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12th February 1942On this day:
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Remembering those who died this day.
- Ayscough William. Gnr. (d.12th Feb 1942)
- Barnes Cyril Arthur. Pte. (d.12th February 1942)
- Campbell George Hollands. Flt.Sgt. (d.12th Feb 1942)
- Cowperthwaite Lonsdale C.. F/O. (d.12th Feb 1942)
- Esmonde Eugene. Lt.Cmdr (d.12th February 1942)
- Farrugia Emanuel. WO2 (d.12th Feb 1942)
- Heard Kenneth William. Sgt. (d.12th Feb 1942)
- Littlejohns Leslie Victor . Pte. (d.12th February 1942)
- Meeking Donald William. Sgt. (d.12th Feb 1942)
- Tucker C. H.. L/Bomb. (d.12th February 1942)
- Turner Albert Henry. Pte. (d.12th February 1942)
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
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Want to know more about the 12th of February 1942? There are:13 items tagged 12th of February 1942 available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Stories from 12th February 1942
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Flt.Sgt. George Hollands Campbell. Royal Canadian Air Force, . (d.12th Feb 1942) Flight Sergeant George Hollands Campbell was a relative of mine. All I know is that he was in the RCAF and died 12 Feb 1942.
Does anyone know of the circumstances regarding his death?
Any help would be gratefully appreciated. Steven Campbell-Collins
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Sgt. Donald William Meeking. Royal Air Force, 50 Sqdn.. (d.12th Feb 1942) Donald Meeking flew with 50 Squadron. Hampden AT177 (VN-) took off from RAF Skellingthorpe at 2.40pm on the 12th of February 1942, one of 8 aircraft from the squadron, taking off for the same raid. The extremely poor weather conditions over the target area made bombing unsuccessful as visibility was down to 200-300 metres. AT177 was the only aircraft not to return. All its crew were lost and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.The crew were:
- pilot - Flying Officer Derek Guy Carter (22) son of Major Cyril Rodney Carter, D.S.O., and Celia Ellen Alexia Carter, of Penhalonga, Southern Rhodesia
- Air Gunner/W/op. - Sergeant Frederick George Hancock (22) son of Doris Hancock and stepson of Harry Noden, husband of Thelma Hancock of Northwich, Cheshire.
- Air Gunner W/Op. - Sergeant Donald William Meeking (19) son of William and Ellen Meeking of Gestingthorpe, Essex
- navigator/observer - Sergeant Donald McGregor Symes (19) son of Ernest Edmund and Ivy Symes of Newton Abbott, Devon.
My interest is that he is on our village war memorial and I am currently trying to ensure that all the names on the memorial from WW1 and WW2 are included on appropriate websites. Nick Ellis
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Pte. Albert Henry Turner. British Army, 1st Btn. Leicestershire Rgt.. (d.12th February 1942) Pte. Albert Turner served with the 1st Btn Leicestershire Regiment during WWII. He died on 12th February 1942 and is buried in Kranji War Cemetery, Singapore.
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L/Bomb. C. H. Tucker. Bermuda Militia Artillery, . (d.12th February 1942) Lance Bombardier Tucker is buried in the Pembroke (St John) Churchyard in Bermuda.S Flynn
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Gnr. William Ayscough. British Army, 5th Field Regiment Royal Artillery. (d.12th Feb 1942) Uncle Will Ayscough was killed by the Japanese at Buket Tima Road on the 12th of Feb 1942.Francis Ayscough
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Pte. Cyril Arthur Barnes. British Army, 1st Btn. Leicestershire Regiment. (d.12th February 1942) Cyril Barnes lost his life in Singapore. He is buried in the Kranji War Cemetery.Muriel Walker
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WO2 Emanuel Farrugia. Royal Malta Artillery, 3 Lt. A.A. Regt. . (d.12th Feb 1942) Warrant Officer Class II Farrugia was the Son of Carmel and Nicolina Farrugia, of Siggiewi.
He was 32 when he died and is buried in the Siggiewi (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) Cemetery in Malta.
S Flynn
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F/O. Lonsdale C. Cowperthwaite. Royal Canadian Air Force, 407 Squadron. (d.12th Feb 1942) Lonsdale Cowperthwaite served in the RCAF in 407 squadron, stationed at RAF North Coates in Lincolnshire, flying the Lockheed Hudson light bomber. On 12th of February 1942 he and his two man crew took part in Operation Fuller, attempting to stop the Channel Dash of the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In the letter that Dale's mother received, his commanding officer, Wing Commander A C Brown, wrote:
"I can give you few details except that he took off at 13:15 yesterday afternoon with eight other aircraft and did not return. One of my other officers of whom you may have heard, Squadron Leader Anderson, is also missing.
Their operation to them into the centre of a great battle of the air. There was good cloud cover, but this was not sufficient to bring back either Dale or Andy safely.
All I know is that one pilot saw Dale leaving the cover of the cloud and going down of his own accord toward sea level. If he did do this then this probably accounts for any subsequent trouble he ran into.
Pilot Officer Lister and his two regular wireless operators were with him on the flight." Ian C Skeels
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Sgt. Kenneth William Heard. Royal Air Force, 49 Squadron. (d.12th Feb 1942) Sgt Kenneth Heard was posted to 49 Squadron in January 1942, based at Scampton in Leicestershire, flying Hampden bombers. He flew as Navigator on Operation Fuller - the Channel Dash - the operation to prevent the breakout of the German warships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen from Brest.
His first mission in January was against the ships in Brest. He then attacked the ships in the Channel on 10th February, without success, and on his third mission on 1942-02-12 the aircraft and its crew, Pilot Sgt Phillips, W/OP Sgt Jackson, Sgt Toghill, Air Gunner and Sgt Kenneth Heard failed to return.
In recent months, Bomber Command had dropped over 3,000 tons of bombs on the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the light cruiser Prinz Eugen as they resided in the French port of Brest. The two larger ships had both been badly damaged, and the threat of further damage had prevented the ships from sailing out into the Atlantic on another raid against allied shipping. In a daring and well-executed operation, the Germans sailed their 3 ships straight up through the English Channel to bring them back to the greater protection of a German port.
What followed on the part of the British Command has since been labelled as a catalogue of catastrophes, needless to say that the German warships achieved their destination unharmed. Heavily armed and protected by the Luftwaffe, the Germans exacted a heavy toll during the gallant British attempts to stop their breakout; Fighter Command lost 16 aircraft and the Fleet Air Arm had 6 Swordfish destroyed.
Bomber Command's part in the action involved 244 aircraft of which 15 were lost in action, and a further 2 crashing on return. Only 5 Group had been on a 4 hour stand by, as bomber Squadrons made frantic efforts to prepare their aircraft. Eventually, 5 Group contributed 64 Hampdens and 15 Manchesters to attack the German warships; 9 Hampdens were reported missing and one crashed on return.
49 Squadron's participation was prompted by a signal from Group received at 10.00hrs requesting 20 aircraft to attack the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at sea!
Cpl Trevor Simpson recalled the urgency with which the preparations were carried out, and he is almost certain that this was the occasion when the Hampdens were taxied into a hangar, bombed up and then taxied out!
In low cloud and rain with extremely poor visibility, only 3 of the squadron's aircraft found the primary target.
It is now believed that two of the aircraft were shot down by German fighters, AE132 piloted by F/Sgt Charles Pollitt and AE396 flown by Sgt Edward Phillips. What we do know for certain is that these two crews plus that of Sgt Mervyn Holt (AE240) disappeared into the dark waters of the North Sea without trace
Daniel Spencer
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