Previous Events

Took off from Elsham Wolds at 19:44 in Lancaster Mark lll (Sqn code: UL-J2 Bomber Command).

Shot down over Keil whilst on bombing run. Starboard outer engine hit, along with fuel tank. After releasing bomb load the Pilot headed for the sea and ordered the crew to bale out.

Prisoners were ordered to stay inside huts during an Air Raid. Tate witnessed the "out and out murder" of fellow prisoner Les Stevenson, whose only violation was to go to the lavatory during an air raid. One of the guards shot him for this infringement of the rules. Daniel G. Dancocks, In Enemy Hands: Canadian Prisoners of War, 1939-45 (Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers 1983) pp96

Others on the Aircraft

1944-08-27 RCAF Flying Officer Jack Allan Linklater KIA 2021-08-13

1944-08-27 RCAF Sergeant Joseph Edmund Edmund O'Farrell PoW 2023-09-21

1944-08-27 RCAF Flying Officer Russ E Rogers PoW 2021-03-15

1944-08-27 RCAF Warrant Officer 2nd Class Keith Tate PoW 2021-03-15

1944-08-27 RCAF Flying Officer Kenneth Milton Tucker PoW 2023-08-14

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

Lancaster Mk.I/III PB400