PEOPLE I'VE MET ON THE WAY

(Last updated: 07.09.08)
 
The second person to include within this section is Flying Officer John Owen
 
PERSON No. 2: David Clarke on John Owen (F/O) 

Way back in August 2006 I found a message on forum on the http://www.worldwar2exraf.co.uk/ from a writer David Clarke who'd left a message seeking information on anyone with links to the 206 & Benbecula around 1942. After making contact I found David was looking into the history of his great cousin John Owen who flew a Flying Fortress IIA with a serial number FL 453 'A'. Sadly on the 14th December 1942, John and his crew failed to return from an anti-submarine patrol.  I asked David if he'd like to submit a piece on his great cousin John Owen and he's sent me the following to add in...

Flying Officer John Owen (RAFVR)
Service Number 63800
1921 - 1942

    

"At 09-37 hours on December 14th 1942, 3 Fortresses took off from RAF Benbecular in very poor weather to provide cover for convoys ONS 152 and TA 29. Fortress IIA FL453 'A' was piloted by John. The aircraft was due back at 5pm on the same day, however, when no weather report was received from the aircraft at the most distant point of its patrol it was presumed to have been lost before 2pm on December 14th 1942. The following day 3 aircraft were dispatched to search for the missing crew, but nothing was found of FL453. One explanation for the loss of the aircraft is that the barometric pressure could vary considerably between base and the area being patrolled and crews routinely descended to around 100 feet (30m) above the sea once on station and set their altimeters to zero feet. This gave them some reassurance that their altimeter was correctly set while providing a small margin of 'padding'. John may have flown into the sea while attempting this procedure in the bad weather.

Crew Details

63800   F/O John Owen - Pilot - Runnymede War Memorial Panel 67

1333535  Sgt R.N.Hildred -Pilot - Panel 85

1115124  Sgt R.Bentley -Navigator - Panel 78

964953    F/Sgt E.Crowe -Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - Panel 74

1067932  Sgt W.Shanks -Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - Panel 93

1163993  Sgt  W.J.Parnell -Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - Panel 91

NZ/411113 Sgt G.C.Wilson -Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - Panel 118

John Commanding Officer later wrote:

Flying Officer John Owen joined 206 Squadron in 1941. His reputation for keenness and thoroughness in everything he undertook was unexcelled. He took part in the 1,000 bomber raid (Bremen 25.06.1942) and made 2 damaging attacks on U-Boats during his penultimate patrol. John enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as No. 980399 Aircraftman 2nd Class Aircraft hand/Pilot on March 5th 1940. He undertook training in the UK and Southern Rhodesia and was promoted to Flying Officer on February 12th 1942.

Awards: Flying Badge
Campaign Stars and Medals: 1939/45 Star; Aircrew Europe Star; War Medal 1939/45

Fortress FL 453 was the 23rd of the 45 Fortress IIA's delivered to Britain rather than being built specifically for the RAF. It's USAAF serial was 41-9228 and it was assigned to the Cheyenne Modification Centre on May 26th 1942. It arrived at Dorval on July 1st 1942 and departed on July 10th arriving at Prestwick via Gander the following day under the command of American civillian pilot Dillon Mervin Teel. It was then flown to Burtonwood Repair Depot (B.R.D) 3 days later for the final modification and painting and delivered to Benbecular by a 206 Squadron crew on July 30th. It was 1 of the first 3 Fortress IIA's taken on strength.

Finally there's one amusing story about John that's recorded in Men of Coastal Command 1939-1945 written by Chas Bowyer:

"One Fortress pilot, Pilot Officer J.Owen, carried out a perfect straddle of a target with his depth charges (DC's) from 8000 feet on an unsuspecting whale-which cost him a small fortune in drinks in the Mess bar that night"

Regards, David"

INVESTIGATION: Flying Officer John Owen

With this information to hand I cross-referred the Flying Fortress FL 453 'A' with Ken's logbook and found that Ken had piloted that same Fortress on 3 separate occasions on 15th October, 22nd November and 29th November 1942.

I then checked for the name Owen in Ken's logbook and found the 4 following matches:

3rd August 1942 - Owen was the Pilot, Ken was the 2nd Pilot (Hudson AM734 'B')

5th August 1942 - Owen was the Pilot, Ken was the 2nd Pilot (Fortress FK208 'B')

5th August 1942 - Owen was the Pilot, Ken was the 2nd Pilot (Fortress FK208 'B')

6th August 1942 - Owen was the Pilot, Ken was the 2nd Pilot (Fortress FK208 'B')

David has also confirmed that John was a pilot in the 1,000 Bomber Raid over Bremen, the same one as Ken so I'm sure there will be more to come on this.

Sure enough it wasn't long before I was contacted by a Richard Crowe, the son of Eric Crowe who was one of the crew members who died in the same Fortress crash as John Owen on the 14th December 1942. Richard had been in touch with David Clarke as well and obtained this photograph that was taken the day before the fateful flight. The photograph was originally supplied to David by Robert Stitt. In it the crew are pictured with Flying Fortress IIA FL452 'G' in the background...

 13th December 1942

Back Row:    F/Sgt E.Crowe  -  Sgt D.Bryan  -  F/O J.Owen  -  Sgt C.Neill
Front Row:    Sgt R.N.Hildred  -  Sgt W.Shanks  -  Sgt W.J.Parnell



I cross referenced Flying Fortress IIA FL452 'G' against my Grandad's logbook and found that Ken flew that aircraft on 5 occasions... 12th and 16th October 1942, 5th and 13th of November 1942 and on the 26th of June 1943.

In September 2008, with the help of Richard Crowe I found another photograph of John Owen's crew in front of Fortress FL452 'G', it was in 'Naught Escape Us' by Peter Gunn

13th December 1942

F/Sgt E.Crowe - Sgt R.N.Hildred - Sgt W.Shanks - F/O J.Owen - Sgt C.Neill - Sgt D.Bryan - Sgt W.J.Parnell