"On just his third mission of World War II, Stanley Steel from Paengaroa met his death.
On October 31, 1941, Stanley’s Whitley V Z9141 MH-J of 51 Squadron took off at 1739 (5.39pm) for an attack on Hamburg with 122 other aircraft.
On board were Captain/Flight Lieutenant Barsby and Sergeant Knight from the RAF Voluntary Reserve, Sergeant/Air Gunner Sature and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Warburton from the Royal Canadian Air Force and 21-year-old Pilot Officer Stanley David Steel of the RNZAF.
The last call from MH-J was received at 2136 (9.36pm) and stated “operations completed”.
On the way back to Britain the aircraft was attacked by a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt 110, flown by OFW (Oberfeldwebel) Paul Gildner. Gildner was a night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and eventually claimed 48 aerial victories.
The Whitley crashed around 2350 (11.50pm) on a sandbank in the sea north of the Dutch island of Texel, 90km north of Haarlem. Den Burg is the main settlement and in the local cemetery there is a special area for the graves of war casualties washed ashore and airmen brought down on the island.
According to Bram van Dijk of Texel, who has done major research into those buried in the cemetery, three of the bodies from flight MH-J were found in 1941 and were buried on the island.
However, it was not until 1951 that the other two bodies were recovered, including Stanley and Sergeant Knight. It is understood Stanley was still behind the controls and was identified by the name written on his underwear.
Stanley was born on February 7, 1920, in Auckland to David and Olive Steel.
David was the son of Peter and Mary Steel (nee Bird) who were married in the No 2 Rd Hall, Te Puke, in 1890. Peter was the Te Puke School teacher at the time.
David and Olive moved to Te Puke after Stanley’s birth and settled on a farm at Paengaroa – now the Te Puke Golf Course. Stanley began school at Paengaroa and later Te Puke High School. He left school to go farming. In 1935 the family moved to No 2 Rd.
In 1938, after operating his own business as an agricultural contractor, Stanley moved to Hamilton to learn to fly. It is thought he was planning to become a commercial pilot.
He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force on December 27, 1940, and was based at Whenuapai and then Ohakea.
Anzac Day commemorations will be held in Te Puke, Maketū and Pāpāmoa next Thursday.
During May, Stanley left New Zealand for Vancouver with other members of the RNZAF. They then travelled by rail across Canada through the Rockies to Halifax, from where they crossed the Atlantic for Britain.
He arrived at No 10 OTU [Operational Training Unit] at RAF Abingdon, Berkshire, where he trained on the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, the first modern heavy bomber. This aircraft was not always popular with aircrew and was often referred to as the Flying Coffin. There is not a single example of the aircraft in existence today.
On September 25, 1941, Stanley transferred to No 51 Squadron based at Dishforth, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire. He noted “… that he had a day of wandering around collecting gear and signing the inevitable forms. Told by the squadron CO that it might be a fortnight before I did any flying. This shook me a bit.”
His first mission was on October 22, a 1200-mile (1931km) trip to Mannheim, Germany. He noted: “The trip was uneventful as we managed to dodge the searchlights and flak. Unfortunately, there was 10/10ths cloud in target area, so we let our bombs go where we thought the town was. Eight hours altogether. For a first trip it wasn’t very exciting. The worst part is the waiting round before taking off and just like waiting for a big football game. Gets a bit tense when the s/l (searchlights) and flak come up.”
On October 24 the target was Frankfurt, where Stanley noted: “Ran into a lot of dirt over the French coast near Calais. One crew went for a Burton there – got caught in a large cone of s/l [search lights] and Jerry sent everything he had into the cone – result one Whitley less. We managed to sneak in without much trouble. Southern Germany was again obscured by clouds so we let the bombs go where we thought the town might be. Our eggs woke up the people on the ground and we had a busy 10 minutes dodging s/l and flak, none of which came dangerously close, though it was rather exciting.”
After his plane was shot down, a cablegram was received at Te Puke Post and Telegraph Office on November 2,1941, and was telephoned to the family at 7.30pm.
It read: “Regret to inform you that your son Pilot Officer Stanley David Steel is reported missing as the result of air operations on 31st October/1st November 1941 STOP Inquiries are being made through the International Red Cross Geneva and any further information received will be communicated to you STOP Immediate STOP should news of him reach you from any other source please inform this department STOP.”
An official letter was soon received from the base Wing Commander who wrote: “Your son had only been with the Squadron one month but during this time he had become quite popular with his comrades, both officers and men, and his loss is very deeply felt by us all. He was Second Pilot of a plane under Captain-Flying Officer Barsby, which left here to attack targets in Hamburg. The mission was successfully completed but nothing has been heard of either plane or crew since. All here share the hope that all the crew may be safe although prisoners of war and we know that it will be some consolation to you to know that we never give up hope until definite news is received. Your son’s effects are being collected by a brother officer and will be forwarded to you … On behalf of all your son’s comrades I express my deepest sympathy in this time of trial. Any further news which is received here will be cabled to you immediately.”
It was not until 1946 that the family found out what had happened to Stanley.
Stanley David Steel is remembered on the Te Puke War Memorial, the Te Puke High School War Memorial and the Paengaroa School War Memorial, and by the many members of his family here in Te Puke."
[Te Puke Times 16 April 2024]
