6 Bomber Group November 19/20,1943
66 Halifaxes from 419, 427, 428, 429, 431, and 434 were ordered on an attack at Leverkusen. The crews were over the target at between 17,000 and 23,000 feet, releasing 116,000 lbs of high explosives and 243,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports, weather was very poor, and with equipment problems with the pathfinders, the attack was scattered with very little damage. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
428 Ghost Squadron (Usque ad Finem) RAF Middleton St George. Halifax BV aircraft LK 956 NA-S was severely damaged by Flak near Bonn during a night operation to Leverkusen, Germany, then attacked by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Paul Forster of the 2/NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 G-4 from Venlo airfield. The crew eventually abandoned the aircraft before it crashed in hamlet Olen, near Son, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. The entire crew survived
Flying Officer DR Knight (RCAF), Sergeant DFC Walker (RAF), Sergeant SJ Stevens (RAF) all survived and were taken as Prisoners of War
Flight Sergeant Shepherd (RCAF) evaded for a time but was arrested in Brussels, Belgium 1944-01-26 and taken as Prisoner of War
Flight Sergeant DK MacGillivray (RCAF), Sergeant NH Michie (RCAF) and Sergeant s Munns (RAF) all survived as Evaders and avoided capture to return to the UK
There was a second 428 Squadron Halifax V aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serial LK 950 NA-T for additional information
[Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...
