Australian War Memorial Logo
Search

Donate Today

  • Collection Open Information Close Information
    • Official Histories & Unit Diaries
    • Understanding the Collection
    • Research at the Memorial
    • Donating to the Collection
    • National Collection Loans
    • Projects
  • People
  • Visit
  • Commemorate Open Information Close Information
    • Last Post Ceremony
    • Honour Rolls
    • Anzac Day
    • Remembrance Day
    • Customs & Ceremony
    • Speeches
  • Learn Open Information Close Information
    • Schools & Teachers
    • Memorial Articles
    • Encyclopedia
    • Understanding Military Structure
    • Podcasts
    • Glossary
    • Magazine
  • Get Involved Open Information Close Information
    • Donations & Bequests
    • Corporate Partnership
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer at the Memorial
    • Friends of the Memorial
    • eMemorial Newsletter
    • Grants, Scholarships & Residencies
    • Research Papers
  • Shop Open Information Close Information
    • Memorial Shop
    • Images, film and sound
    • Lone Pine Seedlings

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Magazine
  3. wartime
  4. 93
  5. A Halifax Story

Main navigation

  • Schools & Teachers
    • School visits
    • Classroom Resources
    • Virtual Excursions
    • Memorial Boxes
    • Publications
    • Education Programs
    • The Simpson Prize
    • Professional Learning
    • Classroom Showcase
  • Understanding Military Structure
  • Australian military history overview
  • Podcasts
  • Glossary
  • Boy soldiers
  • Understanding Military History

A Halifax Story

04 January 2021
Collection Item C217051

Accession Number: P01523.033

Halifax B Mk.III MZ913 (Z5-N) of 462 Squadron, RAAF, flew over 100 missions, compared with 35 for “Easy”. 

At 00.55 hours on 3 June 1944, Halifax LV79 “E for Easy” of 158 Squadron RAF, with 104 other Halifax, 4 Mosquitos and 19 Lancasters had dropped their bombs from 9,000 feet. They inflicted heavy damage on the rail yards at Trappes near Paris, severely disrupting German transportation three days before the Allied D-day landings. 

Pilot Officer Bruce Bancroft RAAF, navigator Pilot Officer Charles Fripp RAAF and their crew had left the target area at 7,500 feet and were heading home when at 01.17 “Easy” was attacked by a Junkers Ju88 night fighter. Having raked the bomber end-to-end from below, the fighter pilot peeled away. “Easy” had numerous holes in the fuselage, cockpit, wing and petrol tanks – including a hole a metre across from one side to the other of the fuselage floor. One engine was on fire, and there were fires in the bomb bay and inside the fuselage. The situation was looking grim: the aircraft could explode, or the crew might have to bale out or ditch in the English Channel.

With the intercom destroyed, and thinking that Bancroft had given the bale-out signal, a wounded and dazed wireless operator Sergeant Leonard Dwan exited through the forward escape hatch. Mid-upper gunner Sgt Kenneth Leneup and flight engineer Sgt Leonard Cottrell baled out through the hole in the floor. Dwan did not survive, Leneup was  eventually captured, but Cottrell evaded the Germans to reach Allied lines. 

Collection Item C151172

Accession Number: RELAWM34719

The main instrument panel. 

Collection Item C151439

Accession Number: RELAWM34985

The control column yoke from “‘Easy”.  Above the left hand is a crew intercom button. 

The aircraft’s hydraulics were gone, so the flaps had dropped. Fripp and bomb aimer Pilot Officer Eric Tansley put out a fire in the bomb bay by squirting an extinguisher through the inspection panel. On the starboard side the inner engine had caught fire. Bancroft switched it off to put out the fire and feathered the propeller as the aircraft filled with fumes. Despite a large hole not far from his head, he had to open the window to vent the fumes before he was able to restart the engine.

With no intercom, neither Fripp nor Bancroft could know that rear gunner Sgt David Arundel had been jammed in the rear turret before hacking his way out with an axe. After checking his mates and avoiding the hole shot in the floor, Arundel went back to tackle fires in the rear, using his feet and hands once the extinguishers were emptied.

With one compass smashed and another 90 degrees out, Bancroft was thankful for a clear night and turned to the North Star to steer a rough course for home. He had no idea how much fuel was left; one damaged gauge showed 10 gallons, just enough for five minutes’ flying; the other showed 140 gallons but the tank was in fact empty. The bomb bay doors remained open.

Over the French coast at 3,000 feet, not a single German anti-aircraft gun opened fire – small consolation for the remaining crew, for whom ditching in the Channel was now a strong possibility. Just 25 minutes after the attack and flying at 700 feet, “Easy” approached Hurn Airfield, near Bournemouth on England’s south coast. As they touched down, “Easy” slewed in a half circle to port before Bancroft was able to pull up safely: the port undercarriage wheel and the tail wheel had been blown out. “Easy” was left with an unenviable record as the most damaged Commonwealth aircraft to return to England from an operation.

Pilot Officers Bancroft, Fripp and Tansley were awarded the DFC and Sgt Arundel the DFM. Of the 23 aircraft from 158 Squadron, five had been lost to enemy fire, and “Easy” was completely written off. Total losses for the mission were 15 Halifax bombers and one Lancaster from a force of 128 aircraft.
 

About the author

David Pearson is a Senior Curator in Military History and Technology at the Australian War Memorial.

Last updated: 8 April 2021

  • Back to Issue 93
1 The Donations and bequests

Donations & Bequests

Your generous donation will be used to ensure the memory of our Defence Forces and what they have done for us, and what they continue to do for our freedom remains – today and into the future.

Find out more
2 Visit Transcribe.awm.gov.au

Transcribe

Help preserve Australia's history by transcribing records from the National Collection. Enhance accessibility and discoverability for all Australians.

Find out more
The placesofpride

Places of Pride

Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is a new initiative designed to record the locations and photographs of every publicly accessible memorial across Australia.

Find out more
Visit the Australian War Memorial

Visit the Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is open for visitors as we work to expand our galleries. Entry is free and tickets are not required.

Find out more
Canberra Highlands in Grayscale

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF
TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS

The Australian War Memorial acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and waters. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
Location map of The Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial building

The Australian War Memorial

Fairbairn Avenue
Campbell ACT 2612
Australia
View on Google Maps (opens in new window)
Google Map data ©2025 Google
Australian War Memorial Logo
  • Go to AWM Facebook
  • Go to AWM Trip Advisor
  • Go to AWM Instagram
  • Go to AWM Youtube

Footer

  • About
  • Contact
  • Venue Hire
  • Media
  • WM Magazine
  • Donate Today
  • VG Portal

The Australian War Memorial

Fairbairn Avenue

Campbell ACT 2612

Australia

 

Opening Hours

10 am to 4 pm daily (except Christmas Day)

 

In preparation for the daily Last Post Ceremony,

galleries are progressively closed from 3:40 pm.

 

Public entrance via Fairbairn Avenue, Campbell ACT 2612

Sign up to our newsletter

Subscribe

Legal

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Freedom of information

Copyright 2025 Australian War Memorial, Canberra. All rights reserved