15-21 March 1943

Overview

A quiet flying week for 12 Sqn, who flew no missions and, in fact, for the whole of Bomber Command, the largest attack being 16 Mosquitoes attacking railway workshops in Paderborn. The only event of note at Wickenby was the departure of the last Wellington, being collected by the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) for delivery to 33 MU. Unfortunately, the port engine cut and the aircraft crashed, injuring 2 of the ATA crew.

The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance units (MUs), scrapyards, and active service squadrons and airfields, but not to naval aircraft carriers. It also flew service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and performed some air ambulance work. Notably, around 10% of its pilots were women, and from 1943 they received equal pay to their male colleagues, a first for the British government. (Wikipedia)

Extract from Station Diary