR; age: 21 Sgt
- Robinson, Walter (1073018) RAFVR; age: 32 LAC
- Gordon, Thomas Donald (120884) RAFVR; age: 22 Fg Off
- Herbert, Dennis (1425487) RAFVR; age: 19 Sgt
- Smart, Nevill (124547) RAFVR; age: n/k Fg Off
- Bernick, Lloyd Adolf (R/62500) RCAF; age: 21 WO II
Middleton on the Wolds is in East Yorkshire near Driffield.
The aircraft crashed at 1210 hrs some 2 miles E of Middleton-on-the-Wolds, 7 miles SW of Great Driffield, Yorkshire, exploding on impact. The accident was attributable to the canvas bomb screen detaching and fouling the elevator control surfaces. This was apparently during an aircraft test flight.
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LAC. Thomas Archibald "Nick" Nicholls 466 Sqdn.      I often wondered why my mother called my dad Nick, when his name was Tom. The reason was that it was his nickname in the RAF during the war when they had first met.
My dad was a ground crew mechanic in the RAF and worked with the RAAF Squadron 466 at both Driffield and Leconfield. He worked as an aircraft engineer for the rest of his life.
He told me that he enjoyed going up for a 'spin' with the pilots when they weren't on missions - apparently it was customary (given the time) for pilots to offer mechanics a quick flight after they had been working on a problem engine. If they declined they would be told 'get back under the bonnet and take another look, when you're ready to go up then it's fixed'!
When my mother heard about these 'spins' she made him a tiny bear, no bigger than a matchbox, as a good luck mascot. One of the pilots took a shine to it and borrowed it every time he went on a mission, he would sit it on the dashboard in the cockpit so it could 'see' where it was going. It must have brought him luck as the pilot returned the bear and himself safely home every time. My dad said he was the proud owner of the only bear that ever bombed the Nazis.
I'm afraid I don't know the names of anyone else in his war-time photographs. Sadly he passed away in 1994 and, as is often the case, I wished I'd asked him more about his war-time experiences because I don't even know the name of the pilot - but I still have the bear.
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F/O. Harold Kenneth Pugh 640 Squadron (d.18th April 1945) Flying Officer Harold Pugh was a farmer from Mt Barker in Western Australia. A talented academic and sportsman he was dux of the Muresk Agricultural College.
Harold was a pilot in the 640 Squadron based at Leconfield. He lost his life when his plane crashed into the North Sea on 18th of April 1945.
His son, Neil Pugh, was only 2 years old when his father was killed and has never had any personal effects of his fathers. Two weeks ago a trunk was uncovered on the family farm in Mt Barker, Western Australia. It contained Harold's personal effects that were sent home from England after his death. The trunk was presented to Neil having laid unopened for 72 years. There was many special items in there that Neil will cherish. It also contained a letter Harold wrote on learning that Neil had been born.
We would very much like to reach out and make contact with other relatives of the 640 Squadron. In particular we want to know the names of the airmen who flew and died with Harold on 18th of April 1945. Harold also received a Caterpillar Club pin so we assume he bailed out of a disabled bomber at some stage and lived to tell the tale.
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Sgt. Francis Graham Latham 466 Squadron (d.5th May 1943) Sergeant Francis Latham was the son of Edward James Latham and Charlotte Emily Latham of Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia.
Aged 21 he is buried in the De Wijk General Cemetery, Drenthe, Netherlands.
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F/Sgt. James Robert Webster No. 640 Squadron James Webster was my granddad. I never had a chance to meet him, and he would have never known he had a grandson. My mum has provided this info from old records and paperwork that she has.
James was part of No. 640 Squadron, based at RAF Leconfield, and a crew-member aboard Halifax bombers until 1944. He was then transferred to RAF Hemswell, where he flew on Lancaster bombers.
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F/Lt. James "Pip" Wisbey DFC. No.640 Squadron (d.28th Jun 1944 )      Flight Lieutenant James Wisbey DFC of No.640 Squadron, Bomber Command, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, was killed in action on the 28th of June 1944 at the age of 23, 6 weeks after he was married.
James was the son of James and Catherine Edith Wisbey of Chingford and the husband of Brenda Walker Wisbey, also of Chingford. As a Pilot Officer, he was awarded the DFC on the 23rd May 1944. The citation reads: “This officer has completed very many sorties, including 4 attacks on Berlin and 3 on Frankfurt. He has set a fine example of devotion to duty and has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination. One night in March, 1944, he piloted an aircraft detailed to attack Stuttgart. Soon after leaving base, it was discovered that the overload tank was not functioning. Nevertheless, Pilot Officer Wisbey flew on to his far distant target and made his attack. He afterwards flew safely back to this country and landed at an airfield with only sufficient petrol left for a few minutes flying. His determination was typical of that he has always shown to complete his allotted task successfully.”
On the 28th of June 1944, he was piloting a Halifax Mk.III bomber (MZ733 C8-H) which took off from RAF Leconfield, Yorkshire, at 05.27 hrs to attack the V-1 flying bomb site at Wizernes. At 08.33 hrs, as it returned from the mission, the aircraft crashed at RAF Hawkinge, Kent and burst into flames, killing all aboard. The crew are buried in their home towns across the UK. James Wisbey is buried in the Chingford Mount Cemetery, Essex.
The full crew of Halifax III MZ733 were:
- Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) James Wisbey DFC
- Pilot Officer (Nav.) George Archibald Kerruish
- Sergeant (Flt. Engr.) John Milton Kenrick
- Flight Sergeant (Air Bomber) Gordon Hunter Mckenzie Carey
- Flight Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Edward Norman Todd
- Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Stanley Clifford Butcher
- Sergeant (Air Gnr.) Edward James Percy Spink
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Sgt. Peter H. Stainer. 466 Squadron Peter Stainer served as a Wireless Operator with 466 Squadron, Royal Air Force during WW2.
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