FLIGHT SERGEANT WIRELESS OPERATOR/AIR GUNNER

405472 SIDNEY WILLIAM CAINS

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Richard Wall Cains and Gertrude Elizabeth Cains, known to everybody as Dick and Gertie were farmers whose land was nestled somewhere between Puketona Junction and Pakaraka in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand.  The couple were married in 1911, first welcoming baby Hilda in 1912, followed by Alma in 1913, James in 1914 and then Sidney who was born on the 27th July 1918. 

The Cains children grew up on a busy homestead and, when old enough, both James and Sidney worked on the farm that had 40 cows that needed hand milking every day and swede to be harvested from the fields when the time was right. When young, the boys would help as much as they could around the farm, with the extra enjoyment of riding Tim, their beloved horse.  Sidney attended Oromahoe School, halfway between the farm at Pakaraka and Puketona and, with his brother James, enjoyed a game of rugby at school, as well as after school hours with friends.   

When Sid left school, he began working for his dad.  Together with his sisters, until they married and moved away, it was... all hands to the deck. 

When war was declared in 1939, Dick and Gertie's sons were old enough to be called for service.  Whilst James chose to enlist in the army, Sid chose the Air Force and made his application in December 1939 to work as ground crew.  Two weeks later however, he applied for Air Crew training. He enlisted for service in December 1940 at the Air Force base in Levin and commenced his training carrying out 'ground duties'.   Only a few weeks later however, Sid was on his way to Canada aboard the Aorangi that left New Zealand on the 30th January 1941. On his final leave, there were emotional goodbyes. Not only was Sid saying goodbye to his family but he was leaving Val, the girl with whom he was engaged to be married. Val was a local girl and the couple most likely met at a local Agriculture & Pastoral Show that was being held locally.

On arrival in Canada, some weeks later, Sid began the long journey by train to Manitoba where he commenced his training as a Wireless Operator at No. 3 Wireless School in Winnipeg. This was followed by a course in bombing and Gunnery that was completed at No. 6 Bombing & Gunnery School at Mountain View in Ontario. Sid qualified as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner - or a WAG, as they were called - and embarked for the United Kingdom, arriving on the 13th September 1941. 

Following a short period at the Signals School in Cranwell, Lincolnshire in the north of England, Sid was posted in December to Number 10 Operational Training Unit that was based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.  Flight sergeant Sidney Cains undertook ten weeks of night time training there on Whitley aircraft in order to prepare him for operational duties

on heavy bombers such as the Halifax, Lancaster and Stirling aircraft.

In June 1942, having completed all of his required training and having left New

Zealand 17 months previously, Sid Cains was assigned to 158 Squadron that was

based at Driffield in Yorkshire.  He was joining the war and commenced

operational missions with the squadron. Those missions with 158 Squadron,

whose motto was STRENGTH IN UNITY, included sorties across Germany, Italy and

France, coming to grief on a couple of occasions! Sid's first brush with a landing was

during an air test on the 13th July when he was almost knocked out when a piece of

heavy plating fell from the mid-upper gun turret onto his head.  He was admitted to the Military hospital in York after the pilot made an immediate landing at Linton on Ouse Air Force base.

 By early November 1942, 158 Squadron was now based at Rufforth from where Sid and the rest of the crew continued their operational missions.  On his return from one particular mission over the Italian city of Genoa, Sid was Wireless Operator of Halifax W7859 when it crash landed on English soil with no casualties.  Pilot Beveridge performed a well-practiced meneuver in the Halifax, flying low, with minimal fuel.  He brought her down on the morning of the 16th November into a field close to Gatwick and the crew escaped with mostly minor injuries. Sid spent some time on sick leave recovering from burns to his face and hands, sustained during the crash. Sid would have been pleased that he had at least landed on a farm! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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​14th FEBRUARY 1943

It was Valentine's Day 1943 and Sid would certainly have been thinking of Val that evening as 11 Halifax bombers                            waited to take off on their operational mission towards Cologne.  Sid and the rest of the crew were on Halifax                              DT696 with Flying Officer Pilot Gerald Herbert piloting the plane that carried around 5,800 lbs of bombs beneath                        them. Leaving the base at Rufforth at 18.16, it was only minutes before one of the Halifax's port engines failed and they knew they were 'in a spot of bother' as the term went.  The bomb load was jettisoned into open countryside but still flying at a slow speed and with the bomb doors open, the Halifax stalled.  She crashed at 18.30 and came to rest near the village of Stillingfleet.  All of the crew were lost. The average age of the seven crew on board was just 24 years old. 

When Dick and Gertie were informed of their son Sid's death, a policeman traveled by horse for almost an hour to deliver the news to their farm where Val was also staying.  Only seven months previously in July of 1942, the policeman had first appeared with news for Dick and Gertie that their son Private James Allan Cains of the 21st Auckland Infantry Battalion had been killed in action in Egypt and would be buried there. 

Exactly 65 years to the day after Sid’s plane crashed, a memorial plaque in remembrance of the crew

was dedicated inside Stillingfleet Church in Yorkshire through the efforts of local lady Yvonne Clarke.

The plaque was unveiled by the President of 158 Squadron Association Mr H. N. "Bluey" Mottershead

and a Mr Fell gave a speech on behalf of 158 Squadron Association.

 

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​As recalled by Sid's great-niece...

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                   “It must have been difficult for Gertie to see Val move on with her life – but at the same time, a warm reminder of her                         precious son. The boys had left behind their beloved horse when they had gone off to War – his name was Tim.  Dick                        & Gertie continued to use him on the farm to harrow the paddocks... Gertie insisted on taking Tim the horse with                              them when they moved, and he lived a happy life in green pastures until he too passed away. Following Dick’s                                        passing, Gertie moved in with Hilda and spent the rest of her days there.”
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                          SIDNEY WILLIAM CAINS IS BURIED IN SECTION 20E. GRAVE 7093 

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                           Our thanks go to Trish Edwards for the information on the Cains family and for the photographs supplied.