In
June 2013 I had the great pleasure to meet Derek Fenton, the younger
brother of Bob Fenton, the sole survivor from cousin Jim Ives'
aircraft ND360. Derek told me how the loss of his crew-mates and his
own survival had deeply affected his brother Bob. I had managed to
make contact with Bob himself early on in my research, at which time
he was suffering with ill health, even so, he kindly recounted what
had happened when their Lancaster had been attacked on their bombing
run into Berlin by a German night-fighter.
As
detailed in 'Does Life Hold Any More in Store?' another account of
the loss of ND360 came to me via 100 Squadron veterans Douglas Hudson
and Terry Cook.
Last
year a fresh account came to me, by a somewhat circuitous route, with
a satisfying connection to 625 Squadron. Iain Sutton, son of Reg
Price's rear gunner Francis (Frank) Sutton, has business premises
close by Alan Cornes' home, Alan being the younger brother of Jim
Ives' flight engineer - Sgt Denis Cornes – quite a coincidence!
The
account is the most detailed of Bob's three accounts as it was told so soon after the
traumatic event. Bob had been incarcerated as a prisoner-of-war and
had suffered the cruelty of the 'run up the road' incident and had
survived where his crew-mates had not.
Very
many thanks to Alan Cornes and Iain Sutton. The letters speak for
themselves:-
W/O
R G Fenton
NZ
414972
12
(RNZAF) P.D.R.C.
Grand
Hotel
24th
July 1945 Brighton
Dear
Mr Cornes,
I
Trust that you will excuse me for not having written to you sooner,
but let me now send my deepest sympathy in your sad loss. I can only
say that it was a great privilege to fly alongside your son Dennis,
always one of the best of fellows.
I
can assure you that there was no suffering for any of my crew as
everything took place over Berlin in a matter of seconds. There is an
old saying with us RAF boys that “the good die young”, and I
believe in that now. Although I have had a partial lapse in memory,
I can remember certain details of 30th Jan '44 enough to
be able to tell you that the action took place over the north-west
district of Berlin after an attack from a fighter.
I
shall be returning to New Zealand about the end of August, but before
I go I shall be hoping to hear from you. I only wish that I could
have met you all, but time does not permit me. Before I return I am
to be married to a Scottish girl, whom I became engaged to last week.
On the other hand, if my repatriation to NZ is delayed in any way I
shall do my utmost to visit you. I have a full list now of the
crews' people if you would like a copy of it, just let me know! I
wrote to Dennis' girl in the WAAFs, but so far have had no answer.
If you have her present address at her home I would appreciate it
very much.
I
hope you will excuse this short letter, but then again I hope I shall
be able to see you later.
All
the very best, sincerely,
R
G Fenton (Bob)
***** ***** *****
W/O
R G Fenton
NZ
414972
12
(RNZAF) P.D.R.C.
Grand
Hotel
July
31st (crossed out) Aug 1st 1945 Brighton
Dear
Mr Cornes,
Thanks
for your reply to my letter, and I shall do my best to answer fully
all you have asked for. The first indication any of us had of our
danger that night was when the fighter fired at us. Apparently the
gunners were caught unawares & usually the period of a fighter
attack is no more than five seconds. I heard our wireless operator
Don Savage, call out that we were hit, & as there was no word
from the gunners, I gave immediate evasive action to the Pilot, but
our controls must have been shot clean away as the plane just went
into a tight spin. At this stage no-one had their parachutes on to
my knowledge; the Pilot gave us orders to abandon the aircraft, and
in a matter of seconds I had my chute on & had also jettisoned
all of the bombs. I was then thrown out of the aircraft, right
through the nose, & the last thing I remember was Dennis right
behind me. I think he had his chute on, but I don't think he could
have made it in time. I did not even see the plane after I came to,
& I had no information given from the Germans to rely on. I
landed in the centre of the city of Berlin & was taken prisoner
immediately.
I
'passed out' twice before I left the aircraft & I can only
surmise that the rest of the crew lost consciousness in the spin.
When I left the aircraft we must have been up at 12 or 15 thousand
feet.
I
feel sure that you will hear later from the War Office as to where
the boys are buried.
I
shall have to close this letter now, but I shall write again later.
All
the very best,
Bob.
***** ***** *****
Denis Cornes, unknown, Harold Johnson, Don Savage |
Bud Ruppel |
Derrick Sissons |
Bob Fenton |
Jim Ives |