S/L Leonard C Pipkin DFC and bar RAFVR - 103 Squadron – 1942 – Observer
Twice decorated with DFC during his tour – Wounded – Shot down and evaded capture.
Died in 1944 as a result of accidental discharge of shotgun on hunting trip.
A notable resourceful and courageous figure in the history of 103 Sqn, Leonard was a navigator with 103 Squadron in 1942 in Clive Saxelby's crew and twice decorated in a incident packed tour.
Posted to 103 Squadron Elsham Wolds early 1942.
Tour of Operations
26/27th March 1942 Target - Essen. Aircraft - Wellington R1452. P/O B S Martin and crew.
Up 20.42 Down 01.17. Bombed target area from 13,000ft at 22.30.
2/3rd April 1942 Target - Paris/Poissy (Motor vehicle factory ). Aircraft - Wellington DV694 P/O W G K Gorrie and crew. Up 19.51 Down 01.24. Intercom failed during the flight but was repaired. Bombed existing fire in the target area.
17/18th April 1942 Target - Hamburg. Aircraft - Wellington DV699 P/O W G K Gorrie and crew. Up 2304 Down 06.03. Obtained pin point position on river and bombed target area.
24/25th April 1942 Target - Rostock. Aircraft - Wellington DV697 F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 21.59 Down 0611. Target identified during a run down the river. Bombed from 12,300ft at 01.50.
25/26th April 1942. Target - Rostock. Aircraft - Wellington DV612. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 21.44 Down 05.43. Bombed dock area at 02.12 from 11,000ft.
26/27th April 1942. Target - Rostock. Aircraft - Wellington L7819. Sgt R E V Pugh and crew. Up 22.05 Down 06.06. Bombed target area and observed many fires on the ground.
Note. This ended a very damaging series of raids on the German port of Rostock. It proved relatively easy to locate this target because of it was situated prominently on the coast.
29/30th April 1942. Target - Paris/ Gennevilliers ( Gnome Rhone aero-engine factory ) Aircraft - Wellington L9816. Sgt R E V Pugh and crew. Up 21.01 Down 0308. Bombed industrial complex in Gennevilliers district.
Note. The Gnome Rhone plant was not hit in this raid but several industrial buildings in the Port de Paris area nearby were destroyed or damaged. There were surprisingly no civilian casualties.
4/5th May 1942. Target - Stuttgart. Aircraft - Wellington DV699. P/O W G K Gorrie and crew. Failed to take off due to armament failure.
6/7th May 1942. Target - Stuttgart. Aircraft - Wellington DV697. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 21.40 Down 05.45. It was thought the aircraft was hit by flak in the Karlsruhe area. This caused the dinghy in the stowage compartment in the rear of the starboard engine nacelle to catch fire. It appeared that the fire came from the engine itself which was cut and feathered. The fire soon went out and the aircraft returned to base having released the bombs live over enemy territory. On return the true extent of the fire was discovered and it seemed that this was caused when the aircraft was hit by an incendiary bomb falling from an unseen aircraft above.
8/9th May 1942. Target - Warnemunde. Aircraft - Wellington Z1152. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 21.50 Down 05.55. Bombed target area from 11,000ft at 01.37.
19/20th May 1942. Target - Mannheim. Aircraft - Wellington DV704. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 22.04 Down 05.34. Bombed from 11,000ft at 01.17.
30/31st May 1942. Target - Cologne ( First Thousand Bomber Raid ) Aircraft - Wellington DV704. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Bombed target which was easily located. On the return trip, after crossing the Dutch coast, the aircraft was attacked by a Bf 110 nightfighter. The second pilot, Sgt G C Roberts, was stationed in the astrodome on lookout and was killed in the combat. The rear gunner F/S L P St Pierre RCAF was wounded. The aircraft caught fire in the fuselage and half the tail plane was stripped and the trimmers shot away. The navigator, F/O Pipkin, and the wireless operator, F/S W J McLean, succeeded in putting out the fire. During this F/O Pipkin sustained serious burns to his hands. The hydraulics had also been hit and the undercarriage and bomb bay started to droop making the aircraft difficult to control. The pilot was eventually able to make an emergency landing at Honnington in the UK.
31st July/1st August 1942. Target - Dusseldorf. Aircraft - Halifax W1219. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 00.41 Down 04.55. Target visually identified by flying along the river and bombed from 11,500ft at 02.45.
Note. Pipkin now shown as F/O.
15/16th August 1942. Target - Dusseldorf. Aircraft - Halifax W1219 F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 0.26 Down 0312. Aircraft returned early due to a serious failure of the electrical systems. The bomb load was jettisoned.
17/18th August 1942. Target - Osnabruck. Aircraft- Halifax W 1219 F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 22.15 Down 02.48. Target pin pointed by a bend in the river and bombed from 11,500 ft at 00.33.
27/28th August 1942. Target - Kassel. Aircraft - Halifax W1219. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 20.55 Down 02.75. Target identified and bombed from 8,200ft.
Note. Pipkin now shown as F/L.
28/29th August 1942. Target - Nuremberg. Aircraft - Halifax W1219. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 20.26 Down 04.41. Identified the aiming point on the first run but failed to see any bomb bursts. It was found that the bomb bay doors had failed to open and so the bomb load would not release. The pilot orbited some distance away from the target for 13 minutes whilst the bomb bay doors were pumped down by hand. Another run was made and the target bombed from 8,200ft. 1 x 1,000lb bomb failed to release. F/L Pipkin put his hand through the clear vision panel in the bomb bay and released the weapon.
3 members of the crew then pumped the bomb bay doors shut by hand with the energy cock closed. This took 20 minutes. Just as the pilot confirmed that the bomb bay was now closed the gauge blew off the top of the accumulator partially blinding the wireless operator and covering the other 2 in hydraulic fluid. The flight engineer was able to nip the pipe closed with pliers to prevent further loss of fluid.
1/2nd September 1942. Target - Saarbrucken. Aircraft - Halifax W1219. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 23.36 Down 05.27. Target identified by a small island in the bend of the river and bombed from 9,000ft.
4/5th September 1942. Target - Bremen. Aircraft - Halifax W1219. F/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 0003 Down 04.55. Target believed to have been bombed but the area was partially obscured by what was thought to be a smoke screen.
6/7th September 1942. Target - Duisberg. Aircraft - Halifax W1219. S/L C K Saxelby and crew. Up 0106 - Failed to return.
The crew for the last operation consisted of :-
S/L C K Saxelby DFC - POW
Sgt R Thompson - POW
Sgt T P Milligan - POW
F/L L C Pipkin - Evader
Sgt J Lamb - POW
F/S W J McLean DFM - POW
F/O D A T Churchward - POW
Sgt C E Benstead - KIA
The aircraft was attacked by a night fighter and crashed at Tegelen ( Limburg ) 4 km south south west of Venlo. Sgt Benstead was killed and is buried at Jonkerboos War Cemetery. F/L L C Pipkin successfully evaded and returned to the UK. The others were all captured and made prisoner of war.
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F/L L C Pipkin Evasion Report Summary.
Interviewed by MI9 25th October 1942.
After being on the run for several days he was given help and taken to a farm near the Dutch/Belgian border. There he was guided across the frontier by 2 helpers to a farm and was then taken into the charge of the the Comete Escape Line. He left the farm where he was hiding the same day and taken on foot for 5 miles to a shop at a busy cross roads. There he was met by 2 more guides and 2 escaped French POWs and they cycled for 90 mins to another shop and then walked for 2 miles to a mill north of Maastricht.
O the 12th September he was taken by tram via Longres to Liege where he stayed with 2 middle aged sisters until the 21st September where he was regularly visited by a lady doctor who kept him informed of what was going on.
He was than taken to Brussels and stayed for 2 days at the house of a local architect. He remained there until the 28th September when he left for Paris with a guide with 3 others evaders, S/L Prevot, Sgt Frost and Sgt Randle. He stayed in Paris with 2 French ladies.
The same party plus Sgt Mounts left Paris on the 6th October. At Bayonne they were joined by Didi ( Presumably Andree de Jong ) and another giril who brought tickets for St Jean de Lue. They stayed 1 night there at the house of a Basque and the next day Didi and a Basque took the party across the Pyrenees. He stayed 2 nights in San Sebastian before being taken to Madrid by car where he remained for 10 days.
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Shot down on the 7th Sept 42 he successfully evaded back to the UK and subsequently gave a lecture on evasion at Elsham. Leonard was one of three navigators who evaded at around this time. The other two being Gordon Mellor and Dizzy Spiller.
Leonard did not return to operations and was posted as an instructor. He was later promoted Squadron Leader and I believe had some senior navigational training role.
He sadly died in a firearms accident in at Wymeswold in Aug 1944 and is buried at Hendon.
The circumstances of his death were and still are a mystery to his family. Leonard was brought up on Lord Caernarvon's estate with his brother Leslie. Their father, Joseph Pipkin, was a gamekeeper. They lived in the gamekeepers cottage and the boys grew up shooting game for the estate. Leonard was very experienced with firearms and it is considered inexplicable that he should accidentally shoot himself in 1944.
S/L Leonard Charles Pipkin DFC and bar RAFVR – Navigator – 103 Sqn – Hendon Cemetery and Crematorium, Middlesex.
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DFC Citations
F/L L C Pipkin was awarded a DFC and a bar to the DFC whilst with 103 Squadron. These were Gazetted on the 10th November 1942 and the 18th December 1942 respectively.
DFC Citation :-
"Acting Flight Lieutenant Leonard Charles Pipkin RAFVR No 103 Squadron. This air observer has displayed great skill in navigation whilst his leadership and courage, when under fire, have been an example to others. On one occasion when his aircraft was attacked by an enemy fighter and the rear of the fuselage was set ablaze, he beat out the flames with his bare hands and afterwards similarly extinguished flames on the tube of an oxygen bottle. Flight Lieutenant Pipkin, despite severe burns thereby received, navigated his aircraft back to base. By his courage and devotion to duty, while suffering great pain, this officer was largely responsible for the safe return of his aircraft".
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Air Ministry, 18th December, 1942. - ROYAL AIR FORCE.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallantry displayed in flying operations against the enemy: —
Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross.
Acting Flight Lieutenant Leonard Charles Pipkin, D.F.C. (62260), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 103 Squadron.
In September, 1942, this officer was the navigator of an aircraft detailed to attack a target in the Ruhr. In most hazardous circumstances he displayed courage and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the Royal Air Force.
Item compiled and written by David Fell with photo courtesy of the Pipkin family
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