Pilot shot down after three missions
| Published date | 18 April 2024 |
| Publication title | Te Puke Times |
On board were Captain/Flight Lieutenant Barsby and Sergeant Knight from the RAF Voluntary Reserve, Sergeant/Air Gunner Sature and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Warburton from the Royal Canadian Air Force and 21-year-old Pilot Officer Stanley David Steel of the RNZAF.
The last call from MH-J was received at 2136 (9.36pm) and stated “operations completed”.
On the way back to Britain the aircraft was attacked by a Luftwaffe Messerschmitt 110, flown by OFW (Oberfeldwebel) Paul Gildner. Gildner was a night fighter ace and recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and eventually claimed 48 aerial victories.
The Whitley crashed around 2350 (11.50pm) on a sandbank in the sea north of the Dutch island of Texel, 90km north of Haarlem. Den Burg is the main settlement and in the local cemetery there is a special area for the graves of war casualties washed ashore and airmen brought down on the island.
According to Bram van Dijk of Texel, who has done major research into those buried in the cemetery, three of the bodies from flight MH-J were found in 1941 and were buried on the island.
However, it was not until 1951 that the other two bodies were recovered, including Stanley and Sergeant Knight. It is understood Stanley was still behind the controls and was identified by the name written on his underwear.
Stanley was born on February 7, 1920, in Auckland to David and Olive Steel.
David was the son of Peter and Mary Steel (nee Bird) who were married in the No 2 Rd Hall, Te Puke, in 1890. Peter was the Te Puke School teacher at the time.
David and Olive moved to Te Puke after Stanley’s birth and settled on a farm at Paengaroa — now the Te Puke Golf Course. Stanley began school at Paengaroa and later Te Puke High School. He left school to go farming. In 1935 the family moved to No 2 Rd.
In 1938, after operating his own business as an agricultural contractor, Stanley moved to Hamilton to learn to fly. It is thought he was planning to become a commercial pilot. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force on December 27, 1940, and was based at Whenuapai and then Ohakea.
During May, Stanley left New Zealand for Vancouver with other members of the RNZAF. They then travelled by rail across Canada through the Rockies to Halifax, from where they crossed the Atlantic for Britain.
He arrived at No 10 OTU [Operational...
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