On February 2nd of 1944, we were stationed at Middleton-St-George with 419 "Moose" Squadron. On that day, we were assigned to do a search for a plane (presumably a Halifax) who had gone lost coming back from operations. It presumably went down over the Yorkshire Moors or the North Sea off the Yorkshire coast. The Pilot was named Laidlaw but that is all I know about the crew. We never found them and I have always wondered about the outcome of the search.
T/o 1806 Middleton St. George for mine laying duties off Borkum. Lost without trace. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Sgt Ahston had won an immediate DFM, Gazetted 28 September 1943, for his prompt actions, which probably saved his Halifax from loss during operations to Mönchengladbach.’
Sorry, you were right. It was February 13th, not the 2nd, that we went on a search for the crew of F/L Laidlaw. They told us he had been traced over the moors and then just disappeared. It has always bothered me that we could not find them.