The Airmen's Stories - P/O B H Herrick

Brian Henry Herrick was born in Hastings, New Zealand on 1st February 1915, the son of Edward Jasper and Ethne Rose Herrick.

He attended Wanganui Collegiate School from 1929 to 1933. He later travelled to England to study accountancy in London but abandoned this to join the RAF on a short service commission.

Herrick began his flying training at 3 E&RFTS Hamble on 6th March 1939, moved to 12 FTS Grantham on 13th May and joined the newly-formed 236 Squadron at Stradishall on 6th November. He served with it throughout the Battle.

On 1st November 1940 Herrrick was posted to 272 Squadron. On the 24th Blenheim IV Z5734 XK-D was airborne from Aldergrove on a convoy escort. It may have misidentified a Fulmar in the area or engaged in a practice dogfight with it but in any case eyewitnesses on HMS Vesper reported that the Blenheim stalled off a turn and dived into the North Channel.

Herrick, Sgt. PR Smith and Sgt. JG Hair were all lost.

Above image courtesy of Darren Prior & Relatives of the Few Facebook Group.

Herrick is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, panel 6.

One of six brothers, he was the elder brother of P/O MJ Herrick, who flew with 25 Squadron in the Battle and was killed in action on 16th June 1944.

Another brother, P/O Dennis Trevelyan Herrick GM RNZAF, was shot down attacking shipping in Blenheim V6087 PZ-O of 53 Squadron on 26th June 1941.

He was rescued by the Germans and taken to the German Naval Hospital at Lorient. He died aged 29 on the 30th June and was buried in Lorient (Kerentrech) Communal Cemetery.

His crewmembers Sgt. GFW Gahagan and Sgt. GL Wells were reported Missing.

His George Medal was awarded for an incident on 21st June 1940 in New Zealand.

Airspeed Oxford serial NZ275 of No.1 SFTS based at Wigram was deployed to Taieri and detailed for an operational patrol to search for an enemy raider in the waters around the coast. The aircraft entered a right-hand turn after take-off in order to clear some trees but stalled, lost height and crashed. On the ground Herrick and a colleague managed to rescue 2 of the 3 crewmembers and for their courage were awarded the GM. The pilot, S/Ldr. John Hugh Kitson RAF, lost his life. An investigation determined that a build-up of frost on the mainplanes had affected the lift leading to the stall.

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Of the other 3 brothers, they survived the war. Cdr. Laurence Herrick DSC MiD and Cdr. Terence Herrick DSC & Bar both served in the Royal Navy, with Jasper Herrick serving in the Army, but on account of the family losses, he was barred from overseas service.

A cousin, P/O Peter Gershom Herrick, was killed on 25th September 1941 whilst flying Hurricane IIB BD738 of 245 Squadron, which collided with AP524 of the same unit whilst changing position in formation. P/O KW Hutchison RCAF in AP524 was also killed.

Both lie in Brookwood Military Cemetery.

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Above image and additional research courtesy of Dean Sumner.