Halifax, NP944, 433 Sqdn ... Info

[georgetanksherman]

Looking for the rest of the crew, if known, that was flying in this aircraft when it was attacked, and P/O Zareikin was killed !

Halifax, NP-944, October 5/6, 1944

Aircraft taken off from Skipton on Swale airfield to undertake a mining operation to Heligoland, Germany. Aircraft was attacked by a JU-88. P/O J. Zereikin RCAF, the rear gunner, was killed and the rear turret, fuselage and port wing were damaged. The Ju-88 on the second pass, received many strikes in the cockpit, wing and engine area. The JU-88s wheels came down, it flipped on its back and dove vertically to the sea. It was claimed destroyed. The crew landed safely at Carnaby with no further damage.

Crew: so far
Pilot: F/O W.T.G. Watson, RCAF, Survived, successful landing
Gnr: P/O J. Zereikin, C/88488, RCAF, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

[Ludford 101]

Alas, George, P/O Zareikin wasn't from Los Angeles. I doubt he ever visited it either. He was born and bred in Montreal. His father, David, moved the family to Los Angeles in 1950.

Zareikin's brother, Samuel, was also killed on air operations. A wireless air gunner on No. 102 Squadron, killed 28 May 1943.

NP944 crewlist a.jpg (495.44 KiB) Viewed 16694 times

NP944 crewlist b.jpg (327.56 KiB) Viewed 16694 times

[Temujin]

George and Ludford......am away for 3 weeks (we just landed in Australia after our 14.5 hour flight.....and it “beautiful” and “hot” and “muggy”

I’m sure Ludford will “hold down the fort” on everything in the SKY while I’m away.

Cheers guys.......now to find some “Fosters” (that’s Australian for “beer” George....well its actually a brand of Australian Beer

[georgetanksherman]

Temujin, the Fosters brings back some memories, while stationed at Andersen A.F.B. in Guam, had a few trip "Down Under" one to Darwin, got introduced to the ole "Stubbies" there, plus "Iced coffee (Long before Starbucks) Oh, and a Vegemite Sandwich (One was enough) . Are you planning on swinging over to New Zealand ? Avspecs is currently air testing the third Mosquito that they have put in the air, and this one is coming to Texas … Yeah, I am a "Mossie" nut. Thank You for the info, and enjoy your time there in Australia !

[Hugh]

Hi there in case anyone is still looking at this, I'm Robert Douglas Menzies's youngest son, sadly he died when I was 1 in 1963, he was from Penicuik in Scotland and signed up to the RAF the day he sat his last Higher exam, my mum says that the RCAF crew picked him as they thought he was the best, but he apparently never spoke that much about the war.

We do still have his log book and other documents, I have his uniform and his helmet, I guess you call it? We have some crew photos too which I have scanned but are not on this laptop, we somehow had a Halifax compass but my mum donated it to National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, East Lothian many years ago.

My Mum is still with us at 96 and still misses him, she was in the WREN's from 1944 herself, but they didn't meet till the 1950's, I vaguely remember hearing that Joe Descent had kept in touch and before I was born had come to Edinburgh for a visit, it'd be interesting to hear what happened to the rest of the crew, what they did after the war etc.

Thanks for the information here because we didn't really have anything.
Hugh Menzies

[georgetanksherman]

Greetings Hugh,

Welcome to Wartimes, there are some Awesome folks on here, very friendly and willing, if they can to help find info for people doing research, for the last several years I have been researching Americans that crossed the border into Canada to help the fight in WW II before the U.S. joined in, had some GREAT Help. Hope all is well with you and your Mum !

Cheers

George