6 Bomber Group June 15/16, 1944
130 Halifaxes from 420, 424, 425, 426, 427, 429,431, 432, 433, and 434 squadrons were joined by 32 Lancasters from 408,419, and 428 squadrons on an attack of the dock and harbour area of Boulogne.Crews were over the target at between 9,000 and 17,000 feet, releasing1,623,000 lbs of high explosives. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
405 City of Vancouver Squadron (Ducimus), Pathfinder Force, RAF Gransden Lodge. Lancaster III aircraft JB 729 LQ-E failed to return from an attack against the rail yards at Lens, France in support of the Normandy landings. The Lancaster was lost without a trace and the cause of loss is unknown but there was speculation about a mid-air collision as a large explosion was seen by multiple crews on the run-in to target. Two aircraft (JB 729 and ND 343) were missing after operation concluded
Flying Officer John Ignatius Joseph Keenan (RCAF), Pilot Officer Ronald Oberlin Ellis (RCAF), Pilot Officer john Douglas Hayes (RCAF), Pilot Officer Alan Joseph Retter (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Eric George Smith (RCAF), Flying Officer Herbert Asquith Wickens (RCAF), Flying Officer William Michael Crumbley (RAFVR) and Flight Sergeant Walter Sidney Marchant (RAFVR) were all missing, presumed killed in action. The missing have no known grave and all are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial
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