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Pilot Officer William Morton DENSHAM (102983)
120 Squadron, Royal Air Force Date of birth: 12th November 1910 Date of death: 20th February 1942 Died of wounds aged 31 Buried at Worthing (Durrington) Cemetery Section 8 Row 1 Grave 29
William "Bill" Morton Densham was born at Worthing on the 12th of November 1910 the son of Dr Alec Densham MD and Alice Maria Densham of the Old Manor House, Heene Road, Worthing in Sussex. He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Olds House from May 1924 to July 1927. He gained his School Certificate in 1926. On leaving school he became a motor car engineer and salesman and lived at 99 East Street, Farnham in Surrey. He obtained his Aero Club Certificate (No. 13754) at the Brooklands Flying Club on the 4th of April 1936 flying a DH Moth Gypsy 1 85. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve rising to the rank of Sergeant before he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 19th of July 1941. He was posted to 120 Squadron based at RAF Nutts Corner near Belfast where they were engaged in anti submarine operations. At 4.50am on the morning of the 18th of February 1942 William Densham and his crew took off from RAF Nutts Corner in Liberator Mk 1 AM925-X120 for an anti submarine patrol. Seconds after takeoff, and having travelled only three hundred yards from the end of the runway, the aircraft struck a radio mast at the end of the east/west runway which destroyed the tail section. The remainder of the aircraft careered across three small fields and came to rest opposite the airfield on the Belfast road where is burst into flames. William Densham was inside the aircraft and was seriously injured but was rescued by fellow crew member Sergeant John Felix Waite who had been thrown clear of the wreckage and had returned to the burning aircraft to rescue his colleague. When the ambulance crew from the station sick quarters arrived they found Sergeants Waite and Mines shocked, injured but on their feet and they were quickly evacuated. Brian Bannister and Bill Densham were found lying on a nearby grassy bank obviously badly injured. While they were being treated the depth charges on the burning aircraft began to explode and one of the ambulance crew, Aircraftsman Gilbert, covered Densham with his body to protect him from the falling debris. Along with Sergeant Wilson, the pilot, Bannister and Densham were loaded into a van and taken firstly to the station sick quarters and then on to 31 General Hospital in Belfast. Despite the efforts of his comrade and the medical staff to save him Bill Densham died at the hospital two days later. The crew was:- Pilot Officer William Morton Densham (Navigator) Sergeant Page Welford (Flight Engineer) Pilot Officer Philip George Fuller (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Sergeant Albert Alfred Middleton (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Flying Officer Brian Stanley Bannister (Pilot) injured Sergeant John Felix Waite (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) injured Flying Officer H. Wakefield DFC (Navigator, carried as passenger) injured Sergeant W.J. Wilson (Second Pilot) injured Sergeant H. Mines (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) injured For his selfless actions that morning Sergeant John Waite was awarded the George Medal which was announced in the London Gazette on the 8th of June 1942 and the citation read:- “One night in February, 1942, an aircraft, loaded for an operational sortie, crashed during the take-off. Sergeant Waite, a member of the crew, was thrown clear some 20 yards in front of the aircraft which was on fire. He was told by another survivor to run from the scene as fast as he could as the high explosives on board the aircraft were likely to detonate at any moment. Sergeant Waite, although injured about the face, back and leg, ignored this advice and, with complete disregard of danger, went to the blazing wreckage and extricated the observer who was lying on the floor of the aircraft in the flames. Having extricated the observer, Sergeant Waite carried him for about 100 yards then got him through a barbed wire fence and finally behind the shelter of a ditch, just as the explosives blew up. In circumstances of exceptional danger, this airman, although himself seriously wounded, displayed great bravery. Unfortunately the observer whom he had so courageously rescued died some 3 days later.” A Court of Inquiry into the accident was convened which concluded that the cause of the crash was the Captain's failure to employ 15 degrees of flap when taking off. It was later established that the Liberator was also grossly over loaded. A friend wrote:- "All who were lucky enough to know Pilot Officer W. Densham (Bill) have grieved at the loss of a gallant and loyal friend. I had the privilege of knowing him for a number of years, and never once have I known his courage to fail or his cheerful optimism to wane. He stood unflinchingly by his convictions governed as they were by his duty to God, King and country. I have just seen a letter written by his Commanding Officer, which, after paying tribute to Bill for the work he had carried out in squadron training on the navigation side, emphasized his reputation of being very cool and collected under the most trying circumstances. The RAF have lost a grand officer, but I feel sure that our recollection of him will always be with us as a source of inspiration, of courage, loyalty, and unselfishness."

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