William Henry "Yank" Nelson

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"On October 17, 1940, I was Red Two of the leading section of 74 Squadron, flying Spitfires, and detailed to intercept sixty "snappers" reported over Maidstone.
We climbed rapidly, and at 26,000 feet saw some bursts from our anti-aircraft guns below, and turned towards them. Two Me 109s suddenly appeared by themselves across our bows. The squadron leader, "Sailor" Malan, DFC, immediately got on the tail of the leading 109, and I closed with the outside one.
They took no evasive action as we came out of the sun, and I fired a burst with slight deflection at 150 yards, down to point blank range. He immediately started a half-roll turn down, white smoke streaming out, obviously glycol.
I followed him easily at first, firing short bursts, and then more eruptions came from his engine, almost blinding me. Diving down to 2,000 feet, he entered some low cloud vertically. Having got up tremendous speed, I had to start to pull out in order to avoid hitting the ground. I found him difficult to hold in the latter part of the dive, as he went well past vertical, and I had my actuating gear wound fully forward.
He was seen to crash near Gravesend. The enemy aircraft was coloured dark on top, with a tremendous yellow spinner, and was sky blue beneath"

- Quoted from "Spitfire 2 - The Canadians" by Robert Bracken

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NELSON, F/O William Henry (39675) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.10 Squadron
Awarded as per London Gazette dated 31 May 1940.

This officer has carried out many flights over enemy territory during which he has always shown the greatest determination and courage. On the 20th April 1940, after an attack on Stavager, a balloon barrage was encountered west of the target, a report of which was transmitted to the base in sufficient time to enable following aircraft to be warned.

NOTE: Annex 1W to this document contains the original recommendation dated 23 April 1940. This indicates that an earlier recommendation had been raised on 12 March 1940; that document might well be most interesting if found (see also P.A. Gilchrist's DFC). The Nelson document of 23 April 1940 reads:

In addition to the particulars submitted under the proforma dated 12th March 1940, three further missions have been performed as follows:

On 16 March 1940 the No.4 Group Training Flight down the Ruhr Valley was ordered. On this trip the Rhine was clearly seen, but no traffic of any consequence was noted. A railway marshalling yard was also seen, but unidentified. Other railways, roads and canals were also observed, some of which were identified. Searchlight activity was very intense, as many as 80 lights in a ring together being seen. These made observation of the area very difficult. Very severe weather conditions were met with, and the machine landed at "Sister".

On 19 March 1940 the task allotted was the night bombing of Hornum. All the bombs were released on the target and straddled the railway line leading up to the base. A great deal of light flak, together with a lesser amount of heavy flak, was encountered and searchlight activity was also very intense. This crew returned to base without anything untoward happening.

On 20 April 1940 severe weather was encountered during an operation over Norway. Oslo Fiord was completely covered, so this aircraft flew to Stavanger and attacked the aerodrome as an alternative target given by the Station Operations Officer. The attack was successful, hits being registered on the runways. A balloon barrage was encountered to the west of the target after the attack, a report of which was transmitted to the Base in sufficient time to enable following aircraft to be warned.

Public Record Office Air 2/9412 has the same recommendation with further minutes. On 25 April 1940 the Commanding Officer, RAF Station Dishforth, wrote:

This officer's determination is outstanding, and he has continued to show courage of a high order in carrying out his tasks. The award of the Distinguished Flying Cross is strongly recommended.

The Air Officer Commanding, No.4 Group (Air Commodore Alan Coningham) added on 30 April 1940:

This Canadian officer has carried out many flights over enemy territory, during which he has always shown the greatest determination. His reports and results generally have been successful above the average.

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Victories Include :

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--- Canadian Aces ---

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