Vickers Wellington, Waterford, February 1943

17th February 1943 stands out as being the occasion of the last foreign aircraft landing that resulted in the internment of an Allied crew.

On the evening of 16th February 1943, RAF Bomber crews across England prepared for a raid on the German U-boat pen base in the French City of Lorient on the Brittany Peninsula.

At the base of 427 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, nine crews prepared for the raid, including one manned by men from England and Scotland.  The pilot, Sergeant Holloway took off at 18:27 hours and made a successful attack on the target. On the return home however, things started to go wrong.

The ORB describes the raid as:  Nine aircraft were detailed to bomb the submarine base at Lorient.  All aircraft successfully bombed the target.  Sgt. Holloway and his crew landed in Southern Ireland, safe and uninjured with the exception of Sgt. Taylor who was very slightly injured.  The attack generally on Lorient was very successful.

The detail of Work carried out or Form 541 records their mission as:
Target - LORIENT - Bomb Load - 3 x 500lb., 8 x 30lb, Inc. and 425 x 4lb, Inc (25% "X" type).  Nothing has been heard of this aircraft.  Further news that this aircraft landed in Ireland.  Aircraft may have to be burned.  Crew interned.

Later that morning, an aircraft made a forced landing on the outskirts of Waterford town at a place known as the Sixcrossroads, due to it, unsurprisingly, being the meeting point of six roads.   An aircraft had been observed at 0020 hours that morning by Coastwatchers at Look Out Post (LOP) No. 15 at  Forlorn Point and by Gardai in Tramore, to the east of Waterford.  The watchers at Carnsore Point, LOP No. 14, next observed an aircraft flying north west three miles off to the north of the post.  Sometime later, personnel in Waterford Barracks reported an aircraft circling the town with lights on.  Witnesses reported to researcher Patrick J Cummins that the night was a clear moonlit night and the noise of the aircraft roused people from their beds.

Sgt Holloway, after seven hours in the air finally decided to put the aircraft down, on its wheels in a field, which initially happened smoothly, ended in the damaging of the aircraft when its landing gear collapsed and a wing hit a tree.  Sgt Thomas was thrown out of the rear turret exit panel and Sgt Taylor incurred some head injuries.  Having evacuated the aircraft, the crew activated a self destruction device on the aircraft resulting in the fuselage and wings being completely burned away.  The description of the aircraft's landing appears to have come from testimony provided to P J Cummins by Sgt Slater in the 1980's or 1990's.  He recalled that a crowd approached the burning aircraft, and upon meeting the crew, took them to the house of a family named Galvin where they were rested and Sgt Taylor's injuries were seen to.

It didn't take long for local Gardai and Local Defence Force (LDF) members to arrive at the scene, guided by the glow of the fire, and they cordoned off the burning wreckage.  Just after 2 a.m., a party from the 25th Infantry Battalion arrived from Waterford Barracks and took the men with them back to the city.  They were taken that same day to the Curragh Camp in Kildare and interned with the other Allied personnel there.  The cordon around the aircraft however was not very secure as officers arriving later in the day observed a free for all with civilians milling around the landing site and helping themselves to parts of the aircraft.

Their internment at this late stage in the war was a little unusual, because at this stage in the war very few Allied personnel were being interned, due to the policies having been put in place by the Irish and British authorities.  At this stage, aircrew in the RAF were routinely being briefed that they should state they were on a non-operational flight, such as a training flight, a ferry flight or a search and rescue flight.  In this instance, the crew straight away informed the Irish officers that they had been on a bombing raid, and maps of France were found among the wreckage.  The

HA.            SECRET        OG 5214
        CYPHER MESSAGE   EIRE/10/IN

To:  Dominions Office.

From: His Majesty's Representative in Ireland.

D. 17th Feb., 1943.  5.10 p.m.
R. 17th  "            "    5 10 p.m.
Recd S.4. (O.G.) 2030 hrs 17th Feb '43

No. 10.

Defence Department reported this morning that Wellington Bomber crashed near Waterford about 0130 today.  
Crew five Sergeants, one sustained slight head injuries, others uninjured.  Machine total loss.  Crew reported to have said they belonged to Bomber Command, and were returning from operational flight over Northern France. Department External Affairs were approached as to possible release of crew, but inform me decision is that crew are to be interned.

Gather very privately that decision may be due to fact that  Ministers have been "sniped" at meetings recently regarding certain releases.

The last line of this telegram is thought to refer to the situation that developed on January 15th, 1943, in Galway, when an American B-17 Flying Fortress made a forced landing with a group of high ranking American officers on board.  This had of course come to the attention of the German legation and since that time, only one other foreign aircraft had arrived in Ireland, an American Bell P-39 Airacobra.  In that instance, the pilot of that aircraft had not been interned.  The Irish authorities had initially recorded that he said he was on an operational mission, but later reports changed that to non-operational.  He had been flying a ferry mission from England to north Africa so he technically fit the bill even though he was armed and flying into a combat zone over the Bay of Biscay.

This prompted the UK Military Air Attache, Wing Commander Malcolm G Begg to write to the Air Ministry with the following reprimand the day after the crash:

Fr.om: - AIR ATTACHE        To :- ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF (INTELLIGENCE) AIR MINISTRY.

Wellington Air Craft forced-landed at Ballbeg, near Waterford, on 17.2.43.

Yesterday morning I was informed by R.A.F.N.I. that a Wellington aircraft was missing and was last heard of at 01.00 hrs. 17.2.43 in the neighbourhood of Waterford.  I later ascertained that a Wellington of Bomber Command, said to be returning from an operational raid in France, crashed 01.30 hrs. at Mr. Halley's (sic) farm, Ballybeg, one mile wough (sic) of Waterford. The machine was burnt out with sundry explosions with, I think, the exception of the tail portion. Four members of the crew
 of five sergeants were uninjured and the fifth, No.657301 Sgt. Taylor, D.H. had slight head injuries and is being attended by Dr. Dunne of Waterford.

He then provided the names, serial numbers, next of kin and addresses of the five men.

Continuing on he wrote: 
R.A.F.N. I. were informed by telephone, which was confirmed by Signals S. 273 and S. 278 that these five sergeants have been interned, and I have arranged for them to to be supplied with an allowance of £5. each to enable them to buy an initial issue of civilian clothing.

It appears that the crew informed the local police that they belonged to Bomber Command and that they were returning from an operational raid on France.   It is therefore not surprising that the Eire Government have decided to intern them.  It would be interesting to know, and I propose in due course to find out, whether the crew were briefed or not. At first sight it would appear that they were not.

This affair is extremely disappointing, as had the men said that they were on non-operational duties I feel sure that they would have been released. As you are well aware, this excuse has served a good purpose on very many occasions, and with the exception of Sergeant Zimek, the Pole, who likewise committed an indiscretion by sending a telegram to No. 70 Fighter Squadron, there have been no airman interned since the beginning of 1942.   You can imagine that my feeling of disappointment is considerable, as it has been my earnest endeavour too see that all air crews in the vicinity of Eire are properly briefed.

(Sgd.) L. G. Moody.
dictated by: for M.G. BEGG.
Wing Commander,
Air Attache.

On the 18th February, Commandant D Mackey, the officer in command of G2 branch, Intelligence, of the Curragh Command submitted the following memo to the Headquarters, Army G2 Branch. 

Chief Staff Officer,
G.2 Branch,
Department of Defence,
Dublin.

Sir,
I have the honour to inform you that a British Wellington Bomber made a forced landing 2 mls. E. of Waterford at 01.30 hrs. on the 17th inst. The plane went on fire after crashing and was destroyed except for the rear turret. The crew of five Sergeants are safe and uninjured. They have been interned at the Curragh since 21.45 hrs. same date.
Their names are:-
Sergt. John Holloway, 1288562,
235, Court Road, Ethane, London S.E.9,

Sergt. David Ross 1064822,
Glenlossie, Hermitage Drive, Edinborough.

Sergt. Frank Thomas, 1536438.
29, Regent St,, Earlstown, Newtown-Lee-Willows, Lancashire,

Sergt. George Slater, 1365352,
148, Mornlngton Rd., Edinborough. .

Sergt, Donald Taylor, 857301,
Rolyate, Lee Road, Lincoln.

The crew were not in possession of identity cards and only one carried his identity discs. Each N.C.O. carried a small waterproof packet which was sealed and contains bank notes (French, Belgium and Holland) a small compass and a piece of rubber inside of which was embedded a small hacksaw. I am forwarding these five packets to you herewith. I am also sending you the remains of a burnt map of England but beyond that there were no papers or documents which survived the flames. A map is also enclosed in each packet.

It would appear that having completed a bombing raid on San Nazaire (France) and while returning to England the instruments, as the pilot, Sergt. Holloway, said “went haywire’ and he lost his direction. He cruised around for about an hour and petrol running low decided to crash land. But for striking a tree with his starboard wing he would have done this successfully and the plane would have sustained little damage.

An officer from the Air Corps removed the guns from the rear turret and also the wireless set from the plane yesterday. Other parts can also be salvaged including, I believe, one engine complete.

On my way to the scene of the crash last evening I saw hundreds of civilians and children with scraps of the plane as souvenirs going towards Waterford and in the actual field found them removing parts.  Capt. J Fitzsimmons was in charge of the guard and a Garda was also present but they didn't seem to appreciate that this was wrong and I myself stopped a man from screwing off a part from the rear turret under Capt. Fitzsimmons nose.  I immediately had the whole field cleared and Comdt. Martin who was present when I left assured me that no one else would be allowed into the field.  In all such crashes complaints about the same things are arising and officers do not seem to realise their duties in connection with them.

The Command Engineer has been instructed to help the Air Corps in the salvaging of the remains and the O.C. Air Corps informed me that he is sending a party to Waterford tomorrow.

The Irish Air Corps sent a team from Baldonnel on the 19th February and four days later they took away the small amount of wreckage including two engines and the rear turret.  This effort required five trucks to be sent along with a Dodge Tractor.  The salvage operation had required the team to hire a Cutting Plant from a local Company, Murphy, Engineers Ltd, in Waterford and in the process of late evening work, a lever from the machine was lost.

The five crew members then began their fourteen months of internment in Ireland.  They were first interned in the Curragh Camp outside Newbridge in County Kildare.

At least four of the five were present at the wedding of fellow internee Roswell F Tees of the RCAF on 14 September 1943, just prior to the movement of the Allied Internees to the new camp at Gormanston in County Meath.  A wedding photo was annotated for publication in the book, Grounded In Eire.  The four names recorded on that source are these:

On the 18th of October 1943, the Allied internees were split into two groups.  The crew of Z1676 were placed in the group of internees who were to be retained and moved to new accommodation at Gormanston.  This move stemmed from a series of negotiations conducted by the British Representative, Sir John Maffey, with the Irish leader Eamon De Valera.  As quoted in UK National Archives report AIR35/2111:
The plan arranged is that the internees are all to be removed to a new camp in the course of the next few weeks, but those who can be regarded as having been engaged on "non-operational" flying at the time of the crash which led to their internment are being released in the course of the transfer.

Details of the five men are given below.  They appear to have arrived on the Squadron in February 1943, and being an all NCO crew their arrival in the Squadron is not recorded by name or in detail.

Prior to the night they ended up in Ireland, Thomas and Slater are found flying missions with two separate crews during February but overall they had limited operational experience of combat.  They flew one sea mine laying sortie on the 12th February to the coast of northern Holland.

Sgt John Edward HOLLOWAY 1266562, the pilot of Z1676, was born on 21 Feb 1921 to parents, Robert John and Evelyn (nee Snelgrove), in Bromley.  His wife, Mrs Pearl Violet Holloway, and parents wartime address was 235 Court Road, Eltham, Sidcup. 

He had joined the RAF in September 1940 and was sent to North America for training at Tuscaloosa and later, Craig Field near Selma, Alabama.  While at Tuscaloosa, he appeared in local newspapers a number of times in relation to training activities at the base.  On the 12th of August 1941, he appeared in a large photo spread in The Birmingham Post, labeled as follows:  The mysteries of the slide ruler part of their ground instruction, is explained by Cadet Capt. J W Wilkinson, center, Burnside, Ky., to Henry LeeWarner, left, 28, Parkstone, Dorset, England and J E Holloway, 20, London

That training course was photographed on the 16th of August and john was then posted to Craig Field.  Before this happened however, he was selected with fourteen other trainees to travel to Washington DC and broadcast a radio segment to their love ones in the United Kingdom.

He turns up mentioned again in the Selma Times Journal on the 8th of February 1942, having married his sweet heart from back in England.  His new wife had travelled to Canada and America it seems in 1940 and thus was present to get married to him at his training base.

A second wedding was solemnized in the Craig Field chapel at 11 o'clock Saturday morning when RAF Cadet John Edward Holloway, of -London, England, who was a member of the British class which graduated Friday, claimed as his bride Miss Pearl Violet Hardy, a childhood sweetheart.

The bride. who gave her present home Titusville, was born at Gillingham, Kent, England. Several friends attended the ceremony at which Lieutenant Stockman officiated. The bride was attired in an ensemble of brown and gold wool with matching accessories and her corsage was of yellow gerbeas. The couple are expected to remain in Selma until the groom is assigned to his new duties probably early this week.

After returning from America and Canada, he would have been posted to the typical training course to acclimatise to European weather and war time skies.  .  He appears to have arrived at 427 Squadron in January or February 1943, flying his first mission as a second pilot in February 4th.

In his MI9 Escape and Evasion Report he only recorded: 
My experiences are the same as related by F/Sgt. SLATER in his report.

Attempted Escape:  I was concerned in the tunnel attempt started in Dec '43 which has been described by P/O Tisdall in his report (I.S.9(W)/REP/E/25).

P/O Tisdall in this case was a Royal Canadian Air Force internee from an earlier 1941 aircraft loss.  He describes the attempt as follows:

Tunnel Scheme:  In Dec 43 we started a tunnel at Gormanstown.  The opening to the tunnel was under our sleeping quarters.  The hut in which we slept was built on a low concrete wall, and we managed to make an opening in one of the unoccupied cubicles and work down and then towards the wire. 

Late in Apr 44 the camp authorities had a raid and stopped the tunnel.  They told us they had known for some time that we were working at it.

It is not yet known if John returned to flying duties after his release, his service record or contact with relative will reveal that.  He does not appear to have been commissioned as an officer either.

1947 electoral registers find John and Pearl living at 131 Eglinton Hill with her parents, Violet and Alfred Hardy, an address he used on his 1944 escape and evasion report.  They had two daughters together and John died on the 17 August 2011 in Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

Sgt David Eric Munroe ROSS 1064622 (Int) – David was born in 1920 in the Morningside area of Edinburgh, Scotland. 

He dislocated his ankle playing Rugby and was transferred to Northern Ireland on the 17th of March by ambulance.  he was placed in the 225th General Hospital in Bangor  His next of kin was his father, Mr A Ross of Glenlossie, Hermitage Drive, Edinburgh.

David died on December 26th, 2000 and this was advised by his son Nigel Ross who himself died in December 2004, a year after making contact with the website.  Nigel passed on his recollection of his father's wartime exploits:

One of my colleagues in our Belfast branch sent me details of your web page this morning as I had told him that as I was coming over to Cork for a few days holiday and  that whilst I was there I was going to see if their was any information about the Wellington, flown by my father which crash landed near Cork in either 1941/ 42.  Your web page turned up three, one in Donegal, too far North, one in Clare, too far West, and the last near  Cork in September 1942.
If this was the right one, it had been ambushed by two night fighters ,having taken off from RAF Middleton St George , now Tees -Side Airport to attack a submarine pen at Lorient on the West coast of France,  the resultant damage being that one engine had had to be feathered , the other eventually had caught fire, but more importantly , and the reason it ended up in Southern Ireland as opposed to England, that large chunks of the tailplane had been shot away  and it was jammed to port which made it very difficult to control. or steer.
As none of the crew fancied going down in the sea,  when the lights of Ireland appeared on the horizon  a solution to the problem appeared at hand but all of this was of no importance when the aircraft collided with some power cables and was brought down apparently near the town of Cork.
All of the crew escaped , with a variety of non life threatening injuries , which in itself was remarkable as the fuselage had by then caught fire and tracer bullets from the burning front gun turret were spraying into the air, two of them going through my fathers right leg. and causing him to end up in the local
hospital before he was taken away to be interned.

Nigel continued his fathers story

After he was discharged from hospital he ended up in Corks local prison for a while, and was then shipped up to a dispersal point near Dublin which turned out to be the Curragh.
From there, because I suspect that the Irish Government didn't know what to do with him, and the rest of their "guests" he was sent to study at Trinity College doing , I suppose the then equivalent of a business studies course.
I think he did this for a couple of terms but then he decided to get back home, an idea, supported by my grandmother , who came across from Edinburgh , every two months or so to see him and eventually did so, being carried over the border, in a coffin, with a bottle of Bushmills for company.
On his return he resumed flying from a variety of bases round England and in a variety of planes.
Eventually he ended up flying Mosquitos from RAF Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire which at that time was shared by a couple of American P51 units and whilst there played the piano at two concerts given by Glenn Miller and his band , who's own pianist was ill.
He had at that time, also married my mother , who was billeted in a cottage  near the end of the runway and which apparently he used to beat up when he came back from a mission.
Awaiting demob , his final posting was to RAF Millom in Cumberland , where as you might imagine there wasn't a lot going on. One thing however did lighten up the boredom when he was told to take a launch  and a crew armed with a couple of machine guns across to Northern Ireland and when he arrived was to pick up , from Shorts three brand new Sunderland Flying boats, tow them out to the middle if the Irish sea , and sink them by firing into their fuselages.
After that , he was demobbed , went back to the family business in Edinburgh.
Had the occasional communication from some of the people he had flown with, one of whom became a fairly well known tv and film actor in the 60's early 70's, but whom I have not heard of for years.
After my mother died , he had decided to write a book about his exploits , and was planning to go back across to Cork, and Dublin  with my sister as a companion to relive some memories and to try to locate a girl whom he had been fond of, but none of this was to happen , as he died very unexpectedly , on Boxing Day 2000 aged 80.

This testimony from his son is interesting for the number of apparent inaccuracies it contains but is in common with similar tales of escaping that other relatives of Allied internees told people.
- It is of note that the date of the landing was unknown to Nigel, and at the time he wrote, the website may not have listed crew names, hence his assumption is as the Wellington at Charleville.
- There is no mention of the Wellington Z1676 being damaged by Luftwaffe aircraft in the records from the Irish Army, nothing in the crew members escape and evasion reports or in the testimony of George Slator to P J Cummins.
- There is no mention of any of the crew members being injured, let alone shot through the leg.  All members of the crew were brought to the Curragh the same day as the crash.
- And he certainly didn't escape in a coffin with whiskey for comfort!  He was moved to the new camp at Gormanston, and there got injured playing rugby.

He did however as mentioned, married Dorthy Hallam in early 1945 in Lancaster.

Sgt Donald Hugh TAYLOR 657301 was born on 3rd July 1916, the son of Richard and Mabel Taylor.  He gave the Irish army his address as 28 Geneva Cresent, Darlington, Durham.  His father is recorded as being Richard E Taylor at Rolyat, 26 Lee Road, Lincoln, Lincs.

He trained as a Bomb Aimer, its seems after initially training to become a pilot.  In August 1941 he travelled to America from Canada via Detroit to undertake training at Alabama Aero. Inst. Tuscaloosa. 

Donald in his escape and evasion report reveals his method of escape, one that involved no small amount of subterfuge.

When we reached The CURRAGH in Feb 43 we were told that there had been several escape attempts from the camp in 1942, ad that officers and O.R's had been advised by our authorities to discontinue such attempts.

About Mar 43 I conceived a plan of getting myself repatriated. I feigned to have an obsession that I was suffering with venereal disease. I insisted on being examined by various doctors, six in all, including a specialist in DUBLIN, (Dr. GILL). Although the doctors tried to convince me, having carried out all possible tests, that there was no sign of the disease, I pretended still to retain the obsession, with a view to bringing on a nervous breakdown.

In Oct 43 a number of officers and O.R's were repatriated. The CURRAGH camp was cleared of all British personnel, and we were moved to GORMANSTOWN Camp, County MEATH, EIRE.

Shortly before Christmas I took up my obsession again, this time claiming to have violent pains all over my body.

I obtained permission from the Air Attache (Wing Commander BEGG) to see the specialist in DUBLIN again. Dr. GILL tried to convince me that there was nothing the matter. I then started to feign a complete nervous breakdown.

I locked myself into my room and went without washing and shaving for days.  I cut my meals down to one a day, never went out, slept with the lights on, ignored my fellow internees, and worked myself up to such a pitch, that a psychiatrist was eventually sent to see me on 23 Jan 44.

The psychiatrist only spent about a quarter of an hour with me, but the result was that two days later (25 Jan) I was moved to Sir PATRICK DUNN's Hospital in DUBLIN, and on 27 Jan taken by Wing Commander BEGG over the border and handed over to S/Ldr. GARDINER in BELFAST.

S/Ldr. GARDINER brought me to this country on 29 Jan.

Donald was married in Kildare to his fiance Joyce Brown, from Darlington. The wedding took place on September 13th, 1943 in Ballysax church.   Their witnesses were his pilot John Holloway, and fellow internee, David Sutherland, and his wife Irene.

He passed away in Manchester in October 1987.

Sgt George Chalmers SLATER 1365352  was born on 7 Dec 1921, Son of George Slater and Elizabeth Slater. – 20 O.T.U. – Wireless Operator Mr G Slater [father] 145 Morningside Road, Edinburgh Married April 1, 1955.

George died on the 8th April 2002 in Wick, Scotland.

His evasion report states: We took off from CROFT in a Wellington aircraft on 17 Feb 1943 at 1830 hrs on a bombing trip to Lorient. On the return journey to base it was not possible to get satisfactory loop bearings. We made landfall at 0030 hrs, 18 Feb, and crash-landed owing to shortage of petrol. We landed in a field near WATERFORD, Co. WATERFORD, EIRE. I was arrested by the police and interned in the CURRAGH Camp until 16 Oct and at GORMANSTOWN until 15 July 44, when I was sent to the UK.

His family were able to supply a series of photos that George kept from his time in Ireland.  It is thought that these photos were taken in the later Gormanston Camp as those in the photos seem to only be from that batch of airmen.

The photos below show Sgt Slater stood next to a set of tall steps.

Sgt Frank THOMAS 1536438 was born on 31st August 1921, the son of Nathanial and Alice Thomas.  The 1939 register finds him resident with his mother at 29 Regent Street, Newton-Le-Willows, Lancashire and undertaking an electricians apprenticeship.   He trained as Air Gunner and also found himself at 20 OTU.

Sgt Thomas provided the most detailed version of events in his evasion report, describing his time in Ireland as follows:
I took off from CROFT (Co. Durham) about 1800 hrs on 16 Feb 43 in a Wellington aircraft to bomb Lorient.

We reached our target and set a course for home.  About fifteen minutes after our expected time of arrival we sent out an S.O.S. asking for our location.  We continued to do this for about two hours, but, except for one occasion when we received a signal that was two feint to follow, we did not receive a reply.

About 0100 hrs (17 Feb) when we were about to ditch the aircraft because of lack of petrol we saw some lights in the distance.  We made towards these and landed with wheels down hoping that we might be able to refuel and take off again.  Unfortunately, we hit a tree on landing.  I was thrown out of the aircraft and the plane was set on fire.

Before we came down the wireless operator had destroyed all secret equipment.

I think that three of our escape boxes were burned in the aircraft.  The remaining box and, I believe, the purses were sent to the Air Attache, DUBLIN

Frank Thomas passed away in Newton-Le-Willows in October 2000.

Some of the men appear in two group photos from the Slater set.  By comparing with the Tee's wedding photo and some other photos,  the photos below seem to show the following personnel:
Top Step, left to right: Reid, Diaper, Wakelin
Front row, Newby and Thomas

In addition to those, it appears that at least three of the internees, two from this crew, were members of Drogheda Rugby Football Club during the 1943-44 season.  The side image is that of a D E M Ross, G C Slater is named at the front right and the man at the rear left hand side is D Reid who was from the crew of Hampden AD768.

Compiled by Dennis Burke, July 2020, Dublin and Sligo.

If you have information on any of the people listed above, please do contact me at dp_burke@yahoo.com