6 Bomber Group November 23/24, 1943
19 Lancasters from 408 and 426 squadrons were ordered on an attack at Berlin. The crews were over the target at between 20,000 and 21,000 feet, releasing 68,000 lbs of high explosives and 55,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports, the target was cloud covered with more damaged being caused. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
On 1943-11-24, Squadron Leader A. Ross Dawson, a Technical Officer with 427 Sqn at Leeming, wrote in his diary:
Warning: The following material contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all readers.
"At 4 o'clock I got news of a crashed Halifax about 10 miles from here, so being the acting station engineer I had to go out to see it. I found bits & pieces of it scattered all over the hills but it got dark before I located the main wreckage. However I could see that it was a cat E so that was all I needed. The whole crew were killed too . . " and again on Monday November 29 he wrote "The AIB inspector came up today to enquire about the crashed kite I tried to locate last Wednesday. We set out right after lunch today & finally found it crashed against the base of a vertical cliff of rock right up at the top of one of the highest hills in the Cleveland range. There wasn't much left since it had burned completely. All that could be found of the bodies had been removed . . . It looked very much as if it had a collision with another aircraft since one wing & engine were missing & there was another crashed kite about three miles away."
Diary of A Ross Dawson, courtesy CWM