John William Purcivall DFC RNZAF and crew – 103 Squadron – 1941 – 401301
John Purcivall ( pictured above ) was born in Canbelego NSW Australia on the 8th August 1912 and moved to New Zealand in his childhood. After enlisting in the RNZAF he trained in NZ and qualified as a pilot in August 1940, was commissioned and embarked for the UK 31st October 1940. He was posted to 20 OTU Lossiemouth and from there to 103 Squadron at RAF Newton on the 12th March 1941.
Flew as co-pilot in the crew of F/O Barratt
14/03/1941 – Gelsenkerchen – F/O Barratt - T2999
21/03/1941 – Lorient – F/O Barratt - R1396
30/03/1941 – Brest – F/O Barratt - T2965.
06/04/1941 – Brest – F/O Barratt - T2965.
09/04/1941 – Kiel – F/O Barratt - T2965.
13/04/1941 – Brest – F/O Barratt - T2965.
Also 2 more as co-pilot with S/L Blome-Jones
30-Apr-41 – Kiel – Docks – Wellington – R1041 – S/L Blome-Jones - 500lb bomb hung up.
04/05/1941 – Cologne – S/L Blome Jones – T2965
At this stage he was promoted to captain of his own crew.
This consisted of a number of different airman at various stages including 5 different co-pilots. Air Gunner Sgt Clowes was the only member of this crew who flew all the operations.
Sgt Amos, Sgt King, Sgt Johnson, Sgt Innes, Sgt Clowes
Sgt Gorrie, Sgt Brookes, Sgt Rouse, Sgt Kozlowski, Sgt Long, Sgt Walker, P/O Ward, Sgt Fairhurst.
Their tour was as follows :-
11-Jun-41 - Boulogne - Docks and shipping - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
12-Jun-41 - Osnabruck - Railway yard - Wellington - N2770 – P/O JW Purcivall
16-Jun-41 - Duisburg - Docks - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
17-Jun-41 - Duisburg - Docks - Wellington - N2770 – P/O JW Purcivall - Hit by flak. Slight damage.
20-Jun-41 - Kiel - Telegraph office - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall - Could not reach primary in time and bombed flak concentrations at Sylt
26-Jun-41 - Dusseldorf - General attack - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
26-Jun-41 - Dusseldorf - General attack - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
30-Jun-41 - Dusseldorf - Railway station - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall - Port engine gave trouble. Bombed Nivelles airfield
03-Jul-41 - Bremen - Docks - Wellington - R1539 – P/O JW Purcivall - Delayed take off. Aircarft would not climb above 12,500 ft. Bombed searchlight concentration near Meppen.
05-Jul-41 - Bielefeld - Power station and gas works - Wellington - R1446 – P/O JW Purcivall
07-Jul-41 - Cologne - Industrial area - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
08-Jul-41 - Bielefeld - Power station and gas works - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
10-Jul-41 - Cologne - Industrial area - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
22-Jul-41 - Frankfurt - Industrial area - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall
24-Jul-41 - Emden - Docks and shipping - Wellington - R1446 – P/O JW Purcivall
02-Aug-41 - Hamburg - Industrial area - Wellington - R1446 – P/O JW Purcivall - Unable to identify target. Bombed Bremen.
07-Aug-41 - Essen - Krupps industrial complex - Wellington - T2965 – P/O JW Purcivall - Combat. Outbound attacked by TE NF. Damaged. Rear gunner replied and hits seen on EA
14-Aug-41 - Hannover - Railway station - Wellington - R1446 – P/O JW Purcivall – Early return - Unable to gain altitude brought bombs back to base
18-Aug-41 - Duisburg - Railway yards - Wellington - T2617 – P/O JW Purcivall – Early return - Rear turret unserviceable
19-Aug-41 - Kiel - Railway yards - Wellington - T2999 – P/O JW Purcivall
27-Aug-41 - Mannheim - Post office Wellington - R1396 – P/O JW Purcivall
29-Aug-41 - Mannheim - General attack - Wellington - R1396 – P/O JW Purcivall.
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He was then posted to XV Squadron in September 1941 and then to Prestwich for a B24 Liberator conversion course 21st October 1941 and joined 150 Squadron as an instructor 19th November 1941. There then followed short postings to 1 Beam Approach School, RAF Ferry Command Prestwick, 1653 HCU and finally to the 460 Squadron Conversion Flight on the 28th June 1942.
In September 1942 he was instructing at the 460 Squadron RAAF Conversion Flight at RAF. Breighton, East Yorkshire. On the 22nd September 1942 he was the instructor on Halifax II – W1272. When the aircraft spun out of control and crashed at Catterton Near Tadcaster Yorkshire. All four crew members were killed. It was thought the incident may have occurred due to a rudder stall demonstration.
F/O John William Purcivall DFC RNZAF – Pilot - 30 - 460 Squadron CF - Son of John William Purcivall, and of Ivy Bertha Purcivall, of New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand – Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate.
His half brother of Ian Edward Blance was killed on the 29th July 1944 while with 75 Sqn.
Compiled by David Fell with photo courtesy of the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Thanks to Mark Simpson for his helpful input.
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