Target - Nuremberg, Germany. Two Lancaster aircraft had returned from the target and were preparing to land when they collided and crashed near Nettleham, Lincolnshire, England. FS Pogson, F/O D.C. Reid, Fas D.D. Hoskins, A.J. Eberle, M.V. Durling, and two of the crew, not Canadians, were all killed in aircraft PB 515.

Charles Pogson was originally from Welland, Ontario, where he attended Saltfleet High School, before the family came to the Toronto area suburb of East York.

Graduating from East York Collegiate, Charlie took a job with Bell Canada in maintenance, married Meryl and moved her into the family home while the war got into high gear.

joining the RCAF in September of 1942, Pogson went through the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan as a navigator (Toronto [6 ITS], Hamilton, Malton, Valleyfield, and Three Rivers). Heading overseas in March of 1944, he wound up on the mostly Canadian crew of F/O Dan Reid, at Scampton, late in the year.

The team settled in and began counting off operations as 1944 came to an end. The seventh was to be Nuremburg on January 2.

This time everything went well, and the target was hit hard, On the way back, Reid’s crew in PB515 began to relax with Lancashire below them and Scampton ahead to the northwest. Over Nettleham, another crew (Geoff Lomax’s, in Lancaster I NG421, 150 Squadron), must have been feeling the same way.

The two aircraft collided at 1150 p.m. (2350), both went down quickly, and everyone was killed. source: Sprog by Malcolm Kelly

Flight Sergeant Charles Herman Pogson

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home
Toronto, Ontario

Target
Nuremberg Germany

Burial
Stonefall Cemetery, UK
Sec H Row E Grave 2

Crew on Lancaster Mk.I/III PB515

Flight Sergeant Durling, Maurice Vaughn (RCAF)
Bomb Aimer
Killed in Action
Age: 22
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK - Sec H Row D Grave 20

Flight Sergeant Eberle, Arthur Jason (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
Age: 21
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK - Sec H Row D Grave 19

Flight Sergeant Hoskins, Donald Dunk (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
Age: 19
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK - Sec H Row E Grave 1

Flight Sergeant Pogson, Charles Herman (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Action
Age: 21
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK - Sec H Row E Grave 2

Flying Officer Reid, Daniel Clifford (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
Age: 22
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK - Sec H Row D Grave 18

 Serial Groups  Specifications 

Avro Lancaster

Avro Lancaster Mk. X RCAF Serial FM 213
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.

The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia

Lancaster Bomber

Wikipedia

Harold A Skaarup Web Page

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:

RCAF On Strength (234), RCAF 6 Group (5), RCAF 400 Squadron (7), Canadian Aircraft Losses (1732)

last update: 2021-09-18 14:32:33

---

Lancaster Mk.I/III PB515

Originally with No. 106 Sqn, then transferred to No. 153 Sqn. Collided with Lancaster NG 421 of No. 150 Sqn 2 Jan 1945 and crashed at Sudbrook, Lincs.