Thanks for the compliments Tim. I'm glad to have helped and hear the good news that you've contacted Doug. Looking forward to Doug's letter and the story behind Mr. Keene's last flight.

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Good to hear of the positive response  :D

Looking forward to any updates  :thumb:

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I'll dig out the photos and post them soon.

     "Well chaps ... my watch says its time to go ..."

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"Well Chaps ... my watch says time to go ..."

Well chaps, in today's mail I received from Mr Butterworth a large and weighty envelope containing a most excellently written and presented booklet, complete with many interesting photographs and hand-drawn cartoons (or photo-copies of them), produced during his service and in his time behind barbed wire. To say that it was far more than I was expecting is an understatement!

I shall be in contact with him again soon and will ask for his permission to reproduce parts of this wonderful body of work here.

Again, I'd like to express my sincere thanks to everyone for their help on this. I can hardly tell you just how thrilled I am at the events that have unfolded.

Watch this space!

Tim.

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"Never call it a plane, Bader. It's an AEROplane".

Sounds interesting  :think:

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I've just had a return telephone call from Mr Butterworth and completely forgot to ask for permission to reproduce some of his book on here! I'm a bit reluctant to do so until I do have permission, but I know that some of you are interested in the circumstances surrounding the loss of P/O Keene and most of his crew, so I'll offer the following description.

Mr Butterworth does not believe that they were, in fact, shot down, but that their downfall was simply the result of unfortunate accident. Following advice given during briefing, they were making their exit from enemy territory at low altitude - very low, as Mr Butterworth - Doug - recalls, from his position in the front turret seeing sandbanks and moored dinghies flashing by immediately prior to their crash. Moments beforehand, the navigator, Sgt Ron Waldron, had given P/O Jack Keene a new course to steer. Doug believes that what is likely to have happened is that in leaning forward to reset his compass, Jack inadvertently also pushed the control column forward ever so slightly.

It should be appreciated that flying a World War Two era bomber on an operation that could last eight hours was an extraordinarily exhausting feat of physical and mental endurance. It is hardly surprising then, that a momentary lapse in concentration, especially at such low altitude, could and did result in swift and disastrous catastrophe.

That not only Doug, but also Jack and Ron were able to extricate themselves from the wreckage and swim to the surface, may be considered as something of a miracle if not for the fact that Doug was the only one of the three to eventually be rescued alive. Initially, both Jack and Ron asserted that they were not seriously injured, but it must be presumed that they both subsequently succumbed to both exhaustion and hypothermia, as after some time they drifted away and fell silent. Doug himself was in the water for approximately three hours.

I trust that you all have found this of interest.

Best wishes to all,

Tim.

Edit: I earlier spoke with Mrs Butterworth and gave her the details of how to access this forum, as she tells me that they do have a computer. Until such time as I can get my Wellington Mk IV model built and photographed, I thought I'd post pictures of my Mk Ic model on here for Doug's enjoyment. I know it is not a 460 Sqn machine, is not the correct Mk IV and that you chaps have seen it before, but I'd like Doug to see that I will indeed be able to do justice to a model of his former aircraft.







I hope you like it, Doug!

And again, you chaps, I'd be very grateful if any of you have photographs clearly showing the engine cowlings and propellers of the Pratt & Whitney-powered Mk IV, so that I can get on with the model. Thanks!

_________________
"Never call it a plane, Bader. It's an AEROplane".

Tim
as promised, some photos of the Mk IV Wimpey's, in this instance from 142 Squadron stationed at RAF Grimsby.

Z1221 and her ground crew:



Believed to be Z1396:



 
Sgt. Keddy and his crew:



    " Well chaps ... my watch says its time to go ..."

Fantastic stuff all round.....It's a real treat to follow this tale as it unfolds!  :D

Might there be a book in all of this do you think?  :think:

Can't wait for the nest installment!  :wink:

All the best
Sgt.S
PS - The Trumpeter 1/72 Wellington III is gorgeous!  8-)

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Great stuff chaps  :thumb:

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That's fabulous Ian, thanks very much! These photos certainly give me a better idea of what the engine cowlings should look like. In Doug's book there is a small photo (not necessarily of Z1394) which shows a partial view of the port engine but, being a photocopy, its quality is not particularly good. Still unclear is what the cooling gills look like and I still have questions regarding the exhaust arrangement, but it does seem to confirm that 460 Sqn's aircraft were fitted with the propeller seen in the third of your pictures posted here.

Also of much value in your pictures is the fact that these aircraft retained the long side windows of the earlier Mk I, which is something I had not realised before. The small diamond-shaped window is also present on the port side of the nose, so I'm wondering if there should also be the large rectangular window on the starboard side, as is also typical of the Mk I.

That old saying about learning something new every day is indeed true. For most of my life I've been a student of World War Two, the RAF and its aircraft, and have amassed a fair amount of knowledge along the way, but I'm almost ashamed to say that I never even knew there was a Wellington Mk IV!

Sarge, I agree that Trumpeter's Mk III kit is a beautiful piece of work. It's everything the earlier MPM kits SHOULD have been. I've also recently picked up the Mk XIV kit, but have yet to acquire their Mk I. Well, that's about to change because it seems to me that the Mk IV is very closely related to the Mk I, and it will be that kit that I think will give me the best chance of producing my model.

This may very well turn out to be my most satisfying and worthwhile project in nearly forty-five years of modelling!

Cheers all,

Tim.

Edit: Actually, I've just realised that Z1394 DOESN'T have the long side windows! That certainly makes things interesting doesn't it? Just when you think you're getting somewhere!

_________________
"Never call it a plane, Bader. It's an AEROplane".

Thanks for the update Tim. Very interesting to learn what happened to the Wellington.

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My apologies for not being around much for a while, chaps. I'm busy with theatre again and will be for just over another month. In fact, I can't stop too long right now as I shortly have to go off to rehearsal, but I've just had a call from Doug and thought I'd make a quick post to bring things up to date.

I'm very pleased to report that Doug has been able to view all of this feature, and can provide some useful information about 460 Sqn's Mk IV Wellingtons. The large window on the starboard side of the nose was certainly present, while none of their aircraft had the long side windows. Also, he assures me that all of their aircraft featured FOUR gun rear turrets, not the earlier two gun turrets as we thought.

Furthermore, Doug has given me full permission to reproduce anything from his book that might be of interest, so when I'm not so busy I will do so . . . if you can all bear with me a few weeks longer.

At 89 years of age, he's in pretty good health and I'm sure we would all like to extend our very best wishes, and our thanks, to him.  

For now, best regards to you all,

Tim.

_________________
"Never call it a plane, Bader. It's an AEROplane".

Intriguing stuff  :D

_________________
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Thanks for the update Tim.

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If you would like Airfix to release a 1/600 kit of HMS Dreadnought,
the world's first all-big-gun battleship, then please vote here!

Keep it coming Tim ...

_________________
"Well Chaps ... my watch says time to go ..."

I am the nephew of Flight Sergeant R.F. Waldon who was a crew member on Jack Keene's Wellington bomber.

It was fascinating finding all this information, and thanks so much for all the great work already done, especially tracking down Doug Butterworth. I was able to access Doug's file from the National Archives which included his POW report which described the crash. Obviously my dad (Ron's brother) and our family were under the impression that they were shot down. We knew that Doug Butterworth survived but imagined he had parachuted out.

I have visited his grave in Vlissingen twice - once on a backpacking trip around Europe in 1989 and again with my wife in 1999. On the second occasion, with the benefit of modern technology I was able to stand next to the grave and ring my dad and tell him I was standing next to his brother's grave.

Anyway, we would be very interested in hearing more and seeing the wonderful things Doug sent over to Tim. After finding his records I tried to look him up, but didn't know he was in Airlie Beach. I have now found his number so will give him a call this weekend - how amazing.

If anyone is interested in making a model of their aircraft and sending it over to Sydney, we would be very interested in paying whatever it is worth.

Stuart Waldon

Stuart
I believe Tim is going to produce a MKIV Wellington probably for the very reason you want one. I sent Tim the codes and serial numbers, (in decal form) for the aircraft concerned but as Tim is somewhat busy, we just dont know at what stage, if he has even started to build/produce the aircraft  from the kit that IS NOW available of the Mk. IV??
Ian

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"Well Chaps ... my watch says time to go ..."

http://gallery.myff.org/gallery/773142/3.Vickers+Wellingtons+%28sharpen%29.jpg

Thanks very much for those photos Stuart.

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If you would like Airfix to release a 1/600 kit of HMS Dreadnought,
the world's first all-big-gun battleship, then please vote here!

I think its great when something like this comes together ....

Stuart can you put names to faces in the photos ??

Thanks for posting them BTW, do you know what the motif is on the nose ?? Was that their aircraft ??

Ian

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"Well Chaps ... my watch says time to go ..."