F/O. Thomas Donald McKinlay Gordon
Royal Air Force 196 Squadron
from:Gorebridge, Midlothian
(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.
