Sergeant W D Pickin 1199503 Wellington HX597 - interned Spain - HELP PLEASE

[brett361975]

Dear all.

I recently came across some information regarding a Sergeant W D Pickin (service number 1199503) who was I believe an Air Gunner on board Wellington Mk.Ic HX597, 1 OADU.

The aircraft from what I can gather took off from , from Gibraltar and landed in the sea Amaro four miles from the Grand Tarajal (Fuerteventura). Four of the six crew members were rescued by a fishing and boarding ? ( This information was taken from a Spanish website) The other two disappeared On October 3rd 1942.

The crew members were interviewed by the looks of things by M19

Sgt. AK Scarisbrook
Sgt. TPG Griffin
Sgt. WD Pickin
Sgt. AC Evans
Sgt. SD Crick

unfortunately they seem to be only accessible via the National Archive -WO 208/3311/1010 and are not on line. However there does seem to be something on "Find my past" website but I do not have access to this either.

It gives the unit as 1 OADU on one website then 1446 Squadron Raf on another.

I have a photograph of William in his dress uniform on his wedding day wearing a "Goldfish Club" emblem.

Can anyone help me with any information regarding Williams service please ?

Was he part of a Aircraft Ferry service for his whole career ?

Is there any information out there regarding his internment in the Canary Islands?

Who is the serviceman who lost his life or the two servicemen ?

Why were there 6 or 7 crewmen on board if it was only a ferry flight ?

All I have to go on are some photographs which show William in Cairo, Syria and Beirut later on in the war, and three medals, the 39-45 star War Medal and Africa star.

I would be very grateful for any information anyone could help me with please.

I am at a complete loss of how to proceed here.

Thanks in advance

Kind regards

Brett

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello,

3-10-1942
No.1 OADU
Wellington IC HX597
Delivery Flight.

Took off Gibraltar for Bathurst, but ditched 16km off Fuenteventura, Canary Islands, and sank in 30 seconds. Sgt Sansome drowned and the rest of the crew spent two hours in their dinghy before rescue by a Spanish fishing boat. Sgt Scarsbrick was injured, and spent three months in a Spanish hospital. Sgt Sansome is commemorated on the Malta Memorial.

655579 Sgt (Pilot) Tom Philip George GRIFFIN RAF (later +1-10-44, 4 ADU, Expeditor I HB202) - Interned.
1208957 Sgt Harold SANSOME RAFVR +
1321733 Sgt A O EVANS RAFVR - Interned.
1199503 Sgt W D PICKIN RAFVR - Interned.
1294711 Sgt A K SCARSBRICK RAFVR - Interned.
1358102 Sgt (Air Gnr.) S D CRICK RAFVR - Interned (later served on No.70 Sqn.)

See:
Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean Volume 1: 1939-1942.
Gunby,David & Pelham Temple.
Hinckley:Midland Publishing,2006.
p.189

Col.

[brett361975]

Thank you Col. Your help is very much appreciated. Im going to have a look at getting a copy of the M19 reports from The NA and see if they give any further information.

Kind regards and thanks again

Brett

[Juan Carlos Salgado]

Hi Brett,

This is Juan Carlos Salgado, a naval and aviation historian from Spain. There is more to it than you can imagine. I not only do have WO 208/3311/1010 (I guess in the meantime you may have already got it) but also Spanish and German documents related to the case. I have already published something on it in a Spanish magazine but I am now working on a book with several other Spanish authors. Could you please PM me and I will gladly send you copies of the documents.

Best regards,
Juan Carlos

[KH.Ranitzsch]

In the 1940's, Fred Lawson, my English grandfather, lived in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and he led quite a guest-friendly household. The guest-book has a lot of thankful entries by happy guests.

The entries include this sketch of Merlin-engined Vickers Wellington HX597, hull letter "C", that has gone down at sea.

(Click on the link)

The entry is from 1942, and two of the crew signed the sketch: Sgt. K.Scariscrick and Sgt.David Crick, both R.A.F., plus the line: "They live to fight again"

I hope you find this of interest.



Greetings

Karl Heinz Ranitzsch

Hamburg, Germany

[paulmcmillan]

Full and corrected names of survivors



1321733 Sgt Arthur Ord EVANS RAFVR - Interned. later (172876).
1199503 Sgt William Derek PICKIN RAFVR - Interned.
1294711 Sgt Arthur Frederick SCARISBRICK RAFVR - Interned.
1358102 Sgt (Air Gnr.) Sydney David CRICK RAFVR - Interned (later served on No.70 Sqn.)