419 Sqn vet's story...assistance (ORBs) needed.

Today I had the great pleasure of spending two hours with a friend of my father's and veteran Lancaster pilot Jim Henderson. He agreed to talk to me about his war-time experiences and I came away from this meeting simply blown away. With RCAF 419 Sqn alone, he flew over 50 missions from late 1943 until the end of hostilities. He and his entire crew survived their first 35 mission tour. He was shot down twice on his second tour, being badly wounded the first time in January of '45. He could not or would not talk about the second incident. He flew his Lancaster back to Canada in June '45 with Tiger Force. Also, before that, from Dec 1941 until transferring to 419 Sqn, he flew Beaufighters and B-25's (yes, that's right) in the Mediterranean theatre, attacking both shipping and ground targets. He flew 32 missions there and was shot down once.

I plan to write a full-blown thread about this but, before doing that, I need some assistance from all of you wonderful folks on the forum. Jim lost all of his log-books when he moved into the retirement home where he now resides. Being 94 years old, he is starting to get some gaps in his memory. I am wondering if anyone out there has the 419 Sqn ORBS for this time period. I would like to create a dedicated thread to Jim's story but really need to do more research to do it justice. I will resort to buying the ORBs if I have to (though I am on a fixed income now that I am retired). Any assistance in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

More to follow.

Thanks!

Don

 

Well Big Daddy you seem to have the makings of a great story there. It makes me feel like a youngster
or a "sprog" in comparison to your uncle's age and accomplishments. I was never stationed near a 6 Group
squadron so I will likely be of little help to you. I shall wish you and yours the best of luck.
Alex Campbell Skipper of Lancaster A2 C

 

See also: http://soldierzero.tripod.com/419thTFS/id1.html

 

Thanks very much for this. Don't know why I couldn't find it in my searches?? After going through all of the aircrew lists from 1943-45, I am faced with a dilemma...there is no J Henderson listed as a pilot anywhere. :headbonk:

 

Thanks Alex. I am having a difficult time verifying his account though. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this. (He is not my uncle, just a friend of my dad's.)

Cheers,
Don

 

Please do follow through with the full-blown post, Don. If you can capture his memories before it's too late, you will be doing all of us a great service. Thank you.

 

Thanks, Elinor. I am doing my best to verify his information. I will definitely post what I have then.

Cheers,
Don

 

This photo was apparently taken by a friend/ground crew of Jim's after his Lancaster blew a tire on take-off, ground looped and, shortly after exploded. Fortunately the whole crew escaped. This is what two 4000lb cookies look like when they brew up. The pic was taken at Croft according to Jim but he could not remember the date. If anyone has any info regarding this event it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!