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Robineau, Gilbert Euclide Rheal (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Action 1944-February-26

Birth Date: 1922-August-30 (age 21)

Son of Leonel and Leda Robineau, of Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Home: Sturgeon Falls, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light
Rank
Pilot Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Air Gunner
Service Numbers
J/91090
Prev: R/220136

Halifax B/A.Mk.III LW597

Bombing Augsburg Germany 1944-February-25 to 1944-February-26

(B) Sqn (RCAF) East Moor

Battle of Berlin

594 aircraft - 461 Lancasters 123 Halifaxes, I0 Mosquitoes - on the first large raid to this target. The various diversions and the splitting of the main bomber force into 2 waves again reduced casualties still further. 21 aircraft- 16 Lancasters, 5 Halifaxes - lost, 3·6 per cent of the force; at least 4 of these casualties were due to collision.

.

The bombing at Augsburg was outstandingly successful in clear weather conditions and against this 'virgin' target with only weak Flak defenses. The Pathfinder ground-marking was accurate and more. than 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped by the 2 waves. of the force.

The R.A.F. night raid became controversial because of the 'effects of its outstanding accuracy. The beautiful old centre of Augsburg was completely destroyed by high explosive and fire, with much less than the usual spread of bombing to the more modern outer areas, where some industry was located. 2,920 houses were destroyed and more than 5,000 were damaged; 85,000--90,000 people were bombed out: Among the main public and cultural buildings destroyed or seriously damaged were the old Rathaus (completely destroyed), 16 churches and II hospitals, but all patients in the hospitals were safely evacuated except for 2 women foreign workers. The total value of lost works of art was estimated to be 800 million Reichsmarks (£80 million). Among the buildings destroyed was the famous puppet threatre - Heimbiihne Puppenschrein - of Walter Oehmichen. Oehmichen re-created his puppets and, exactly 4 years later, opened the 'Augsburger Puppenkiste' (packing-case puppet theatre) now well known in Germany and often seen on television. There were 246 large or medium fires and 820 small ones; the temperature was so cold (minus 18° Celsius) that the River Lech was frozen over and many of the water hoses also froze. Between 678 and 762 people were killed and approximately 2,500 were injured. The Germans publicized it as an extreme example of 'terror bombing'.

Part of the bombing of the second wave of aircraft did spread to the northern and eastern parts of Augsburg and damage was caused to an important aircraft component factory and to some former paper and cotton mills which had been taken over by the M.A.N. engineering company.

source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

Halifax aircraft LW 597 missing from a night trip to Augsburg, Germany. Sergeant W. Thompson (RAF) was also killed and three others of the crew, not Canadians, missing believed killed. Two Canadians, F/Os A.G. Turton and R.A. Richards, were taken Prisoners of War.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home
Google MapSturgeon Falls, Ontario
Target
Google MapAugsburg Germany
Burial
Google MapDurnbach War Cemetery
Plot 1 Row D Grave 28

Halifax LW597

Handley Page Halifax

(RAF Photo, 1942)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK, being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when it was being flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.

The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia

YouTube Halifax Heavy Bomber WWII

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Halifax Bomber

Museum National Air Force Museum of Canada

last update: 2023-12-08 20:34:11

Halifax B/A.Mk.III LW597

QORAF RoundelC


1944-02-26 Failed to Return Failed to return from attack on Augsburg, shot down by a night fighter. 5 crew were killed and 2 POW. 2019-08-20

432 (B) Sqn Saeviter Ad Lucem ("Leaside")

History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington X, Lancaster II, Halifax III, VII)

The Squadron was the twelfth RCAF bomber squadron to be formed overseas in WWII. It was formed on May 1, 1943 at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, UK as a unit of No 6 (RCAF) Group of RAF Bomber Command: indeed, it was the first bomber squadron to be formed directly into No 6 Group. Using the squadron identification letters QO it flew Vickers Wellington Mk X medium bombers until it moved to East Moor, Yorkshire on 19th September 1943, when it re-equipped with Avro Lancaster Mk II aircraft. East Moor was part of No 62 (RCAF) Base. The squadron re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk III aircraft in February 1944, and with Halifax Mk VII in July of that year, and continued with them until the squadron was disbanded at East Moor on May 15, 1945.

In the course of operations the squadron flew 246 missions, involving 3130 individual sorties, for the loss of 73 aircraft. 8980 tons of bombs were dropped. Awards to squadron members included 2 DSOs, 119 DFCs,1 Bar to DFC, 1 CGM, 20 DFMs and 1 Croix de Guerre (France). Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1944, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943.Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 432 Squadron 1943-45

MAP 1: 432 Squadron Bases 1943-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab

432 Squadron History Summary 1943-45

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)

The squadron was re-formed at Bagotville, Quebec as an All-Weather Fighter unit on 1 October 1954. The squadron flew Avro CF-100 Canuck aircraft on North American Air Defence until it was disbanded on 15 October 1961.

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