The Last flight of PB265...

At 21.08hrs on the evening of 24th July 1944

the crew set off on a mission to bomb the German city of Stuttgart. It was to be their last... The following correspondence came from a movingly heartfelt letter from Roy Gordon and provides a fascinating account of the events leading up to the destruction of the plane and the death of Robert Sarvis."In a letter received recently from Flight Sergeant Gordon, RCAF, a member of her husband’s crew.  Mrs. Sarvis learned details of the mission from which he did not return, and of the possible award to him of the Distinguished Flying Cross.  Flight Sergeant Gordon’s letter, paying high tribute, both for himself and the rest of the crew, to Flight Officer Sarvis, follows:
                                                                                    August 31 1944

Dear Mrs. Sarvis,It was not until last week that I knew Bob was missing.  Until that time, I had been in a hospital in Southern England, and had no news concerning the rest of the crew.  Since then, I have seen most of the others, and can tell you what happened, partly from what I have learned from the other chaps. We were over the interior of France when we were hit.  The aircraft was very badly damaged, and immediately went into a dive.  While Bob was trying to regain control of the plane, he gave the order to abandon the aircraft.  The engineer, who was closest to the escape hatch, jumped just before Bob was able to pull the plane out of the dive, and hold it on an even keel.  As soon as he was able to do this, Bob told the rest of us to remain in the aircraft, and we altered course for the Allied lines in Normandy, hoping to get as near to them as possible before bailing out. By skill and sheer strength.  Bob was able to keep us up until we reached Allied territory.  He said there was no chance of making a safe landing, and told us to prepare to jump.  After the bomb-aimer jumped.  I went forward to the escape hatch to check the others out.  I had barely reached there when the aircraft was hit a second time by an anti-aircraft shell, and the plane went into a dive.  The sudden lurch threw me off my feet, and I fell through the hatch.  After a few seconds of confusion, I found the ripcord on my parachute, pulled it, and dropped to earth safely. Before we had gone forward to jump, the bomb-aimer had assisted Bob to adjust the straps of his harness, and make every preparation to jump.  Bob told us in detail what he intended to do after all of us had jumped – such as trimming the aircraft for level flight, and so on.  The wireless operator jumped after me, and he was followed by the mid-upper gunner.  They didn’t have much to tell about what happened after I left, except that Bob was alright, and ready to jump.  They were at a good height at the time, and for that reason I had hopes that everyone had gotten out safely.  That is the story of the experiences of the crew.  Bob was much more than skipper to the rest of us—or perhaps I mean that he was a captain in the finest sense of the word.  With the good-humored perversity of a crew, the boys rarely let Bob know in words how much we all thought of him, but when we were flying together, we were able to show him in deed what his inspiration meant to us.  For our various duties, the rest of us have only average abilities, but in response to Bob’s leadership, we were able to achieve better-than-average performance as a crew.  This was realized not only by ourselves, but also by our friends in the squadron, and by the squadron commanders.  I mention this so that when you receive the Distinguished Flying Cross that has been awarded Bob, you will know that the award was merited not only by this final gallant achievement, but just as much by the constant fine example he set for all of us. Jack Balfour, the engineer, who dropped behind enemy lines, has recently arrived safely in England.  Tom Clark, the rear gunner, is still in a hospital under treatment for an injury he received when he jumped. For all of us, the realization that we owe our lives to Bob’s courage and endurance is final vindication of our faith in our skipper.  This letter, written on behalf of the whole crew, is an inadequate expression of our feelings. But, though we realize that words are small comfort at this time, we want you to know that Bob’s friends over here are hoping and praying with you."