I had the great honour of spending a day at the RAF Museum at Hendon recently in the company of Vic Stevens and his wife, Gwen.

For those of you who are not familiar with the story of the Halifax at Hendon, it was shot down on the night of 27/28 April 1942 during an attack on the German battleship, Tirpitz, which was moored in Faettenfjord near Trondheim in Norway.

Aided by his crew, the Captain of the Halifax, Pilot Officer Don MacIntyre RCAF skillfully crash landed the Halifax (which was on fire) on the surface of Lake Hoklingen which was covered with a thick layer of ice and snow.  All onboard survived and all but Vic Stevens, the Flight Engineer, evaded to Sweden and eventually made it safely back to the UK.  Vic injured his leg during the crash landing and, unable to keep up with the rest of the crew and not wishing to hold up their chances of making an escape, had no option but to hand himself over to the Germans.  He spent the remainder of the war as a POW.

Steve, Tony and Pete in the blue overalls are members of The Society of Friends of the Royal Air Force Museum, volunteers who work on the aircraft, vehicles and boats in the Hendon collection.  Vic Stevens and his wife Gwen in the centre, gent on the extreme right is a member of the RAF Museum staff.

 

Gudonya Linzee! :-)

very much enjoyed your day at Hendon, Linzee! (Haven't been there since '78!) I hope to have a similar privilege of attending Trenton shortly when the weather becomes more spring-like with a former 408 Squadron Pilot who flew ops in '42-43. This kind gentleman will be 90 y.o. this month and says he's waiting around to see the Trenton Halifax but they'd better not keep delaying its restoration too much!

He's still as sharp as a tack and it's fascinating to hear the stories and events of the days and the sacrifices all too few know or appreciate ...

Impressive,

Must have been a great day for this former warrior. Besides, I also know now what you look like.

Cheers

Cees

Don't Canadians always land skillfully? Yuk, Yuk.
Good for Linzee. Hi Cees. Cheers, Karl Kj

Yes, I did very much enjoy the day , it was very memorable. Vic and his wife have visited Hendon many times over the years since the Halifax has been there so it wasn’t their first trip to see it (nor mine). It was very special to have been able to be there at the same time and hear directly from Vic about his experiences. It was also incredibly interesting to spend the day with the boys from the ‘Friends of the RAF Museum’ and to be able to see some of the things that I wouldn’t have been able to see on a regular visit to the place.

Bob, enjoy your visit to Trenton with your ex 408 Sqdn man. It really is something special to be able to spend time in the company of such people.

Cees, I think Vic and his wife enjoyed the visit as much as I did, they certainly seemed to. They are both incredibly courageous individuals and so full of fun and life despite all they have endured over the years.

Karl, Don MacIntyre landed the a/c blind. The cockpit was filled with smoke from the fire, despite removing the hatch to try and clear the smoke. Don couldn’t see his instruments, let alone out of the aircraft. Ian Hewitt, the Nav, was lying in the nose of the Halifax where he had been positioned to operate the bomb sight. He continuously called out instructions to Don so that they did not hit the sides of the valley they were flying through and guided them down onto the lake. So yes, definitely a skilful landing by that Canadian (but I’m sure you’re right, all Canadian Pilots are skilful  )

If anyone is interested in reading further about this subject then I can highly recommend Tirpitz the Halifax Raids by Nigel Smith. Published by Air Research Publications. Or, there’s some info about it online here http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/archie_bombercommand/1048tls.html

Thanks & Regards

Linzee