208624 W/O James Benbow DFM.Royal Air Force 97 Squadron. from:Newport Road, Middlesbrough Jim Benbow, with his wife Madge, owned 'Jims Cafe' on Newport Road, Middlesbrough in the 1930s and 40s. He volunteered for RAF service in September 1940 as an air gunner. He joined 97 Squadron and flew with Pilot Ernest Deverill. Together the crew were involvd in many famous bombings raids icluding the 1000 bomber raids over Cologne, Essen and Bremen. >Also the famous armament works at Le Creusot, for which Jim received the DFM. After a full tour of duty then teaching others in Scotland the crew reformed to fly again with 97 Squadron (now Pathfinders) and now based at Bourn. On the 17th December 1943 after a successful raid over Berlin they returned to find thick fog and unable to land diverted to Graveley. With little fuel they attempted to land and crashed in the fuel store. Jim was the only survivor but with a badly broken leg and severe burns he was placed under the famous plastic surgeon McIndoe at East Grinstead Hospital, where all McIndoe's patients formed 'The Guinea Pig Club'. Jim returned to Middlebrough in 1945 for the birth of his son Peter and to continue the cafe business. He never fully recovered from his injuries and died 11 years later in 1956, at the age of 47.
|