6 Bomber Group August 16/17, 1944
144 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 424, 425, 426, 427, 429, 431, 432, and 434 squadron were ordered to attack the port city of Kiel. The crews were over the target at between 16,000 and 20,000 feet, releasing 310,000 lbs of high explosives and 545,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports the dock area and ship-building firms were damaged.
While some of the group was attacking Kiel, 419 and 428 sent 27 Lancasters on an attack at Stettin. The crews were over the target at between 17,000and 18,000 feet, releasing 50,000 lbs of high explosives and 150,000 lbs of incendiaries on the port and dock area. According to reports, it was an accurate attack.
While most of the group was off to Kiel and Stettin, 18 Halifaxes from 429 and 433 squadrons were ordered on a mining operation to Kiel Bay.The crews were over the garden at 14,000 feet, sowing 54@1500 lb mines. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
431 Iroquois Squadron (The hatiten ronteriios) RAF Croft. Halifax III aircraft MZ 372 SE-Y was shot down by a German night fighter pilot, either Oberleutnant Fritz Lau of 4/NJG 1 or Oberleutnant Herbert Koch of 1/NJG 3 returning after successfully bombing targets in the harbour at Kiel, Germany. The Halifax crashed into the sea off Schleswig-Holstein, Germany with the loss of the entire crew
Flying Officer Truman Helmer Dahle (RCAF), , Flying Officer Cecil Frederick O'Donnell (RCAF), Pilot Officer John Faragher (RCAF), and Sergeant Samuel Edward Crawley (RAFVR) were all killed in action. These crew members were recovered and they are buried in cemeteries in Germany
Flight Lieutenant Harvard Darrell Fredeick MacAllister (RCAF), Pilot Officer Dennis Edward Snell (RCAF) and Pilot Officer George Edward Germquet (RCAF) were all missing, presumed killed in action. These crew members have no known grave and all are commemorated on the Runnymede War Memorial
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 Part 4 24 July - 15 October by Theo Boiten, page 45
Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database
Bomber Command Museum Monthly ORB
