Handley Page Halifax III (LW713 WL-P) on a mission to Arras on 1944-06-13

On Monday, 12 June 1944, (a part of) the aircraft of the 434 squadron (RCAF), took off for a mission to Arras in France from a station (airfield) in or near Croft.
One of the crew members was Flying Officer D W Robertson RCAF. He departed for his mission at 23:06.
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, with serial LW713 and code WL-P). His mission and of the other crew members was planned for Tuesday, 13 June 1944.

Information about aircraft who did not return from this mission can be found here. Information about the other crew members on this flight can be found at this website (Aircrew Remembered). This website also provides the flight information for this record.

This record can also be found on the maps of Back to Normandy with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.

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Comments (2)

Robin Bird

about 1 year ago
#6141

This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Hi Fred,

I've just come across your website. My name is Mrs. Robin Bird, and my maiden name was Robin Robertson.

Your page, "Handley Page Halifax III (LW713 WL-P) on a mission to Arras on 1944-06-13" refers to "Flying Officer D W Robertson RCAF". D.W. Robertson (Major Donald (Don) Wright Robertson) was my father! My Dad was the navigator. He would have been barely 21 at that time. He escaped the burning plane and hid in the fields for 3 days without food or water. When he parachuted out, understandably, he didn't have time to put on his parachute so that it would lock in properly so he had to hang on to it so that the parachute wouldn't fly away (I imagine this was incredibly difficult). Eventually, the French Resistance came by in a cart and said, "Get in, we are with the Resistance!" and Dad took the risk (knowing that they could have been German forces disguised as French peasants, as France was occupied during that time). Dad was starving and dehydrated, and he didn't know a lot of the French language but managed to say "mange, mange". He was hidden in France by the French Resistance, and I understand that he worked with them, too. He was hidden by two wonderful people named Marcel and Alfreda (my mother, Mona, who was second generation French Canadian and knew French fairly well, wrote to Marcel and Alfreda for years before they passed away. Marcel and Alfreda bravely let my father stay in their basement, fed him, looked after him, and risked death if they were caught, for 6 months. I am not sure of the city in France where they lived, or their last names, and I would love to connect with anyone who knew them. Sergeant Gus Nordin was also in Wood Crew 79, and he also parachuted out and survived. Dad connected with Gus after the war, and Gus was the best man at my father's wedding in Vancouver, Canada. Mom and Dad talked about Gus for many years (I'm sure I would have met him but I was pretty young and I don't remember now, but I do remember many references to his name throughout the years of my life). My father passed away from leukemia in 1983. He was really humble about his time in the war. He was proud of it but he was also sometimes quiet about it too, because I'm sure the guys suffered from alot of trauma and in those days they still did the "stiff upper lip" and didn't talk to their loved ones about that part of things. I was barely 20 years old when dad died, and I still miss him so much it hurts. He became a highschool English teacher for years. I do know that the pilot, Sergeant W.Wood, was my father's best friend, and Sergeant Wood was left in the plane while the other guys escaped as the plane was burning. As my father escaped, he looked up to see the plane burning and knew that Sergeant Wood was in the plane, and I believe this was an event which was very traumatic for Dad. I would greatly appreciate it if you could reply/email me as I would really love to connect to anyone who was involved in any way with my father's service, especially, connected to the Wood Crew 79 Squadron or who maybe knew him in France.

Robin Bird