HENRY, F/L Douglas Woods (J15093) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.214 Squadron - Award effective 7 May 1943 as per London Gazette dated 13 May 1943 and AFRO 1035/43 dated 4 June 1943. Born 25 August 1916, Kincardine, Ontario; home there. Brother of Ernest Raymond Henry. Another brother, Ralph Ballantyne Henry, killed 26/27 July 1942 while training on Beauforts, No.5 OTU. Enlisted Ottawa 29 June 1940. To No.1 ITS, 22 July 1940; graduated and promoted LAC, 16 September 1940 when posted to No.1 AOS; graduated 8 December 1940 when posted to No.1 BGS; graduated and promoted Sergeant, 18 January 1941 when posted to No.1 CNS; may have graduated 15 February 1941. Posted for embarkation, 12 March 1941; posted overseas 29 March 1941. Commissioned 5 December 1941. Commenced first tour with No.15 Squadron. Posted on 13 July 1942 to No.214 Squadron and joined crew of W/C Smyth, the Commanding Officer. Promoted Flying Officer, 1 October 1942. ORB reported he was promoted Flight Lieutenant, effective 17 November 1942. To RCAF Repatriation Depot, 23 November 1943. Had been Squadron Navigation Officer. Repatriated 4 December 1943; at No.1 BGS, 27 January 1944 to 11 February 1945 (promoted Squadron Leader, 1 June 1945); re-engaged for postwar service, 21 December 1945; reverted to Flight Lieutenant, 1 October 1946; promoted Squadron Leader, 1 June 1949; promoted Wing Commander, 1 January 1957. Died in Ottawa, 6 August 1967. RCAF photo PL-2688 shows Sergeants F.C. Adams (Windsor, Ontario), D.W. Henry (Kincardine, Ontario), D.A. Macauley (Chatham, Ontario), R.G. Smith (Chatham, Ontario), A.P. Ouellette (Windsor, Ontario) and J.D. McKnight (Sarnia, Ontario). // This officer has been squadron bombing leader since July 1942. A high proportion of the sorties in which he has participated have been against important targets, where much opposition was encountered. Many of his sorties have been of long duration, calling for high navigational skill. Flight Lieutenant Henry has invariable displayed the utmost keenness for operations and his example in this respect, as well as his excellent work as squadron bombing leader, have resulted in a great improvement in the standard of bomb aiming in the squadron. // NOTE: Public Record Office Air 2/8950 has recommendation dated 21 March 1943 which incudes a sortie list and more detail; he was then credited with 39 sorties (240 hours 55 minutes operational time). Some details in brackets added by Dave Wallace via e-mail. // 14 July 1941 - Bremen // 16 July 1941 - Hamburg // 23 July 1941 - Mannheim // 25 July 1941 - Hamburg // 12 August 1941 - Hanover // 14 August 1941 - Hanover // 19 August 1941 - Kiel // 26 August 1941 - Cologne // 29 August 1941 - Mannheim // 1 September 1941 - Cologne // 3 September 1941 - Brest // 7 September 1941 - Boulogne // 10 September 1941 - Turin // 12 September 1941 - Frankfurt // 15 September 1941 - Hamburg // 26 September 1941 - Dunkirk // 28 September 1941 - Genoa // 30 September 1941 - Stettin // 3 March 1942 - Billancourt (Paris) // 8 March 1942 - Le Havre // 25 March 1942 - Lorient // 28 March 1942 - Lubeck // 10 April 1942 - Heligoland // 12 April 1942 - Essen // 13 April 1942 - Balkrum (?) // 22 April 1942 - Kiel Bay // 23 April 1942 - Rostock // 25 April 1942 - Rostock // 7 May 1942 - Stuttgart // 8 May 1942 - Warnemunde // 17 May 1942 - Blaavand's Point // 29 May 1942 - Norderney // 30 May 1942 - Cologne // 1 June 1942 - Essen // 2 September 1942 - Karlsruhe [first trip with No.214 Squadron. // 8 December 1942 - Kattegat // 11 January 1943 - St.Jean de Luz [reported by Wallace as Gardening, Sweet Peas, objective not reached due to trouble with port inner. // 12-13 January 1943 - GARDENING, Elderberry [added to list by Dave Wallace] // 26 February 1943 - Cologne // 11 March 1943 - Stuttgart // 4-5 May 1943 - Dortmund with F/L R.C. Campbell - rear turret u/s due to burst oil pipe, attacked at 0104 [added by Dave Wallace] // 21-22 June 1943 - Krefeld with F/O S.G. Falconer [added by Dave Wallace] // 24-25 June 1943 - Wuppertal with Falconer [added by Dave Wallace] // 10-11 August 1943 - Nuremberg with F/L F.Lee [added by Dave Wallace] // 23-24 August 1943 - Berlin with P/O John Verrall RNZAF [added by Dave Wallace] // Flight Lieutenant Henry has been Squadron Bombing Leader in this squadron since 13th July 1942, and has now completed 39 operational sorties, involving 240 hours 55 minutes, in Wellington and Stirling aircraft, as navigator. // A high proportion of these sorties have been to the most heavily defended targets and many have been of long duration, calling for the highest order of navigational skill. They have included operations to Bremen, Hamburg, Kiel and Essen, and targets in Northern Italy, and thanks to his efforts they have been successfully bombed. // Flight Lieutenant Henry has displayed the utmost keenness to attack the enemy and his example in this respect has st a magnificent example to the crews of this squadron. His work as Squadron Bombing Leader has been excellent, and has resulted in a great improvement in the accuracy of bomb aiming in the squadron. // HENRY, F/L Douglas Woods (J15093) - Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross - No.214 Squadron - Award effective 6 November 1943 as per London Gazette dated 12 November 1943 and AFRO 2610/43 dated 17 December 1943. No citation in AFRO other than "completed many successful operations against the enemy in which [he] displayed high skill, fortitude and devotion to duty."