Handley Page Halifax Serial Groups Specifications

Conversion 1942-07-16 to 1942-07-16

158 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF East Moor

158 (Conversion Flight) Squadron (Strength In Unity) RAF Eastmoor. Halifax aircraft BB 203 NP-Z crashed at Manor Farm, Cornborough, Yorkshire during a conversion training flight. The aircraft was observed to be flying at an unusually low altitude and while attempting to land at RAF Eastmoor, stalled in a turn, struck a chimney on a house at Cornborough Farm and crashed with the loss of all air crew aboard

Warrant Officer 1st Class Harry Ward Williamson (RCAF), Pilot Officer James Wilson Craig (RAFVR), Pilot Officer John Forster Withy (RAFVR), Sergeant Edward Place (RAFVR) and Sergeant Alexander Dunn (RAFVR) were all killed in the flying training accident

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aircraft Accidents in Yorkshire

Bombing Saarbrucken Germany 1942-08-28 to 1942-08-28

103 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Elsham Wolds

103 Squadron (Noll Me Tangere) RAF Elsham Wolds. Halifax Mk II aircraft BB 204 was coned by the searchlights of Flakschwere Regiment (motorized) 7 and then shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Wilhelm Herget of Stab II/NJG4 during an operation against targets in Saarbrucken, Germany. The Halifax crashed near Hastiere, Namur, Belgium

Warrant Officer 1st Class Robert Lloyd Telfer (RCAF), Pilot Officer Ronald Albert Bingham (RAFVR), Sergeant John Patch (RAFVR) and Sergeant Squire Arbuthnott Webster (RAFVR) were killed in action

Flight Lieutenant Robert Lewis Andre (RAAF), Sergeant Herbert O'Neill (RAAF) and Sergeant Robert Thomas Lewthwaite (RAFVR) survived to be taken as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 84

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Bombing Bremen Germany 1942-09-13 to 1942-09-14

158 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF East Moor

158 Squadron (Strength in unity) RAF East Moor. Halifax Mk II aircraft BB 205 NP-B was lost returning from an operation against targets in Bremen, Germany. Having been coned by the searchlights of 2/Reserve Flakscheinwerfer Ableilung 269 (Werfer 28)and struck by flak from 1 & 2/Schwere Flak Ableitung 163 (v), 1-3/Reserve Flak Abteilung 615, 1/Reserve Flak Abteilung 607 and 3 Reserve Flak Abteilung 265 as it passed over Bremen. The Halifax was not shot down but the damaged engines later forced the crew to abandon the aircraft over the Netherlands before it crashed at Ter Idzard

Warrant Officer 1st Class Clarence Albert Hunt (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Leroy John Soper (RCAF), Sergeant Robert Henry Dawson Bren (RAFVR), Sergeant Reginald James Cantillon (RAFVR), Sergeant David Fozzard Readman (RAFVR), Sergeant John Joseph Reid (RAFVR) and Sergeant Frederick Caldwell (RAFVR) all survived to be taken as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 93

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

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Bombing Flensburg Germany 1942-10-01 to 1942-10-01

10 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Melborne

10 Squadron (Rem acu tangere) RAF Melborne. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 207 ZA-M was lost over Flensburg, Germany during operations against the shipyards and U-boat pens located there. The cause of loss of this aircraft and all seven crew members was not found, although the Nachtjagd Combat Archive from the night of this operation by Theo Boiten lists an "unidentified Halifax" coned by search lights and shot down by flak

Flight Sergeant Alexander McKenzie Mowbray (RCAF), Sergeant Stanley Childs Carter (RAFVR), Sergeant Kenneth Raymond Curran (RAFVR), Flying Officer John Leslie Jones (RAFVR), Sergeant Maurice Alan Pickering (RAFVR), Sergeant Robert Charles Prior (RAF) and Sergeant Richard Quick Stevens (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Error in opcode: lin

Bombing 1942-08-09 to 1942-08-10

102 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Pocklington

102 Ceylon Squadron (Tentate Et Perficite) RAF Pocklington. Halifax aircraft BB 211 DY-A shot down by flak from 12000 feet and crashed at Elbergen 8 km South of Lingen-Ems, Germany

Pilot Officer Murray Lorne McCarthy (RCAF) and Sergeant Raymond Venables Willshire (RAF) were both killed in action

Sergeant James Frederick Long (RCAF), Howard Conroy Jones (RCAF), Pilot Officer Alan Douglas Lewis Lamont (RNZAF), Flight Lieutenant Douglas Burton McLeod (RAAF)and Warrant Officer David Bower Richards (RAAF) all survived and were taken as Prisoners of War

It's Suicide But It's Fun, The Story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron 1917-1956 by Chris Goss, page 177

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 66

Ryal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Pock Losses (1 Mar 2021).pdf

Bombing Dusseldorf Germany 1942-09-10 to 1942-09-11

405 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Topcliffe

405 Vancouver Squadron (Ducimus) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax BII aircraft BB 212 LQ-P was damaged by flak over Dusseldorf, Germany, resulting in the pilot, Sergeant Webb, losing control and altitude. He ordered his crew to bail, but then regained control and continued to fly. Rear Air Gunner Sergeant Jack Clarence Scotten (RCAF) and Mid-Upper Air-Gunner Sergeant Victor Raymond French (RAFVR)(Nfld) had already bailed out over enemy territory before Webb regained control and were both killed, likely due to parachute malfunction. The aircraft returned to England but the flaps were not lowered fully during the landing at RAF Topcliffe, Yorkshire and the aircraft swung off the runway, colliding with a parked 419 Squadron Wellington III BJ887 VR-H (which was written off) killing Wireless Operator/ Air Gunner, Sergeant Alfred Thomas Drennan (RCAF) and injuring Pilot, Sergeant William Miskimon Webb (RCAF), Navigator, Sergeant Edward Emile Gervais (RCAF), Flight Engineer Sergeant John Maxwell Rankin (RCAF) and Bomb Aimer Sergeant G E Mitchell (RAFVR)

The aircraft was later repaired and returned to operations, only to be shot down by a night fighter March 11-12, 1943, on an operation against targets in Stuttgart, Germany

[Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire

Bombing Stuttgart Germany 1943-03-11 to 1943-03-12

405 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Topcliffe

405 Vancouver Squadron (Ducimus) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax BII aircraft BB 212 LQ-U was lost on bombing mission against targets in Stuttgart, Germany, shot down by a night fighter pilot Leutnant Johannes Engels of the 10/NJG4, flying a Bf 110 F-4 from Mainz-Finthen airfield. The Halifax was attacked before reaching target. The Rear Air-Gunner Sergeant Robert Moore (RAFVR) was killed in action but the remaining crew bailed before the aircraft crashed at Altneudorf, 10 km NE of Heidelberg, Germany The surviving crew members, Flight Lieutenant George Theodore Chretein DFM (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1st Class Arthur Cyril Collin (RCAF), Flying Officer Thomas Edward Carlon DFM (RCAF), Flying Officer John Scott Probert (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1st Class Harold George Reynolds (RCAF) and Warrant Officer 1st Class Arthur Ernest Danes (RCAF) all survived to be taken as Prisoners of War

There were three other 405 Squadron Halifax II bombers lost on this date on this operation. Please see aircraft serials DT 745 LQ-V, BB 250 LQ-E and W 7803 LQ-B for further information on these aircraft and crews

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 43

Aviation Safety Network

[Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

Daily Operations 6bombergroup.ca

Bombing Nuremberg Germany 1942-08-28 to 1942-08-29

103 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Elsham Wolds

103 Squadron RAF (Nili me Tangere) RAF Elsham Wolds. Halifax MkII aircraft BB 214 PM- was intercepted on the way to the targets at Nuremberg, Germany over the Hohe Acht mountains at Adenau by night fighter crew Feldwebel Fritz Schellwat & Unteroffizier Willmann of 5/NJG1 flying a Bf110 and shot down. The bomber crashed into the Laacher See near Glees, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany with the loss of four crew members killed

Pilot Officer Vincent Merrill MacDonald Morrison (RCAF), Sergeant John Louis MacLachlan (RAFVR) were killed in action. Flight Sergeant John Joseph Carey (RCAF) and Sergeant James Wilfrid Platt (RAF) were missing presumed killed in action. Sergeant Platt's body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Sergeant Carey was originally commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial but human remains were located in the lake in 2008, eventually identified as those of Sergeant Cary and he was buried at the Rheinberg War Cemetery in 2015

Sergeant Harold Gainsford Dryhurst (RAF), Sergeant Bernard Francis Anthony Hughes (RNZAF) and Sergeant Arthur Allan Roberts (RAAF) survived the crash and were taken as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 84

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Bombing Saarbrucken Germany 1942-09-01 to 1942-09-02

405 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Topcliffe

405 Vancouver Squadron (Ducimus) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 216 LQ-D had a Port outer engine fire as the aircraft crossed the east coast, leading to structural failure of the wing, outbound for an operation against targets in Saarbrucken, Germany. The aircraft was abandoned before it crashed near Skegness, Lincolnshire with the loss of four aircrew

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Norman Angus MacKenzie (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Clarence Gordon Eagles (RCAF) and Sergeant Harold Stone (RAFVR) were killed in action

Flight Sergeant Louis Donald Dawdy (RCAF) was missing, presumed killed in action. Flight Sergeant Dawdy has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Flying Officer Joseph Anthony Kaucharik (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant Edgar Bohun Mason (RCAF) and Sergeant James Alexander (RAFVR) all survived this event with injuries

Royal air Force serial and Image Database

405 (Vancouver) Sqn RCAF Halifax II BB216 LQ:D FltSgt MacKenzie RAF...

LQ-D

Bombing Berlin Germany 1943-03-01 to 1943-03-01

51 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Snaith

51 Squadron RAF (Swift and Sure) RAF Snaith. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 223 MH-C was shot down by night fighter pilot Leutnant August Geiger of 7/NJG1 during an operation against targets in Berlin Germany. The Halifax crashed at Klarenbeekseweg Voorst, Gelderland, Netherlands, with the loss of the entire crew

Flight Sergeant William Colangelo (RCAF), Flight Sergeant John David William Stenhouse (RAF), Sergeant Cyril Avery (RAF), Sergeant Alfred Beauchamp (RAF), Pilot Officer Ronald Arthur Bertram Willmott (RAF), Sergeant Amos Howe (RAF) and Flying Officer John Bryce Duncan (RAF) were all killed in action

Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 34

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

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Bombing Flensburg Germany 1942-10-01 to 1942-10-01

78 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Linton-on-Ouse

78 Squadron RAF (Nemo non paratus) RAF Linton-on Ouse. Halifax B MkII aircraft BB 236 EY-B was coned by the search lights of Reserve Flakscheinewerfer Abteilung 609 (Werfer 15) and hit by the guns of Leichte Marine Flakzug Murwik, 1-4/Reserve Flak Abteilung 306 and 1-3/Reserve Flak Abteilung 755. The Halifax crashed at Am Friedenshugel, Flensburg, Germany with the loss of the entire crew

Flying Officer John Hammond Carrick (RCAF), Flying Officer Gordon Menhennick Gillies (RCAF), Sergeant Norman Rex Jones (RAAF), Sergeant Ernest Henry Tytherleigh (RAFVR) were all killed in action. Initially buried in a cemetery near the crash site. They were later exhumed and reburied in the Kiel War Cemetery, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Sergeant Edwin Walter Farr (RAFVR), Sergeant George Erenest Swift (RAFVR) and Sergeant Joseph Cunningham (RAFVR) survived the crash and were taken as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 101

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

78 Squadron Halifax II BB236 EY-B Sgt Farr RAF Linton-on-Ouse

Aviation Safety Network

Crash of a Handley Page HP 57 Hallifax II in Flensburg: 4 killed I...

Bombing Mannheim Germany 1942-12-06 to 1942-12-06

76 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Linton-on-Ouse

76 Squadron RAF (Resolute) RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Halifax B aircraft Mark II BB 242 MP-P was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Gunther Freidrich of Stab II/NJG4 during a bombing operation against targets in Mannheim Germany. The Halifax crashed at Courouvre, France with the loss of two air crew

Rear Air-Gunner, Sergeant Alan Frank Smith (RAFVR) bailed but became entangle in the tailor trailing aerial and was killed in action. Pilot, Flying Officer William Charles Hillier MiD (RAFVR) stayed at the controls while his crew abandoned the bomber and went down with his aircraft. He initially survived the crash but sadly died from his injuries, killed in action

Sergeant Robert Law MacDonald (RCAF), Sergeant John Albert Parkin (RAFVR) and Sergeant John Edward Theckston (RAFVR) survived and initially evaded until the Mayor of Courouvre turned them over to the Germans and they were taken as Prisoners of War

However, Sergeant Herbert Joseph Bronsgrove Canter (RAFVR) and Sergeant Henry Ord Robertson DFM (RAFVR) both survived, avoided capture as EVADERS and eventually returned to England

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Search for France-Crashes 39-45

Crash of Handley Page HP57 Halifax II in Courouvre: 2 killed I ...

Bombing Berlin Germany 1943-03-30 to 1943-03-30

51 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Snaith

51 Squadron RAF (Swift and sure) RAF Snaith. Halifax B MkII aircraft BB 244 MH-Q was shot down by night fighter pilot Leutnant August Geiger of 7/NJG1 returning from an operation against targets in Berlin, Germany. The Halifax crashed near Poorterman at Vorden, Gelderland, Netherlands with the loss of six crew members

Flight Sergeant Jack Paton (RCAF), Sergeant John Mitchell Taylor (RAFVR), Sergeant David Marlow Reed (RAFVR), Sergeant Albert Heptonstall (RAFVR), Flying Officer Raymond George Harris (RAFVR) and Flying Officer Victor John Dowling (RAFVR), were all killed in action

Navigator, Sergeant Eric Williams (RAFVR) was the sole survivor from his crew and was captured to become a Prisoner of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 52

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

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Conversion 1944-05-02 to 1944-05-02

1659 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Topcliffe

1659 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 247 was engaged in a conversion flying training flight when for an undetermined reason it climbed at a very steep angle on take-off, causing the bomber to stall and crash at East Lodge Farm near the base. All aboard were killed in this flying accident. No firm cause for the crash was determined

Flying Officer John Lockwood McKinnon (RCAF), Flying Officer William Alexander Pope (RCAF), Flying Officer Malcolm Thomas Seabrook (RCAF), Sergeant Edward John Donnelly (RCAF), Sergeant Herbert Russell Davies (RCAF), Sergeant Harry Astrand (RCAF0and Sergeant Douglas William May Giles (RAFVR) were all killed in this flying Training accident

Royal Air force Serial and Image Database

Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire

Crashes_in_Northern_England.pdf

Bombing 1943-07-09 to 1943-07-10

102 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Pocklington

102 Ceylon Squadron (Tentate et perficite) RAF Pocklington. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 249 DY-Z was lost homeward-bound from bombing operations against targets in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptman August Gieger of 7/NJG1. The Halifax crashed near Eprave, Namur Province, Belgium, about 4 Km SW of Rochefort with the loss of four aircrew

Flight Sergeant Ronald Frank Glass (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Albert Thomas Fraser (RAAF), Flight Sergeant John George Herbert Mansell (RAFVR) and Sergeant Willie Morse (RAF) were killed in action

Sergeant Reginald Norman Brand (RAFVR), Sergeant Harry Edward ((RAFVR), and Sergeant Thomas Edward Stockton (RAFVR) all survived to be captured and taken as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 2, 23 June - 22 September page 26

It's Suicide But It's Fun, The Story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron 1917-1956 by Chris Goss page 186

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

102 Ceylon Squadron Forum - View topic - BB249 DY-Z

Bombing Stuttgart Germany 1943-03-11 to 1943-03-12

405 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Topcliffe

Battle of the Ruhr

405 City of Vancouver Squadron (Ducimus) RAF Topcliffe, Halifax II BB 250 LQ-E was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Heinz-Wilhelm Kornacker of Stab III/NJG4 over France while homeward-bound from Stuttgart, Germany. The Halifax was abandoned and crashed at Mondepuis, France

Sergeant Emanuel George Lacina (RCAF) and Flight Sergeant Robert Gray MacDonald (RCAF) were both killed in action

Flight Sergeant Ronald Frank Kennett (RCAF) survived and was captured to become a Prisoner of War

Flight Sergeant Elmer Leigh Bulman MiD (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Gordon Lewis Spencer MiD (RCAF), Pilot Officer Bordon Carrick Dennison DFC (RCAF), Squadron Leader Lloyd Emerson Logan DFC CDGF (RCAF) and Flight Sergeant Harold Jack Jennings DFC MiD (RCAF) all survived and avoided capture as EVADERS, all returning to the UK

There were three other 405 Squadron Halifax II aircraft lost this night. Please see aircraft serial numbers W 7803 LQ-B, BB 212 LQ-U and DT 745 LQ-V for information on these aircraft and crews

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

France-Crashes 39-45

11/12 03 1943 405 (Vancouver) Squadron Halifax II BB250 LQ;E Plt Of...

Bombing Frisian Islands Netherlands (Nectarines) 1943-01-09 to 1943-01-09

10 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Melbourne

10 Squadron RCAF (Rem acu tangere) RAF Melbourne. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 252 ZA-X was shot down by night fighter pilot Leutnant Lother Linke of Stab IV/NJG1 and crashed near pole 15 at Het Balg at Schiermonnikoog Island, Friesland, Netherlands while on an operation to drop anti-shipping mines (GARDENING) in the Frisian Islands

Flight Sergeant Charles Brian Fetherstonhaugh (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Clement Lawrence Clifford King (RCAF), Flight Sergeant John Wilmer Smith (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Arthur William Wilson (RCAF), Sergeant Eddie Fish (RAFVR), Sergeant Alan Smith (RAFVR), and Sergeant Michael John Boyle (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Flight Sergeant King actually survived to reach the ground but died from his injuries soon after. Sergeant Boyle also survived with severe injuries but sadly died from his wounds 1943-01-15 at a hospital in Leeuwarden and was buried at a cemetery there

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 12

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

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Aviation Safety Network

09/10 01 1943 No 10 Squadron Halifax II BB252 ZA-X Sgt Fish

Operational 1944-11-20 to 1944-11-20

1656 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Lindholme

1656 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) RAF Lindholme. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 254 crashed two minutes after taking off for a night navigation exercise near Dalepit Farm, Doncaster, Dunscroft, England. Two other Halifax aircraft also crashed in similar fashion on this flight, Halifax W 7875 and Halifax HR 794. The accident investigation into Halifax BB 254 revealed that the flaps were mistakenly retracted instead of the landing gear and the resulting loss of lift caused the heavy bomber to stall and crash. Five crew were killed and 2 survived

Flying Officer Michael Arnold Gleason (RCAF), Sergeant Dennis Arthur Dilley (RAFVR), Flying Officer Derek John Povey (RAFVR), Sergeant Ronald Thompson (RAFVR) and Sergeant Horace Samuel Emery (RAFVR) were all killed in this training flying accident

Flying Officer Peter Rowland Donald Senn (RAFVR) and Sergeant A Blanchard (RAFVR) both survived with injuries. There were also possibly two un-named civilians aboard the Halifax and slightly injured when it crashed

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

1656 Heavy Conversion Unit Halifax Mk II BB254 F/O Gleason RAF Lindholme....

Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire

Submarine Patrol 1943-06-01 to 1943-06-01

58 (CS) Sqn (RAF) RAF St Eval

58 Squadron (Alis noctumis) RAF St Eval. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 257 BY-B failed to return from anti-U-boat operations over the Bay of Biscay. A radio message at 19:11:00 hours reported multiple attacks on the bomber by Junkers JU 88C-6 heavy fighters from 14/KG 40 (14 Staffel / Kampfgeschwader 40), but the crash site was not determined. The entire crew were lost

Pilot Officer Joseph Roy Bickerton (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 Laurence Edward Daw (RCAF), Flying Officer Jack Alexander Thain (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Sydney Frederick Miller (RAAF), Flight Lieutenant Francis Wilfrid Gilmore (RAF), Sergeant Cyril William Howard Makin (RAF) and Sergeant Bonsor William Wyatt (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action. The missing have no known grave but all are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Conversion 1943-02-01 to 1943-02-01

1659 (OT) HCU (RCAF) RAF Leeming

1659 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) RAF Leeming. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 275 FD-S departed for an evening liaison flight to RAF Valley in Wales. Approaching from the east by night and in poor weather conditions, the aircraft had an engine failure, then dove into the ground near Rhoscolyn School between RAF Valley and Treaddur Bay at Four Mile Bridge, Anglesey, Wales. The entire crew was lost

Flight Sergeant Joseph Gaspard Arsenault (RCAF), Sergeant John Louis Boivin (RCAF), Flight Sergeant David Clayton Carder (RCAF), Sergeant Harvey Frank Gorrie (RCAF), Sergeant Peder Larsen (RCAF), Sergeant Alan Bayne Wedderspoon (RAF), Sergeant James Barrie Diggle George (RAFVR) and Sergeant Thomas Herbert Clapham (RAFVR) were all killed in this flying training accident

The accident investigation revealed that the engine failure was likely due to mishandling of the fuel system attributed to the work load and pressure the flight crew was working under

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Military Aircraft Crash site in North-West WalesL Volume I - Project Report

Conversion 1944-02-14 to 1944-02-14

1674 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Longtown

1674 Heavy Conversion Unit (Coastal Command HCU) RAF Longtown. Halifax B MkII aircraft BB 278 crashed into the sea in Moricombe Bay, Solway Firth, near Grune Point, Kirkbride, Cumbria. The entire crew was lost in the explosion and fire that occurred after the crash

Flying Officer Paul Alfred Olson (RCAF), Sergeant Joseph Mary Edmund Peltier (RCAF), Flying Officer Cyril James Ballard (RAFVR), Sergeant Walter Bert Bostock (RAFVR), Pilot Officer James Collinson (RAFVR), Sergeant John Dexter (RAFVR), Sergeant Phillip David Izzard (RAF), Sergeant Ernest Leslie King (RAFVR)(Nfld), Pilot Officer William Harold Lye (RAFVR) and Flying Officer Frederick Gilbert Wilkinson (RAFVR) were all killed in this flying training accident

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

BB278 1433724 - Heritage Gateway Record I Historic England

SOE 1943-03-14 to 1943-03-14

138 (SD) Sqn (RAF) RAF Tempsford

Bronze

138 (Special Duties) Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Tempsford. Halifax B MkII aircraft BB 281 NF-O lost during "Operation Bronze", a Special Operations Executive (SOE) commando mission into German-occupied Czechoslovakia, 1943-03-14/15. The Halifax was to deliver a 3 man Czech commando team who were to parachute into a drop zone near Brno, SE of Prague, Czechoslovakia. The weather conditions deteriorated as the aircraft approached the drop zone and the decision was made to abort the mission and return to RAF Tempsford. On the return flight, the Halifax was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crashed in the Perlacher Forest

Flight Crew: Warrant Officer 1st Class Douglas Clark Lisson (RCAF), Warrant officer 2nd Class Maurice Tallier Peter Myers (RCAF), Squadron Leader Christopher Francis Gibson DFC CDGF (RAF), Sergeant Malcolm John Hudson (RAF), Flight Seergeant John Stanley Rigden (RAFVR), Sergeant Harold John Sharwood (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant Arthur Stokes DFM (RAF) and Sergeant Leo Peter Ward (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Agent/Passengers: Lieutenant Bohumir Martinek, Frantisek Vrbka and Antonin Kubek were killed in action

Flight Engineer, Sergeant Hudson and Agent Vrbka survived the crash but both later died from their injuries, Vrbka on 1943-03-23 and Hudson 1943-04-11

Much of this same crew had successfully completed a mission to drop six Norwegian commandos into Norway to destroy the Heavy Water plant at Rjukan in an effort to stop the German Atomic Bomb program a month earlier in February 1943. The commandos were able to carry out the the destruction of the Norsk Hydro Plant 1943-02-26

Newsletter Summer 2012web

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

RAF Tempsford Special Duties

#138 Squadron Canadian Casualty List

Bombing Essen Germany 1943-03-06 to 1943-03-06

76 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Linton-on-Ouse

76 Squadron (Resolute) RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 282 MP-R was shot down by night fighter ace Major Helmut Lent of Stab IV/NJG1, flying a Bf110 G-4 G9+EF from Leeuwarden airfield, Netherlands. The Halifax crashed into the Waddenzee, 10 km west of Harlingen, Netherlands with the loss of the entire crew

Warrant Officer Class 2 Clifford Arthur Milan (RCAF), Pilot Officer Ernest John Fry (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 Russell Benson Van Buren (RCAF)(USA), Sergeant Horace Clarence Cope (RAFVR), Sergeant Haydn Winston Edwards (RAFVR), Pilot Officer Ernest John Fry (RAFVR), Flying Officer Charles George Hitt (RAF) and Sergeant Owen Joseph Trainor (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action. The missing have no known grave but all are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 38

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

05/06 03 1943 76 Squadron Halifax II BB282 MP:R Flt Sgt Clifford A Milan

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WRECKSITE - HALIFAX II BB282 AIRCRAFT 1943

Bombing Saint-Nazaire France 1943-03-28 to 1943-03-28

419 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Middleton St George

419 Moose Squadron RCAF (Moosa Aswayita) RAF Middleton St George. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 283 VR-O was coned by searchlights and shot down by flak during an operation to bomb the submarine facilities at Saint Nazaire, France. There is some confusion about which units were responsible for shooting down BB 283 as multiple unconfirmed claims were made. The Halifax crashed in the vicinity of Nantes, France with the loss of the entire crew

Flight Sergeant Robert Francis Beckett (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Charles St Clair Foster (RCAF), Sergeant Joseph John Goldspink (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Gerald McGrath (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Roderic Murray McLeod (RCAF), Sergeant Dennis Ansley (RAFVR) and Sergeant William James Stonard Boyd (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 48

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Search for France-Crashes 39-45

Aviation Safety Network

Conversion 1943-07-24 to 1943-07-24

1652 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Marston Moor

1652 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) RAF Marston Moor. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 285 GV-Q, engaged in a training flight crashed and burned shortly after take-off at the Spofforth Sewage disposal works near Wetherby, Yorkshire, England.

Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Jean Duclos (RCAF), Sergeant Edward Leslie Byrne (RAFVR), Sergeant Colin William Nowell (RAFVR), Sergeant William George Richardson (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant Cyril Brynmore Tingle (RAFVR) and Sergeant John Alexander MacLean Weir (RAFVR) were all killed in this flying accident

Remarkably, the Rear Air Gunner Sergeant R Roberts (RAFVR) survived the crash with only minor injuries when the rear fuselage broke free during the crash and was thrown clear of the burning wreckage

Sadly, two civilians on the ground were also killed in this crash, Mr Harry Dean and Mrs Mabel Una Dean

The accident investigation indicated that the the probable cause for the crash was that the rudder locking pin had come loose in the rudder mechanism causing loss of control of the aircraft at low altitude

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aircraft accidents in Yorkshire

Conversion 1944-04-11 to 1944-04-12

1674 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Longtown

1674 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU-Coastal Command) Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 310, after flying about eight hours on a night cross country training exercise crashed in the dark onto Blea Crag on Great Dun Fell, North Pennines, 10 miles East of Penrith, England with the loss of all aboard

Flight Sergeant Frank Pess (RCAF), Flying Officer Paul Bevens Stevens (RCAF)(USA), Flight Sergeant Dean Walter Swedberg (RCAF), Flying Officer Sydney Brookes (RAFVR), Sergeant William John Morrison (RAF), Robert James Littlefield (RAFVR), Sergeant Hugh Dunningham (RAFVR) and Flight Sergeant William Alan Johnson DFM (RAFVR) were all killed in this flying accident. There were 5 Wireless Operator/Air Gunners, 2 Pilots, a Navigator, and a Flight Engineer on board for this trip.

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Halifax MkII BB310 Great Dun Fell Cumbria - Peak District Air Accident...

Halifax BB310 - aircrashsites.co.uk

Bombing Stuttgart Germany 1943-04-14 to 1943-04-15

408 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Leeming

408 Goose Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Leeming. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 311 EQ-L was attacked and had an engine disabled during an operation against targets in Stuttgart, Gemany. The y continued to fly but about 30 minutes later were again attacked and shot down by night fighter pilot Leutnant Helmut Bergmann of Stab III/NJG4 The Halifax crashed in a marsh in the municipality of Tugny-et-Pont, Aisne, Hauts-de-France with the loss of one crew member, the other six crew members survived

Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Sergeant John Joseph Courtney (RAFVR) was killed in action

Sergeant Robert Ernest Dressler (RCAF), Pilot Officer Raymond Harry Jay (RCAF), Sergeant Ian Ross MacDonald (RCAF), Pilot Officer Grenville Marshall Parkinson (RCAF), Sergeant Walter Reed (RCAF) and Pilot Officer Lee Ellis Usher (RCAF)(USA) all survived to be captured as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 68

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Search for France-Crashes 39-45

Error in opcode: linkgeneral

Convoy Patrol Bay of Biscay France 1943-03-22 to 1943-03-22

502 (CS) Sqn (RAF) RAF Holmsley South

502 Squadron (Coastal Command)(Nihil timeo) RAF Holmsley South. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 314 V9-B, on convoy escort/anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay (North-Eastern Atlantic Ocean) caught U-boat U-338 by surprise on the surface about 400 miles West of Brest, France. The Halifax went in to attack, U-338 returned defensive fire and shot the BB 314 down. Only one crew member survived the crash to be taken as Prisoner of War

Warrant Officer Class 2 Peter Shmigelsky (RCAF), Pilot Officer John Standish Henderson (RAAF), Sergeant Stanley Ellam (RAFVR), Sergeant Harry Hope (RAFVR), Flying Officer Leslie John McCullock (RAF), Sergeant Leslie Shepherd (RAFVR) and Pilot Officer Adam Joseph Stuart (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action

The Flight Engineer, Sergeant Harold Cameron Taylor (RAAF) survived, was rescued from a dinghy by U338 and became a Prisoner of War

Battlefield Bombers, Deep Sea Attack by Martin W Bowman, page 93

Allied airmen rescued by German U-boats-Luftwaffe and Allied Air...

U-boat to the rescue - Page 2 - World War 2 Forum

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Patrol of German U-boat U-388 from 23 Feb to 24 March 1943...

Conversion 1944-02-07 to 1944-02-07

1656 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Lindholme

1656 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) RAF Lindholme. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 320 A2 on a night cross country navigation training exercise was seen to be spinning out of control as it came out of a rain cloud when the aircraft crashed at Cheadle, Staffordshire, England

The entire crew were lost

Flying Officer Hubert Lloyd Kerr (RCAF), Sergeant Herbert John Couling (RAF), Sergeant Albert John Denny (RAF), Sergeant William Desmond Joshua (RAF), Sergeant Kenneth Murray (RAF) and Flying Officer Ernest Charles David Richards (RAF) were all killed in this flying accident

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Halifax MkII BB320 Cellerhead Staffordshire - Peak District Air...

Crashes _Wales_and _West_Midlands.pdf

Handley Page Halifax BB320 I Bomber Command Memorial Register I ...

Bombing Aachen Germany 1943-07-13 to 1943-07-14

419 (B) Sqn (RCAF) Middleton St. George

Battle of the Ruhr

374 aircraft - 214 Halifaxes, 76 Wellingtons, 55 Stirlings, 18 Lancasters, 11 Mos-quitoes; 5 Group did not take part in this raid. 20 aircraft+ 15 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters, 2 Wellingtons, 1 Stirling - lost, 5·3 per cent of the force

A strong tail wind brought the first waves of the Main Force into the target area before Zero Hour with the result that, when the first Pathfinder markers were released, an unusually large number of aircraft bombed in the first minutes of the raid. The visibility was good and large areas of Aachen appeared to burst into flame at once. In the words of the report from Aachen, 'A 'Terrorangriff" of the most severe scale was delivered.'* 2,927 individual buildings were destroyed. These contained 16,828 flats/apartments and there was the familiar list of public and cultural buildings hit. Among those classed as severely damaged were the cathedral, the Rathaus, the town theatre, the police headquarters, the local prison, the main post office, two infantry barracks and an army food depot, and 8 large industrial premises including an aero-engine factory, a rubber factory, a tyre factory and a wagon works. 294 people were killed and 745 injured and 28,500 people appear to have fled the town and were still absent when new ration cards were issued nearly 7 weeks later.

source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

419 Moose Squadron RCAF (Moosa Aswayita) RAF Middleton St George. Halifax B MK II aircraft BB 323 VR-R named "Per Flak Ad Nauseum" was shot down over the Netherlands by night fighter pilot Leutnant Heinz Struning of 3/NJG1flying a Bf 110 G-4 during an operation against targets in Aachen, Germany. The Halifax crashed near the railway station in Venlo, Limburg, Netherlands with the loss of one crew member

Flight Sergeant William Charles Batkin (RAF) was killed in action

Warrant Officer 1st Class Murray Cottenden (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1st Class John Campbell Gilchrist (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1st Class Kenneth Lasalle (RCAF), Sergeant James Shaw Carmichael (RAF), Sergeant Gilbert Colin Perrett (RAF) and 2nd Lieutenant Bertram Joseph Furey (USAAF) all survived to be taken as Prisoners of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 2, 23 June - 22 September by Theo Boiten page 29

RAF & RCAF Aircraft Nose Art in World War II by Clarence Simonsen, page 51

Metal Canvas, Canadians and World War II Aircraft Nose Art by Stephen Fochuk page 109

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Daily Operations 6bombergroup.ca

Aviation Safety Network

Results

BB323 419 Sqdn Halifax

Bombing Mulheim Germany 1943-06-23 to 1943-06-23

10 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Melbourne

10 Squadron (Rem Acu Tangere) RAF Melbourne. Halifax B MkII aircraft BB 324 ZA-X was shot down night fighter pilot Oberfeldwebel Bruno Eikmeier of the 2/NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 G-4, during an against targets in Mulhelm, Germany. The Halifax crashed into the North Sea off the Dutch coast, 10 km west of Zandvoort, Noord-Holland, Netherlands with the loss of the entire crew

Flight Sergeant Timothy Leo MacAskill (RCAF), Flight Sergeant James Franklin Karl Crowe (RCAF), Sergeant John Conway (RAFVR), Sergeant Robert Mitchel Pinkerton (RAF), Sergeant Frank Holmes (RAFVR), Sergeant Frederick Thomas Nuttall (RAFVR) and Sergeant William Waring (RAF) were all killed in action

Because the bomber had crashed at sea, some of the crew remains were not recovered and have no known grave. Those crew members are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. The bodies of four crew members, Flight Sergeant Crowe, Sergeant Holmes, Sergeant Nuttall and Sergeant Conway washed ashore weeks after the crash and were buried in cemeteries in the Netherlands

Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1943 Part 2, 23 June - 22 September by Theo Boiten, page 7

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Results

Halifax in flight - IBBC Digital Archive

Conversion 1943-11-12 to 1943-11-12

1659 (OT) HCU (RAF) RAF Topcliffe

1659 Heavy Conversion Unit(HCU) RAF Topcliffe. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 326 crashed within minutes of take-off for a transit flight from RAF Halfpenny Green into a field at Bobbington, South Staffordshire, England due to a mechanical (possibly engine) failure. There was only one survivor from the entire crew

Flight Sergeant Francis Newton Salisbury Fearneley (RCAF), Pilot Officer George Keith Patman (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Keith Douglas Ross (RCAF), Flying Officer David Carmichael Blair (RAFVR), Sergeant Godfrey Purdon Fuller (RAFVR), Sergeant Robert Trevor Gibson (RAFVR) and Sergeant David Sharp (RAFVR) were all killed in this flying accident

The sole survivor was the Rear Air-Gunner, Pilot Officer T M Murdock (RCAF),who was severely injured in the crash

Royal Air Force serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Bombing Duisburg Germany 1943-04-08 to 1943-04-08

419 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Middleton St George

419 Moose Squadron RCAF (Moosa aswayita) RAF Middleton St George. Halifax II aircraft BB 327 VR-Q was shot down by flak during an operation against targets in Duisburg, Germany. The Halifax was shot down by flak units Heimatflak 211/VI, Schwere Heimatflak 227/VI, 228/VI and 229/VI and crashed near Krefeld, Germany with the loss of six aircrew

Sergeant John Hubert Morris (RCAF), Flying Officer Arthur Reginald Hickey (RCAF), Sergeant Percy John Ireland (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Delmar Cyril Way (RCAF), Sergeant Reginald John Amos (RAFVR) and Sergeant Kenneth Herbert Godbold (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Warrant Officer 1st Class Laverne Elmer Turner (RCAF) survived to be taken as Prisoner of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archive, 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 56,/span>

Error in opcode: link general

Aviation Safety Network

Daily Operations

SOE 1943-05-13 to 1943-05-14

138 (SD) Sqn (RAF) RAF Tempsford

Physician

138 (Special Duties) Squadron (For Freedom). Halifax aircraft BB 328 NF-U was lost during SOE Operation Physician 10/Roach 6 to drop supplies to Resistance Groups in France. The Halifax crashed in the Pont-Audemer area of Normandy, Northern France in unknown circumstances. The entire crew was lost

Flight Sergeant John Patrick Keating (RCAF), Sergeant Dudley Frank West (RAFVR), Sergeant James Woods (RAF), Sergeant Kenneth Hubbard (RAFVR), Sergeant Douglas Albert Ball (RAFVR), and Flying Officer Thomas Noble (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

Search for France-Crashes 39-45

Roll of Honour - Bedfordshire - Tempsford - Air Crew Losses

Aircraft-lost-on-Allied-Special-Duty-Operations.pdf

Bombing Berlin Germany 1943-03-27 to 1943-03-28

408 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Leeming

408 Goose Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Leeming. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 332 EQ-H on-route to an operation against targets in Berlin Germany was struck by flak near Hannover, Germany, damaging two engines and holing several fuel tanks. Still flying but unable to continue to the target or make it back to England, the pilot turned instead for neutral Sweden. Once over Swedish airspace the aircraft was abandoned before it crashed near Lindberg, Halland, roughly 64 km south-southeast of Gothenburg, Sweden

The entire crew survived and briefly became interned prisoners in Sweden, a vastly different experience than being a Prisoner of War in Germany

Flight Engineer, Sergeant Harold Lewis Grayson DFM (RCAF), Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Sergeant Robert Hall (RCAF), Air Gunner, Sergeant Franklin Wallis Grant (RCAF), Air Gunner, Sergeant Alois Gabriel Seiben (RCAF), Pilot, Sergeant Ronald Howell Batchelor (RAF), Navigator, Sergeant Harry Wein (RAF) and Navigator, Ronald Victor Fisher (RAF) were briefly held in Sweden as Interned Prisoners but were all returned, safe to the UK 1943-04-13/14

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Allied Losses and Incidents: All Commands

SOE 1943-08-12 to 1943-08-12

138 (SD) Sqn (RAF) RAF Tempsford

Spruce

138(Special Duties) Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Tempsford. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 334 NF-X on an Special Operations Executive (SOE) Operation Spruce 20/21 to France. This was an effort to support the Resistance in France, dropping supplies and materiel specifically in support of the SPRUCE Network in the Lyon and Rhone-Alpes regions. A combination of Flak and later an attack by night fighter pilot Unteroffizier Ernst Petretti of the 2/JG 2, flying a Focke-Wulfe190A, resulted in the Halifax crashing near Ecorcei, Orne, France with the loss of two aircrew

Warrant Officer 1st Class Donald Alexander Joseph Cameron (RCAF) and Warrant Officer 1st Class Allan Gerald Foster (RCAF) were both killed in action

Sergeant Thomas Sidney Harries (RAF), Flight Sergeant Adam Manson (RAF) and Sergeant david Henry Owen (RAF) survived to be taken as Prisoners of War

Warrant Officer 1st Class Roderick Alexander Scott (RCAF) and Sergeant James George Anthony Trusty DFM (RAF) survived and became EVADERS

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Aviation Safety Network

Aircraft-lost-on Allied-Special-Duties-Operations.pdf

Roll of Honour - Bedfordshire - Tempsford - Air Crew Losses

Bombing 1943-04-04 to 1943-04-05

408 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Leeming

408 Goose Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Leeming. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 336 EQ-O lost from operations against the docks and shipping in Kiel, Germany, most likely shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleunant Paul Szameitat of 5/NJG3, although there were some unverified flak claims

The Halifax is believed to have crashed into the Wadden Sea

Squadron Leader Edward Gerard Gilmore DFC (RCAF), Pilot Officer Maxwell Palmer Hall (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant John Baillie Darroch (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant Potter George Oyler (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant James William Taylor Mason Smith DFM (RAFVR) and Sergeant Kenneth William Haynes (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action

The missing have no known grave and are all commemorated on the Runnymede War Memorial

Sergeant Russell Thomas Wiggett (RCAF), the only survivor from his crew, was taken Prisoner of War.

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten, page 55

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

408 Squadron Halifax II BB336 EQ-O Sq/Ldr Gilmore DFC

Bombing Plzen, Czechoslovakia 1943-04-17 to 1943-04-17

408 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Leeming

Battle of the Ruhr

327 aircraft- 197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes. 18 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes lost, 11 per cent of the force. The Canadian 408 Squadron lost 4 of its 12 Halifaxes idispatched.

This raid, on the Skoda armaments factory, took place by the light of a full moon but was not a success, In a complicated plan, the Main Force was ordered to confirm the position of' the Skoda factory visually; the Pathfinder markers were only intended as a general gulde,As it turned out a large asylum building 7 miles away was mistaken for the factory and only 6 crews brought back bombing photographs which were within 3 miles of the real target. The Skoda factory was not hit. One report says that 200 German soldiers were killed when their barracks near the asylum were bombed.

The Bomber Command War Diaries, by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

408 Goose Squadron (For Freedom). Halifax aircraft BB 343 EQ-X was lost during operations against the Skoda Armaments Facilities in Plzen, Czechoslovakia. On the way home while still over France, the Halifax was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberfeldwebel Adolph Branstetter of 3/NJG4, crashing near the municipality of Lesquielles-Saint-Germain, Aisne, Hauts-de-France with the loss of the entire crew

Warrant Officer 1st Class Joseph Jacques Alfred Guay (RCAF), Sergeant Harold Walter Fill (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Francois Rolland Pilon (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Lloyd George Haines (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Irving MacDonald (RCAF), Sergeant Anthony Patrick Gielty (RAFVR), and Sergeant Ronald Harry Winter (RAFVR) were all killed in action

There were four 408 Squadron Halifax Mk II aircraft lost on this date. Please see aircraft serial numbers DT 752 EQ-W, JB 854 EQ-D and JB 925 EQ-R for information regarding the other crews and aircraft.

Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten page 74

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Search for France-Crashes 39-45

Aviation Safety Network

Daily Operations

The Crew of Halifax BB343 408th Squadron RCAF

Bombing Krefeld Germany 1943-06-21 to 1943-06-22

35 (PFF) Sqn (RAF) RAF Graveley

35 Madras Presidency Squadron (Una animo agimus), Pathfinder Force, RAF Graveley. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 361 TL-V lost near the Frisian Islands, Netherlands outbound for an operation against targets in Krefeld, Germany. There was a claim from Flak of Marine Flakabeteilung 808 for this aircraft loss but it was more likely night fighter pilot Hauptmann Franz Buschmann of 12/NJG1 that shot BB 361 down. The Halifax crashed into the North Sea 25 km west of Den Helder, Noord-Holland, Netherlands with the loss of the entire crew

Pilot Officer James Wesley Andrews (RCAF), Warrant Officer 2nd Class Neil Thomas MacAulay (RCAF), Sergeant Frederick Vernon Barnard (RAFVR), Sergeant David John Jones (RAFVR), Sergeant Reginald Arthur Muldoon (RAFVR), Sergeant William Downie Robertson (RAFVR) and Sergeant Robert Matthew Scott (RAF) were all missing, believed killed in action. Warrant Officer MacAulay's body washed ashore 1943-09-07 and was buried at at the Texel (Den Burg) Cemetery, Netherlands

The remaining missing crewmembers have no known grave and all are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten page 127

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Results

Aviation Safety Network

Halifax BB361 (21/06/1943) I No 35 Squadron

Bombing Krefeld Germany 1943-06-21 to 1943-06-22

408 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Leeming

408 Goose Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Leeming. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 375 EQ-T was shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Hans-Deiter Frank of 2/NJG1 over the Netherlands during an operation against targets in Krefeld, Germany. The Halifax crashed into the Lek river near Jaarsveld, Lopik, Utrecht, Netherlands with the loss of five aircrew

Pilot Officer Clifford Clarence Reichert MiD (RCAF), Pilot Officer William Searle (RCAF), Pilot Officer John Peter Dockerill (RCAF), Pilot Officer Joseph Earl Monahan (RCAF) and Sergeant Gordon Mitchell McLean (RCAF) were all killed in action

Ex-Pilot Officer George Pridham of St John, New Brunswick had this to say, "We were badly hit by a night fighter aircraft so Cliff yelled for anyone who could to bail out. I was hit in the leg and lost it as a Prisoner of War. Pilot Officer J.C. Russell, the navigator also bailed out, but the rest didn't make it. Cliff wasn't hit I believe but stayed with the aircraft not knowing who was hit or who could get out. In 1985 I was contacted by Mr. John Van Vleet of Lopek, Holland and he said our aircraft had been found by him and some diver friends in the mud of the Lek River at Lopek, one Rolls Royce engine was taken out and made to look like new. They built a 6 ft. by 10 ft. steel and glass special memorial and put the engine in it along with a 20 ft. wing pointing straight up, all of our names were put on it. I contacted J.C. Russell in Toronto but he showed no interest in the subject. I also contacted Cliff's relatives at Morden and in 1986 there was a get together there of some of the next of kin of those killed and those involved in Holland." In May 1990, Les Allison, researcher for his book, visited the memorial and talked to a local man who had seen the aircraft come down when he was 16 yrs. old

There were three 408 Squadron Halifax Mk II aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serials DT772 EQ-E and JD209 EQ-B for information on these aircraft and crews

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten page 128

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

Results

Aviation Safety Network

Daily Operations

Bombing 1943-09-29 to 1943-09-29

419 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Middleton St George

419 Moose Squadron (Moosa aswayita), RAF Middleton St George. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 376 VR-S was shot down by the Kriegsmarine flak unit 5 Batterie/Marine Flak Abteilung 808 during an operation against targets in Bochum Germany and crashed into the North Sea 6 km NW of Den Helder, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, with the loss of the entire crew

Flying Officer John Ritchie Symons (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Edwin Mills Cockin (RCAF), Flying Officer Gordon Edward Donaldson (RCAF), Flight Sergeant William Douglas Miller (RCAF), Sergeant Albert William Chandler (RAFVR), Sergeant David Lucas (RAFVR) and Sergeant William George Morgan (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action.

The missing have no known grave but all are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Results

Error in opcode: linkgeneral

Daily Operations

WRECKSITE - HALIFAX II BB376 AIRCRAFT 1943

SOE 1943-12-10 to 1943-12-10

138 (SD) Sqn (RAF) RAF Tempsford

Tablejam 18

138 Special Duties Squadron (For Freedom) RAF Tempsford. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 378 NF-D was intercepted during Operation Tablejam 18/19, a mission to drop supplies and an agent into Roskilde, Denmark. The agent was Major Flemming Brunn Muss DSO, (code name: Jam) the leader of SOE operations in Denmark. The Halifax was attacked by night fighter pilot Unteroffizier Klaus Moller of 12/NJG3 and badly damaged. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Bartter (RAF) managed to make a forced landing at Bonderupgaard farm near Uggerlose, Saelland, Denmark, with all nine crew members, including Flemming Muus surviving, unhurt

Sergeant Nicholas Anderson (RAFVR), Flight Lieutenant Brian Henry Atkins (RAF), Sergeant Walter Ralph Riggs (RAFVR), Sergeant Stanley Gordon Smith (RAFVR) and Warrant Officer Frederick Louis Turvil (RAF) all survived and were variously arrested and became Prisoners of War

Flying Officer Clarence William "Joe" Fry (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant Arthur Clement "Peter" Bartter (RAF), Flight Lieutenant Ernesto Howell DFC (RAF) and Major Flemming Brunn Muss DSO (SOE) all survived and eluded capture as EVADERS

Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1943 Part 3, 23 September - 31 December by Theo Boiten page 98

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

Halifax II BB378 crash landed near Uggerlose 11/12 1943

Aviation Safety Network

Allied Losses and Incidents: All Commands

File: Halifax after the crash 13 of december 1943.jpg - Wikimedia...

Biblia.com

p247MACR.pdf

Aircraft-lost-on-Allied-Forces-Special-Duties-Operations.pdf

SOE Denmark - Alan Malcher

Bombing Sophia Bulgaria 1944-03-15 to 1944-03-16

614 (B) Sqn (RAF) Foggia/Celone, Italy

614 County of Glamorgan Squadron (Codaf I geisio) Foggia/Celone airfield, Italy. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 382 Q crashed returning from a bombing operation against the rail marshalling yards at Sophia, Bulgaria. The mission was plagued with severe weather and icing conditions resulting in the loss of multiple aircraft, including Halifax BB 382 which crashed near San Nicandro, Garganico, Italy

Flying Officer Henry Calvin Chambers Read (RCAF), Flying Officer Donald Leonard Smith (RCAF) and Sergeant John Samuel Boyce (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Warrant Officer Class 2 D L Murray (RCAF), Sergeant G D Baxter (RAF) both survived with injuries and Sergeant A E Haynes (RAF) survived, safe

As was common practice among bomber squadrons on missions in the Mediterranean, 614 Squadron typically did not use a mid-upper air gunner and the top turret was sometimes removed for better aerodynamic efficiency

Three other 614 Squadron Halifax II aircraft were lost returning from this operation due to the extreme weather, BB 415 V, BB 446 T and JN 890 R

Some confusion in various websites exists regarding the crew list for Halifax BB 382 Q but the correct crew list as well as the other 614 Squadron Halifax aircraft lost on this operation were confirmed through the 614 Squadron ORB, AIR27/2122, pages 39, 40, 41 and 47

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

SOE 1944-03-04 to 1944-03-04

624 (SD) Sqn (RAF) RAF Blida, Algeria

624 (Special Duties) Squadron (Du Noctuque Caeloque) RAF, Blida, Algeria. Seventeen crew had been briefed for an SOE mission to southern France and Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 386 was the first to take-off. The Halifax immediately encountered a sudden heavy rain storm as it attempted to climb and crashed five miles north-west of the aerodrome at Blida, Algeria, with a likely engine failure factoring into the loss

Pilot Officer Harry Alexander Edward Gordon Smith (RCAF), Flying Officer Gordon Mundell (RCAF), Flying Officer Francis Ira Elliott (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 George Thomas Jackson (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Roy Wesley Moller (RCAF), Sergeant Donald Garforth Browne (RAFVR) and Sergeant William Dennis Hazeldine (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Flights of the Forgotten, Special Duties Operations in World War Two by K A Merrick page 107

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Squadron losses page 1 I 624 Squadron

Aircraft-lost-on Allied-Forces-Special-Duty-Operations.pdf

SOE Italy 1944-09-11 to 1944-09-12

148 (SD) Sqn (RAF) RAF Brindisi, Italy

148 (Special Duties) Squadron (Trusty) RAF Brindisi, Italy. Halifax B MkII aircraft BB 412 C was engaged in secret Special Operations Executive (SOE) Operations "Silica II/North/Seed/Acre", to drop supplies to partisans in the mountains of NW Italy. En-route to the Val Grande area in the vicinity of Ivrea, 45km NE of Turin, The Halifax flew into the side of a mountain about 25 metres below the summit at 23:45 in low-visibility conditions/fog twenty-five miles north-east of Turin with the loss of all aboard the aircraft

The Flight Crew: Flying Officer Joseph Miller Parkinson (RCAF), Pilot Officer John Ervin O'Brien (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 Richard Alvinzie Crowell (RCAF), Flight Sergeant James Howard Ireland (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Albert Major Vanderhart (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Bruce Woodward Ellison (RNZAF), Flight Sergeant Douglas Julius Ives (RAFVR) and Sergeant Ronald McKeen (RAFVR) were all killed in action

The Passengers: Captain Charles Frederick Whitaker (British Army/SOE), Staff Captain Rudolph Hrubec (Czech Army/SOE), Lieutenant Brohuslav Nocar (Czech Army/SOE), Sergeant Rudolpho Marchiori (Royal Italian Army) and Sergeant Guido Alessandro Voglino (Royal Italian Army) were all killed in action

Trusty to the End, The History of 148 (Special Duties) Squadron 1918-1945 by Oliver Clutton-Brock

Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

In Defense of Freedom - Halifax II BB412 of 148 RAF Squadron

NSCL - 24

Aircraft-lost-on-Allied-Forces-Special-Duties-Operations.pdf

Bombing Grottaglie Italy 1943-09-03 to 1943-09-04

178 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Hosc Raui, Cyrenaica, Libya

178 Squadron (lrae emissarii) RAF Hosc Raui, Cyreaica, Libya. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 414 X was struck by flak over the target of Grottaglie Airfield, Italy and crashed five miles south-east of the aerodrome with the loss of four aircrew

Flight Sergeant Cyril William Gibbs (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Ralph William Cooke (RNZAF), Flight Sergeant Lu Henry Lu Henry Kainamu (RNZAF) and Sergeant Herbert Richard Mantle (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Two crew members, Sergeant Arthur Innes Orr (RNZAF) and Sergeant L F Valentine (RAFVR?) survived to be taken as Prisoners of War

The 178 Squadron ORB (AIR-27-1119-18) shows six aircrew aboard Halifax BB 414 X when it was lost. Four crew members were confirmed killed in action. Little confirmed information has been found on the other two crew members who survived: Sergeant Arthur Innes Orr (RNZAF) who was taken as Prisoner of War and Sergeant L. F. Valentine who was apparently taken as Prisoner of War but escaped

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

RNZAF Biographies of Deceased Personnel: 1939 - 1945 Ib - Ly...

Bombing 1943-10-11 to 1943-10-12

462 (B) Sqn (RAAF) RAF Terria, Italy

462 Australian Squadron, RAF Terria, Italy. Halifax B Mk II aircraft BB 417 V was part of an operation to bomb the Maritsa aerodrome on the Greek Island of Rhodes. Halifax BB 417's part in the operation was to drop flares to light up the aerodrome for the incoming bombers. Sadly, the bomber was shot down by flak, crashing into the Agean Sea with the loss of the entire crew

Warrant Officer 1st Class Frank Richmond Vincent Nello (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Raymond Llewellyn Fennell (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant Melbourne Glaister Fraser (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant Albert Griffin (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant Micheal Frank Hall (RAFVR) and Sergeant Gordon Frederick William Lawrence (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action

The missing have no known grave but all are commemorated on the Alamein War Memorial in Egypt

Some sources place another crew member on Halifax BB 417 V, a Mid-Upper Air-Gunner Sergeant Windebank but the Squadron ORB (AIR27/1916/28) shows a crew of six only and Sergeant Windbank is not included in the crew list. It was common practice for bomber crews to operate without an upper gunner while conducting operations in the Mediterranean Theatre

Royal air Force Serial and Image Database

462 Squadron RAAF

RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT TO THE RAF...