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Re: Hampden of 455 Sqn
Hi Chris,
Looking at Jack Davenports Diary - Herewith some rough notes:
The last of 455's Hampdens that failed to arrive was AT109, piloted by Sqn/Ldr Jimmy Catanach DFC, he had joined 455 whilst in our Bomber Command guise during which he had been awarded the DFC before the conversion to torpedo bombers when transferred to Coastal and at 20 years old was one of the youngest pilots at the time to be a Sqn/Ldr out side Fighter Command.
AT109 had experienced a great deal of flak of all calibre's as it crossed the Norge coast in atrocious weather conditions. The aircraft bucked about like an American Bucking Bronco at a Rodeo Show according to Bob [Anderson]. Jimmy struggled to hold the aircraft steady. In their course of stooging along the coast AT109 had been fired on by all and sundry and Jimmy thought or was convinced that fuel was being lost from holed fuel tanks. Jimmy rather than risk the engines cutting, trimmed the aircraft right back for a slow flight across Varengern Fjord and then at the first opportunity was going to ditch in the waters.
The somewhat sudden appearance of heather adjacent to a beach ahead of Jimmy offered at least the possibilities of a safe landing. Jimmy lowered the carriage down, AT109 touched down safely on the heather [adjoining beach near Vardo] with an understandably rough bumpy landing. Catanach, Anderson, Cameron, Hayes, Davidson (Flight Mech), attempted to set fire, but a horde of soldiers appeared on the high ground above the beach whilst a patrol boat edged nearer and opened fire, the soldiers opened up with rifle fire to. The situation was hopeless and in a matter of minutes the five had been taken prisoners.
The first night was spent in a camp containing hundreds of Russian slave labourers who existed on potato soup. Taken by lorry to Rovaniemi and then flown by Ju 52 to Helsinki, after spending one night in a cramped civilian jail the five were flown to Frankfurt and began their status as POW's at Dalag Luft.
Catanach Killed 28 March 1944
Davidson Died during forced march May 1945
Anderson Unsuccessfully attempted to escape during captivity - Survived
Cameron Unsuccessfully attempted to escape during captivity - Survived
Hayes Unsuccessfully attempted to escape during captivity - Survived
Hope this helps, do have full statement by Bob Davidson if required ?
Kind Regards
Andy Bird
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