Pilot Officer Harry Churchill REYNOLDS (110136)
218 (Gold Coast) Squadron Royal Air Force

Date of birth: 7th October 1916
Date of death: 21st August 1942

Killed in action aged 25
Buried at Hamburg War Cemetery (Collective Grave) 6A D 3-7
He was born at Wallasey, Cheshire on the 7th of October 1916, the son of Harry Churchill Reynolds, company manager,and Daisy Gertrude (nee Brown) of 1, Mediterranean Terrace, Gibraltar.

He was educated at Elleray Park School, Wallasey, and at the King's School Canterbury from September 1930 to July 1935 on an entrance scholarship, where he was in Holme House. He was a School Monitor, Head of House, Senior Scholar, Editor of the Cantuarian and Secretary of the Debating Society.

On leaving King's he went on to Pembroke College, Cambridge, to study law.

In 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and trained as a wireless operator/air gunner. After training he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 17th of October 1941 and was posted to 218 Squadron operating the Shorts Stirling bomber on the 1st of April 1942 where they became the crew for New Zealander Derek Bullock who had already completed nine operational missions.

On the 16th of July 1942 Harry Reynolds and his crew took off from RAF Downham Market shortly before 7pm in Stirling Mk 1 HA-H W7475 for an operation against the Lübecker Flenderwerke AG U-Boat yard at Herrenwyk to the north east of Lübeck. The raid was considered to be experimental as most of the journey to the target would be during daylight hours and was to involve flying across the North Sea at low level. Six aircraft from 218 Squadron were to take part in the raid. In the event only eight of the twenty one Stirlings in the bomber stream were able to bomb the target due to thick cloud over it.
During the mission Harry's Reynolds' aircraft was attacked by night fighters at 9.45pm and were forced to drop their bomb load on the enemy airfield at Blankensee. On their return to base Harry Reynolds filed the following combat report: -

"We were intercepted over Denmark at 2,000 ft after breaking cloud 15 mins previously. The first sightings were 2 ME110 at 800 yds, 300 ft below. They immediately made climbing attacks on either quarter. The evasive action taken was a diving turn, enabling the rear and mid upper gunners to fire good bursts into the E/A. The E/A broke away at 200 yds passing below us. The ME110's then climbed to about 200 feet above us in the port quarter and came in to attack. The second 200 yds behind the first; as the first broke away at 200 yds down in the port, the second began firing. The mid upper fired at the first on the break away, the rear gunner took the 2nd ME110, who broke away below at 200 yds. As the second ME110 was breaking away an FW187 was seen down on the starboard quarter and an Ju88 made an attack from up on our starboard beam. As the JU88 broke away at 100 yds down on our port beam a piece of his cockpit cowling was seen to break off (caused by fire from the rear turret). We last saw the JU88 diving away on the port with smoke coming from his fuselage and his guns still firing. At this time another JU88 made a low attack and the ME110's were climbing above us at about 1,000 yds away. The Captain had seen an aerodrome about 3 miles away and made for it to try and jettison our bombs on it. The two ME110's made two more quarter attacks and the JU88 several bow and beam attacks before we dropped our bombs on the aerodrome at 1,400 ft. Some light flak was received from the aerodrome. Immediately after this an ME110 continued to make quarter and beam attacks from above us and the JU88 bow and beam attacks breaking away at 200 to 250 yards, always below us. The FW187 all this time followed at about 1,000 yds but did not attack. We then decided to come down to zero feet and hedge hopped across Denmark, in doing so we lost the JU88 and FW187. One ME110 flew on our port beam at about 400 to 800 yds, the other was slowly catching us up on the starboard quarter, he came into 300 yds but did not fire., and on receiving a burst from the rear gunner sheared off to 600 yds in the starboard quarter. The ME110 on the port once began to come in but on receiving a burst from the front and mid upper gunners sheared off to about 600 yds on the bow to beam where he received several good bursts from the front gunner, the mid upper gunner reserving his ammunition. It seemed as though the E/A would not attack us at this height, our speed was 240 mph. We eventually reached some low cloud into which we climbed quickly, as we climbed both ME110's came in to attack but we lost them in the cloud when they were about 400 yds range. After flying in the cloud for about 2 minutes one ME110 was seen 100 yds dead astern firing at us. We immediately turned to port and lost him. The evasive action taken throughout the engagement was diving or climbing turns into the enemy aircraft. When the enemy aircraft closed in to about 300 yds the rate of turn was increased. It was observed that the ME110's usually fired their cannon from about 600-300 yds and their machine guns 300-100 yds. The JU88's appeared to be armed with about 4 machine guns forward and one astern which they used when breaking away after attacks. Damage to our aircraft was negligible, about six cannon shells and a few machine gun bullets under the main planes.
Rounds fired: -
3,400 by rear gunner (Flight Sergeant Moore)
1,600 by mid upper gunner (Sergeant Purcell)
1,200 front gunner (Pilot Officer Harry Reynolds)
The engagement lasted 20 minutes."

On the night of the 20th/21st of August 1942 Bomber Command despatched 57 aircraft for mine laying operations on a number of ports from Brest to Danzig. In addition five Halifax aircraft were sent on a leaflet dropping mission over France.

On the 20th of August 1942 at 8.20pm Harry Reynolds and his crew took off for their twentieth mission from RAF Downham Market in Stirling BF319 HA-C on a mission to lay mines at the entrance to Kiel Harbour in an area code named "Forget me nots". The aircraft was hit by flak and crashed at Langwedel at 12.50am some 17 kilometres to the south west of Kiel.

The crew was: -

Flying Officer Derek Vaughan Bullock RNZAF (Pilot)
Sergeant Harry Gordon Stubbs (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Royston Dalton Rich (Observer)
Flight Sergeant William Brown (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Harry Churchill Reynolds (Wireless Operator/Front Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Henry Webb (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Adam Sparks (Air Gunner)

Three other aircraft from the squadron were lost on this mission, the squadron's worst night for losses during the war.

The crew’s funerals took place at Neumunster but their bodies were subsequently exhumed and re-interred at their present location.

His Commanding Officer wrote to his sister:-

"I am not at all surprised that your brother did not tell you he was engaged in active operations against the enemy. It is typical of him that he should spare you and your mother worry and anxiety on his account. Pilot Officer Reynolds was one of the best air gunners in the Squadron. He has been over Germany nineteen times on operational missions. Your brother has been in Stirlings in all his raids. On one occasion your brother's aircraft was attacked in daylight by four enemy fighters. It was largely though his accuracy of fire and running commentary throughout these attacks that his pilot was able to avoid serious damage to his aircraft and reach the vicinity of some friendly clouds."
Holme House

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