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On the night of Tuesday 5th May 1942, RAF Wellington bomber no. X3407 JN-A took off from Snaith Airfield in Yorkshire on a bombing mission to Stuttgart, Germany. The co-pilot of the aircraft was Sgt. Stanley Harry Heslop no. 1375238, 150 Squadron, Royal Air Force.

Forty eight hours earlier, he had been sitting in the Golden Fleece, Edmonton High Road, North London, with his younger brother, Sgt. Cyril Frederick Heslop, no. 957081, discussing family matters and their thoughts and fears. Cyril vividly remembers his brother expressing concern that his plane was being regularly used for long-range bombing sorties into the heart of Germany and the Wellington was not designed for this sort of operation.

Stanley told him that the only way to get to and from their target was to fly in formation in a direct line, with no leeway to deviate from the route in order to avoid the predatory German fighters which invariably awaited them. The common tactic of the Luftwaffe at this time was to concentrate on the bombers flying on the edge of the formation, thus giving those in the middle a relatively safe journey home. Stanley mused on the fact that his life was therefore very much dependent upon where his aircraft happened to be placed within the bomber formation.

His brother Cyril had volunteered for the RAF in 1940 and was an Airframe Fitter, responsible for the repair and maintenance of fighter aircraft, especially Hurricanes. By the end of the conflict, he had served in Kenya, Egypt and the Sudan, and had experienced the full horrors of war. He lost many friends and acquaintances but little did he think that his greatest loss was to come just two days later on that fateful bombing mission.

Stanley had volunteered for the RAF that sane year and had trained as a fighter pilot. In 1941, he was flying his Hurricane on a dawn patrol over the Thames Estuary when he encountered enemy fighters on a reconnaissance and - in the ensuing dogfight - he crash-landed. His injuries necessitated a spell in hospital but, once fully recovered, he began training as a bomber pilot. This brought him to that fateful night and the bombing mission to Stuttgart.

On 7th May 1942, a letter was sent from the Royal Air Force Office to Mr T H Heslop informing him that his son, Sgt. Stanley Harry Heslop was missing; his aircraft having failed to return to its base after an operational flight. Further updates followed until a telegram was received by his father, confirming that Stanley鈥檚 body had been washed ashore on the Dutch coast on 12th July, 1942. He was subsequently buried in Bergen General Cemetery in Holland and his grave - to this day 鈥� is meticulously tended by the War Graves Commission.

His younger brother Cyril survived the war and now lives in Hingham鈥檚 Park. He is 84 years of age, but he remembers that last drink with his older brother as if it were yesterday. He has in his possession a copy of a letter from his brother to their parents and that letter is dated 5th May, 1942, written just hours before he died. Stanley says in one part of the letter:-

鈥淚鈥檝e been properly browned off since yesterday morning. Really fed up and far from home. The funny part is that the rest of my crew are cheesed right off; much more than they usually are. Last evening, they were talking about chucking it in and all sorts of wild things, but I expect they鈥檒l get over it鈥�.

They never had the chance to get over it. But was this, perhaps a premonition?

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