6 Bomber Group January 2/3, 1944
28 Lancasters from 408, 426, and 432 Squadrons were ordered on an attack at Berlin. The crews were over the target at between 19,000 and 23,000 feet, releasing 132,000 lbs of high explosives and 44,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports, the target was cloud covered and bombing was scattered.
While the Lancasters went to Berlin, 433 squadron operating for the first time with Halifax IIIs were ordered on a mining operation to the Frisian Islands. 4 crews were over the garden at between 1,500 and 2,000 feet, sowing 12@1500 lb mines. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
383 aircraft - 362 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitoes, 9 Halifaxes. The German control rooms followed the bombers all the way to Berlin, which was assessed as the target 40 minutes before Zero Hour. Night fighters were sent to a radio beacon between Hannover and Bremen but these fighters missed the bomber stream and did not come into action until they were directed to Berlin. Most of the bomber casualties were in the Berlin area. 27 Lancasters were lost, 7·0 per cent of the force. The casualties included IO Pathfinder aircraft; 156 Squadron, from Warboys, lost 5 of its 14 aircraft taking part in the raid.
This was another ineffective raid. Bombs were scattered over all parts of Berlin, with the local reports stressing that there were no large fires; the fire services were able to contain all fires soon after they started. 82 houses were destroyed and 36 people were killed. Industrial damage was insignificant..source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Lancaster III DV269/G SR-M [ABC-equipped]
Took off from Ludford Magna on ABC duties. Homebound, shot down and crashed near Michendorf, 9 km NNE of Beelitz. Three were buried at Michendorf, but it is thought Sgt. Brown, the specialist operator was laid to rest elsewhere. All four now lie in the 1939-1945 War cemetery at Berlin. Albert William Francis Stephens, brother of Sergeant Stephens, died while on war service. Note: this Lancaster, one of two lost from the Squadron the previous night, carried a G suffix after the serial, an oblique stroke separating the digits from the suffix letter. This was standard on aircraft carrying secret equipment that warranted guarded access and requiring a 24-hour guard when not in the air.. Source W.R. Chorley's Bomber Command Losses 1944, page 23
There is a pdf file on the Leamington History Group website which has the following:
After bombing the target, the aircraft was attacked and hit twice by a German night-fighter or by flak and came down at Michendorff with four of the crew still on board. Derek and the other four crew men were reported to have bailed out of the aircraft and to have been taken prisoner but news soon came that Derek had not survived and had been buried in a local cemetery. Enquiries through the Red Cross never established the circumstances of Derek's death. The Air Bomber on board the Lancaster that fateful night was a Canadian, Flying Officer McClure who was sent to the POW camp at Stalag Luft III along with the other three crew and he later recalled that" Lazenby the pilot gave the order to abandon the damaged aircraft. It was then flying straight and level but was filled with smoke." The Flight Engineer, Sergeant Craig who was the third man to bail out of the stricken Lanc later recalled "Lazenby was alive and he stated over the intercom that he was wounded in the leg. Nothing was heard from Sergeants Brown, Beckett or Stephens"
Sergeant Gerald Alfred Beckett RCAF R/139887 KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Ref : 4. B. 26. Sergeant Charles Derek Brown RAF KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Ref: 5. J. 37. F/Lt Alan Lansdale Lazenby RAF KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Ref: Joint grave 4. B. 27. Sergeant Donald Henry Stephens RAF KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Ref: Joint grave 4. B. 27.
POWs: Flying Officer Weston Craig RAF POW Stalag Luft L3, Sagan and Belaria. Sergeant Charles Lindsay RAF POW Stalag 4b, Mühlberg Flying Officer James McClure RCAF J/22190 POW Stalag Luft L3, Sagan and Belaria. Sergeant Albert Avery Walton RAF POW Stalag 4b, Mühlberg
(Special thanks for their contribution to CASPIR to Ingrid Shepherd and Dawn Woodward, daughters of Sergeant Albert Walton, and Co-Authors of "From Bomber County to Berlin", detailing the last flight of Lancaster Mk.I/III DV269)
