The Airmen's Stories - P/O N E Hancock

Norman Edward Hancock was born on 12th May 1920 in Burgess Hill and joined the RAFVR about July 1939 as an Airman u/t Pilot.

Called up on 1st September 1939, he went to No. 1 ITW at Cambridge on 5th September, moved to 12 EFTS Prestwick on 26th March 1940 and then to 5 FTS Sealand on 26th May.

With his training completed he went to 7 OTU Hawarden on 11th August to convert to Spitfires. He joined 65 Squadron at Turnhouse on 2nd September, moving on to 152 Squadron at Warmwell on 11th October.

Hancock probably destroyed a Me110 off the Isle of Wight on 28th November.

He was posted to 56 OTU Sutton Bridge on 22nd October 1941 as an instructor and went to 55 OTU Usworth on 2nd February 1942.

Hancock next went to Northern Ireland on 11th July to instruct the 52nd Pursuit Group USAAF on Spifires. He returned to operations on 18th October 1942 when he joined 128 Squadron at Hastings, Sierra Leone, as a Flight Commander.

Back in the UK, Hancock was posted to 198 Squadron at Matlask on 27th April 1943 and was serving with it until 15th July when he went to 56 Squadron at Martlesham Heath as a Flight Commander.

He married Marjorie Felton, a WAAF, on 15th December 1943 at St. Marys, Bryanston Square, London.

Tour-expired on 31st May 1944, Hancock was posted to 85 Group and awarded the DFC (gazetted 23rd June 1944).

In May 1945 he took command of 276 (ASR) Squadron at Knocke, his final appointment was Squadron Leader Admin at RAF Cranfield. He was released from the RAF in March 1946.

Hancock became director of a building business and later worked as an architectural surveyor.

He died on 17th December 2008.

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His brother Sgt. Gordon William Hancock was killed on 15th April 1943 with 106 Squadron, flying in a Lancaster from Syerston on a sortie to Stuttgart. Battle veteran F/Lt. J Jefferies (Latimer) was flying as second pilot to F/Lt. LCJ Broderick.

Lancaster ED752 ZN*H was hit over the target which resulted in it losing considerable altitude. Flying at about 100 feet over Amiens the bomber was raked with ground machine gun fire and was set on fire. With no height for a bale out, it crash landed at Sauvillers-Mongival, SE of Amiens in France, at 0330 hours.

Lt(A) G Muttrie RNVR was aboard as one of the observers from the Fleet Air Arm seconded to bomber command squadrons for their knowledge of ship recognition, they flew as Bomb Aimers not navigators.

Muttrie, attached from HMS Daedalus, had flown with Guy Gibson on the sortie that took the broadcaster Richard Dimbleby over Berlin on 16th/17th January 1943.

The other crew members were:

Lt(A) G.Muttrie RNVR KIA
Sgt H Buxton KIA
Sgt WT McLean KIA
F/Lt. J Jefferies (Latimer)
Sgt H Jones PoW
F/Lt. LCJ Brodrick PoW
P/O JA Burns RCAF PoW

F/Lt. LCJ Brodrick was the 52nd escapee in the 'Great Escape' from Sagan, he was recaptured and survived the war.

Those lost are buried in Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery.