550 Squadron

P/O C G H Kenyon DFC and Crew

The P/O Kenyon crew was posted to 550 Squadron from 1667 CU w.e.f 10/12/43:

F/Sgt Ellis (Flight Engineer)

F/Sgt Ellis was from Nottingham. He joined the RAF sometime in 1943 and qualified as a Flight Engineer on 6 Sept 1943. He trained on Halifaxes and Lancasters in late 1943 when he teamed up with the then Sgt, later Pilot Officer, Kenyon.

He, along with the rest of the P/O Kenyon crew joined 550 Sqdn in early December 1943. His first operational flight was on 20 December 1943 when he flew with P/O Kenyon in ED536 to Frankfurt. Subsequently, he flew until 22 May 1944. His last operational flight was to Dortmund. He took part in the Nuremburg raid encountering flak which he described in typical RAF language as being "so thick you could lower the wheels and ride on it". Most flights were in 'M' DV279 although for Nuremberg he was in LL851. He went to Brunswick in EE139 in January 1944.

After completing his operations his logbook records lots of circuits and bumps. He received jungle kit during 1945 and was expecting to go to the far East when war ended. Thereafter and before demobilisation he worked on early flight simulators at RAF Cottesmore. He left the RAF in 1947 and returned to his pre-service job in Nottingham. In 1945 he married Joan, who had served as a wireless operator in the WAAF.

After the war, in the mid-50s, he contracted polio and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He died July 1979 from a heart attack while at work. He had in fact suffered with a congenital heart defect which had not been picked up in those dark days of 1943 when young men were required for the war effort.

The link below shows a page from the Flight Engineer's log book; a mixture of training flights and live ops to Frankfurt and Berlin.

F/Sgt Ellis log book
Information courtesy of Peter Ellis (son of F/Sgt Ellis)

F/O P C Sharp (Navigator)

F/O Peter Cahill Sharp
Picture courtesy of Kim Sharp (son of F/O Sharp)

The links below show some pages from the Navigator's log book. Information courtesy of Kim Sharp.

	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook
	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook
	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook
	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook
	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook
	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook
	F/O Sharp, Navigators logbook

Sgt G K Logan (Mid-Upper Gunner)

Sgt Graham Logan

Sgt Collicutt RCAF (Rear Gunner)

The links below show some pages from the Rear Gunner's log book. Information courtesy of Bob Collicutt, son of Lawrence Collicutt.

Page 1, Certificate of Qualification
Pages 2, 3 and 4 logged training at #9 Bombing & Gunnery (B&G) school in Mont Joli, Quebec during April and May 1943

Log book pages 5, 6 and 7 document the training at #18 OTU

pg. 8 - training at 18 OTU (Finningley) completed
pg. 9 - training at 1481 B&G school aboard Wellingtons (at RAF Binbrook)
pg. 10 - on to RAF Faldingworth and the 1667 CU

For "OTU" and "CU" see: Abbreviations

pg. 12 - 15
Included in this set of log book pages is the 30/31 Mar 1944 attack on Nuremberg, Bomber Command's 'Black Friday'. A total of 795 aircraft attack Nuremburg; 108 are lost, 94 taken by night-fighters and flak. More aircraft are lost during this raid than any other by Bomber Command during the war.
550 Sqdn lost two aircraft on this operation: F/Sgt Jefferies in LM425 (4 crew KIA, 3 PoW) and F/Sgt Foster in ND425 (all killed).

pg. 16 - 19
The tour completed 22 May 1944 (pg. 17)
After post-tour leave, he returned to 82 OTU for most of July (pg. 18 and 19). His duty there mainly on Wellingtons was "screen", possibly meaning "screened" someone who had already done a tour of operations (‘ops’) and was now screened from operational flying for six months as a flying instructor at an OTU. See: http://www.dva.gov.au/aboutDVA/publications/commemorative/bombercommand/Pages/3_BomberCommand.aspx