Awarding of CGM and DFM's to Sgt. Steere , Sgt. Mangione and F/Sgt Ritchie
Sgt. Gordon Ritchie: "As we crossed the French cost at Dieppe, all hell broke loose as the flak guns opened up on us. The pilot, S/L W.B. Anderson, caught rather a large fragment …and gave us the order t bale out - we were at eighteen thousand feet and the aircraft went into a vertical dive as the pilot slumped over the control column."
The navigator, bomb-aimer, and wireless operator bailed out. F/Sgt A. Capuston, Sgt L.S. O'Leary and WO1 J.D.J. Banning. F/Sgt Capuston evaded and returned to England, the other two where taking prisoner. Sgt. Steere dragged the injured pilot from his seat, took over the controls, and succeeded in wrestling the Halifax out of its dive. Ritchie and Mangione went forward to lend what assistance they could. Anderson was in pain but alive; his crew-mates gave him morphine and made him as comfortable as possible. They jettisoned the bombs and headed for England. Steere was at the controls but squatting deep in the metal bucket seat because he wasn't wearing a seat-type parachute. He couldn't see over the instrument panel. He maintained control by watching the airspeed indicator. altimeter and artificial horizon.
Their mayday calls brought answers from several stations. No one could pinpoint where they were so they decided to bail out. They moved Anderson to the rear, attached his static line for his chute and released him out of the escape hatch. Anderson died of his injuries and the others survived. Sgt. Steere was awarded the CGM and Sgt. Mangione and F/Sgt Ritchie were awarded the DFM.
Awarding of DFM to Sgt. H Glass RCAF
Sgt. Glass earned his immediate DFM, gazetted 2 May 1944, for his outstanding courgae during operations to Nuremburg on 30/31 Mar 1944. Their aircraft Halifax III, LK804 AL-Q ditched at 0645 in the English Channel. The nose section broke away and F/L Wilson, RCAF (P) was carried to the depths and was drowned. The rest of the crew were picked up following a tense operation involving aircraft and two RAF HSLs which found them drifting off the Normandy coastline. The rest of the crew rescued included F/O CW Wray RAF, who was injured, F/O JC Hall RCAF, Sgt SO Sharp RAF, Sgt HJ Robinson RAF, P/O F Finlay RAF.
P/O H Glass DFM was KIA on a raid to Chantilly, 7/8 Aug 1944.
Awarding of DFM to Sgt. PF Bolderstone RAF
Sgt. Bolderstone, a 19 year old ex-ATC cadet, won an immediate DFM on his first operational sortie. Gazetted on 12 Jan 1945, the citation pays tribute to his courage and devotion to duty by remaining at his post, despite being wounded, when his Halifax was hit by Flak over Cologne.