Turin
12 August 1943 — Turin
- Date
- 12 August 1943
- Target
- Turin, Italy
Narrative
On the night of 12/13 August 1943 Bomber Command again crossed the Alps to attack Turin. Flight Sergeant Arthur Aaron of No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron was captaining a Short Stirling when it was raked by gunfire that killed the navigator, shattered the cockpit and left Aaron with a broken jaw, a wounded lung and a useless arm. Unable to speak, he helped his crew nurse the crippled bomber to an emergency landing at Bône in North Africa, directing the final approach by written notes, before dying of his wounds. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Order of battle
1 aircraft. Each crew links to the men who flew it; each airman to their own record.
| Aircraft | Type | Squadron | Pilot | Crew | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EF452 HA-O |
Short Stirling | Arthur Louis Aaron | 1 aircrew → | Crashed on return |
The fallen
165 airmen in this archive died on 12 August 1943 or the day that followed. For a raid of this kind these are overwhelmingly the night's losses, though a death-date match is not by itself proof an individual flew this operation.
- Pilot Officer Robert Peter Townend Akeroyd (26)
- Leading Aircraftman Mervyn Charles Arkell (22)
- Flight Sergeant Wilfred George Atkinson (23)
- Sergeant John Andrew Bacon
- Sergeant Henry Louis Hubert Bainton (25)
- Pupil Pilot John Barford
- Air Mechanic Petrus Bekker
- Flight Lieutenant Harry Curd Bennett (27)
- Flight Sergeant Stuart Bertram Billing
- Pilot Officer Kenneth Reid Bourne (21)
- Aircraftman 1st Class Leonard Bower (41)
- Warrant Officer Class II Cornelius Alfred Brennan
- Sergeant Geoffrey James Broughton
- Flight Sergeant William John Brown (22)
- Flight Sergeant Lawrence Edmund Burgess (23)
- Leading Aircraftman Alfred Henry Butterfield (39)
- Warrant Officer Class I Donald Alexander Joseph Cameron
- Sergeant Henry Cameron (20)
- Sergeant Dennis Alfred Cardy
- Sergeant Harry Denzil Chapman
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Arthur John Clark (20)
- Flight Sergeant John Ronald Clark (29)
- Pilot Officer Gordon Harvey Clarke (32)
- Warrant Officer Ernest James Clinch (24)
See all 165 who died on 12 August →
Source: Wikipedia: Arthur Louis Aaron →