Birth Date: 1916-March-24 (age 28)

Born: Crewkerne, South Somerset District, Somerset, England

Son of Henry and Nellie Victoria Wey, of Vancouver, British Columbia

Husband of Agnes Wey

Home: Vancouver, British Columbia

426 Thunderbird Squadron (On Wings of Fire) RAF Linton-on Ouse. Lancaster BII aircraft DS 852 OW-P was shot down by a German night fighter, possibly by Schrage Musik* attack, during an operation to Nuremberg, Germany on March 31, 1944. It had flown north of the flight track on the outbound leg, was attacked, abandoned and crashed at Brotterode, Germany,

The Lancaster was one of 108 bombers lost or crashed on return to England, the largest Bomber Command loss of the war

Strong winds pushed a number of aircraft off target, several bombing Schweinfurt in error, 50 miles from Nuremberg. The problem as exacerbated by two Pathfinder aircraft dropping markers near Schweinfurt, Germany. Overall, the raid was a failure and little real damage was caused.

Pilot Officer SH Cullen (RCAF) and Pilot Officer HA Clark (RCAF) were killed in action

Flight Lieutenant EG Wey (RCAF)(injured), Flying Officer DT Stewart (RCAF), Sergeant HE Sjoquist (RCAF),Warrant Officer Class 2 RGS Douglass (RCAF) and Sergeant HJV Vincent (RAF) survived and were taken as Prisoners of War

This was Flight Lieutenant Wey's 2nd operational flight

Flight Lieutenant Wey died of natural causes while a PoW in Stalag Luft 1 on March 03, 1945. He was buried at the Cemetery at Barth, Pomerania, Germany, exhumed and reburied at the Berlin (1939-1945) War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

There were two 426 Squadron Lancaster II aircraft lost on this night. Please see Orr, HF for information on Lancaster DS 840 OW-C

* Schrage Musik, upward firing cannon fitted through the top of the fuselage of a night fighter, allowing it to fly up under a target and fire straight up into the underbelly of the bomber

Daily Operations 6bombergroup.ca

Casualties of the Moonlight Raid

Book no longer in print

This would normally have been the moon stand-down period for the Main Force, but a raid to the distant target of Nuremberg was planned on the basis of an early forecast that there would be protective high cloud on the outward route, when the moon would be up, but that the target area would be clear for ground-marked bombing. A Meteorological Flight Mosquito carried out a reconnaissance and reported that the protective cloud was unlikely to be present and that there could be cloud over the target, but the raid was not cancelled.

795 aircraft were dispatched - 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitoes. The German controller ignored all the diversions and assembled his fighters at 2 radio beacons which happened to be astride the route to Nuremberg. The first fighters appeared just before the bombers reached the Belgian border and a fierce battle in the moonlight lasted for the next hour. 82 bombers were lost on the outward route and near the target. The action was much reduced on the return flight, when most of the German fighters had to land, but 95 bombers were lost in all - 64 Lancasters and 31 Halifaxes, 11.9 per cent of the force dispatched. It was the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war.

Most of the returning crews reported that they had bombed Nuremberg but subsequent research showed that approximately 120 aircraft had bombed Schweinfurt, 50 miles north-west of Nuremberg. This mistake was a result of badly forecast winds causing navigational difficulties, 2 Pathfinder aircraft dropped markers at Schweinfurt. Much of the bombing in the Schweinfurt area fell outside the town and only 2 people were killed in that area. The main raid at Nuremberg was a failure.* The city was covered by thick cloud and a fierce cross-wind which developed on the final approach to the target caused many of the Pathfinder aircraft to mark too far to the east. A o-mile-long creep back also developed into the countryside north of Nuremberg. Both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft were under heavy fighter attack throughout the raid. Little damage was caused in Nuremberg; 69 people were killed in the city and the surrounding villages.

DIVERSION AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS

49 Halifaxes minelaying in the Heligoland area, 13 Mosquitoes to night-fighter airfields, 34 Mosquitoes on diversions to Aachen, Cologne and Kassel, 5 R.C.M. sorties, 19 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost. Minor Operations: 3 Oboe Mosquitoes to Oberhausen (where 23 Germans waiting to go into a public shelter were killed by a bomb) and i Mosquito to Dortmund, 6 Stirlings mine Iaying off Texel and Le Havre, 17 aircraft on Resistance operations, 8 0.T.U. sorties. 1 Halifax shot down dropping Resistance agents over Belgium. Total effort for the night: 950 sorties, 96 aircraft (10.1 per cent) lost. Pilot Officer C. J. Barton, a Halifax pilot of 578 Squadron, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for carrying on to the target in the Nuremberg operation after his bomber was badly damaged in a fighter attack and 3 members of his crew baled out through a communication misunderstanding. Although the navigator and wireless operator were among the men who had parachuted, Barton decided to attempt the return flight to England in spite of the fact that only 3 engines were running. An unexpected wind took the Halifax steadily up the North Sea and it was short of fuel when the English coast was reached near Sunderland. Barton had to make a hurried forced landing when his engines failed through lack of fuel and he died in the crash, but his 3 remaining crew members were only slightly hurt, Pilot Officer Barton's Victoria Cross was the only one awarded during the Battle of Berlin, which had now officially ended.

*Readers might like to consult Martin Middlebrook's The Nuremberg Raid, London, Allen Lane, 1973, 1980; New York, Morrow, 1974; and, as Die Naeht in der die Bomber Starben, Berlin, Ulistein, 1975. The Bomber Command War Diaries, Middlebrook and Everitt

War Diary

NUREMBERG

Book no longer in print

This would normally have been the moon stand-down period for the Main Force, but a raid to the distant target of Nuremberg was planned on the basis of an early forecast that there would be protective high cloud on the outward route, when the moon would be up, but that the target area would be clear for ground-marked bombing. A Meteorological Flight Mosquito carried out a reconnaissance and reported that the protective cloud was unlikely to be present and that there could be cloud over the target, but the raid was not cancelled.

795 aircraft were dispatched - 572 Lancasters, 214 Halifaxes and 9 Mosquitoes. The German controller ignored all the diversions and assembled his fighters at 2 radio beacons which happened to be astride the route to Nuremberg. The first fighters appeared just before the bombers reached the Belgian border and a fierce battle in the moonlight lasted for the next hour. 82 bombers were lost on the outward route and near the target. The action was much reduced on the return flight, when most of the German fighters had to land, but 95 bombers were lost in all - 64 Lancasters and 31 Halifaxes, 11.9 per cent of the force dispatched. It was the biggest Bomber Command loss of the war.

Most of the returning crews reported that they had bombed Nuremberg but subsequent research showed that approximately 120 aircraft had bombed Schweinfurt, 50 miles north-west of Nuremberg. This mistake was a result of badly forecast winds causing navigational difficulties, 2 Pathfinder aircraft dropped markers at Schweinfurt. Much of the bombing in the Schweinfurt area fell outside the town and only 2 people were killed in that area. The main raid at Nuremberg was a failure.* The city was covered by thick cloud and a fierce cross-wind which developed on the final approach to the target caused many of the Pathfinder aircraft to mark too far to the east. A o-mile-long creep back also developed into the countryside north of Nuremberg. Both Pathfinders and Main Force aircraft were under heavy fighter attack throughout the raid. Little damage was caused in Nuremberg; 69 people were killed in the city and the surrounding villages.

DIVERSION AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS

49 Halifaxes minelaying in the Heligoland area, 13 Mosquitoes to night-fighter airfields, 34 Mosquitoes on diversions to Aachen, Cologne and Kassel, 5 R.C.M. sorties, 19 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost. Minor Operations: 3 Oboe Mosquitoes to Oberhausen (where 23 Germans waiting to go into a public shelter were killed by a bomb) and i Mosquito to Dortmund, 6 Stirlings mine Iaying off Texel and Le Havre, 17 aircraft on Resistance operations, 8 0.T.U. sorties. 1 Halifax shot down dropping Resistance agents over Belgium. Total effort for the night: 950 sorties, 96 aircraft (10.1 per cent) lost. Pilot Officer C. J. Barton, a Halifax pilot of 578 Squadron, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for carrying on to the target in the Nuremberg operation after his bomber was badly damaged in a fighter attack and 3 members of his crew baled out through a communication misunderstanding. Although the navigator and wireless operator were among the men who had parachuted, Barton decided to attempt the return flight to England in spite of the fact that only 3 engines were running. An unexpected wind took the Halifax steadily up the North Sea and it was short of fuel when the English coast was reached near Sunderland. Barton had to make a hurried forced landing when his engines failed through lack of fuel and he died in the crash, but his 3 remaining crew members were only slightly hurt, Pilot Officer Barton's Victoria Cross was the only one awarded during the Battle of Berlin, which had now officially ended.

*Readers might like to consult Martin Middlebrook's The Nuremberg Raid, London, Allen Lane, 1973, 1980; New York, Morrow, 1974; and, as Die Naeht in der die Bomber Starben, Berlin, Ulistein, 1975. The Bomber Command War Diaries, Middlebrook and Everitt

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

International Bomber Command Centre

Finadagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Flt. Lieutenant Edward George Wey was exhumed and reburied.

Home
Vancouver, British Columbia

Target
Nuremberg Germany

First Burial
Cemetery at Barth, Pomerania, Germany

Re-Burial
Berlin War Cemetery
Plot 8 Row L Grave 19

Lancaster DS852

Pilot Officer Clark, Harold Alexander (RCAF)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Killed in Action
1944-March-31
Berlin War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

Pilot Officer Cullen, Sidney Herman (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-March-31
Berlin War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

Warrant Officer 2 Douglass, Robert Gordon Stewart (RCAF)
Pilot
Prisoner of War
1944-March-31
cemetery unknown

Pilot Officer Sjoquist, Hubert Eric (RCAF)
Air Gunner (Mid-Upper)
Prisoner of War
1944-March-31
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer Stewart, Duncan Thomas (RCAF)
Bomb Aimer
Prisoner of War
1944-March-31
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Vincent, Henry John Vernon (RAF)
Flight Engineer
Prisoner of War
1944-March-31
cemetery unknown

Flt. Lieutenant Wey, Edward George (RCAF)
Navigator
Prisoner of War Died
1944-March-31
Berlin War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

 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 Owned (236) RCAF 6 Group (555) RCAF 400 Squadrons (561) Canadian Crewed (2033) Canadian Manufactured (430) Canadian Museum (3) Prototype (2) Template (1) Cold Weather Testing (1)

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

Lancaster Mk.II DS852

OWP

With No. 432 (B) Squadron, RCAF, coded "QO*C" by December 1943. Then to No. 426 Squadron, RCAF, coded "OW*P". Failed to return from operation over Nuremburg on 30/31 March 1944. Shot down by night fighter well north of planned track, crashed near Brotterode, Germany. 3 crew killed, 5 POW. One of the POW crew died in captivity of illness on 3 March 1945. Had 114 hours airframe time when lost. Based at Linton on Ouse for this mission. Had 114:00 logged time when struck off. This was one of the last Lancaster II losses for No. 426 Squadron.

1944-01-21 Failed to Return failed to return from operation over Nuremburg, also reported as 30/31 March 1944 2019-08-20

426 (B) Sqn On wings of fire ("Thunderbird")

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

426 Squadron was formed at Dishforth, Yorkshire, UK on October 15, 1942 as the 24th RCAF squadron and seventh bomber squadron to be formed overseas in WWII. Originally it was a member of No 4 Group, RAF Bomber Command, flying Vickers Wellington Mk III aircraft with the squadron code OW as part of the strategic bombing of Germany. On January 1, 1943 it became part of No 6 (RCAF) Group, while remaining at Dishforth until June 1943. On June 17, 1943 it moved to Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. , as part of No 62 (RCAF) Base, at the same time re-equipping with Avro Lancaster Mk II aircraft. In April/May of 1944 , it again re-equipped, this time with Handley Page Halifax Mk III and VII aircraft, which it flew until the end of hostilities in Europe. At that time, to meet a need for long range transport in support of the proposed Tiger Force to attack Japan, it was re-designated as a Transport squadron in May 1945 and converted to Consolidated Liberator C Mk VI and VIII. After the surrender of Japan before the Tiger Force became operational, between October and December 1945 the squadron ferried troops from and around Egypt, India and the Far East. The squadron was disbanded at Tempsford, Bedfordshire, UK on January 1, 1946.

Overall, the squadron flew 268 bombing missions involving 3233 individual sorties, for the loss of 88 aircraft. 8997 tons of bombs were dropped. There were 242 Transport sorties. The squadron members were awarded 2 DSO's, 130 DFC's and 2 Bars to DFC, 1 CGM, 25 DFM's1 DFC(USA) and 13 MiD's. [Possibly, the most heroic act realized by a member of the squadron during the war took place on October 20, 1943, when Flight Sergeant Stuart (the pilot) and his crew were sent to bomb Leipzig. During the mission he was engaged by enemy fighters, Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Junkers Ju 88, initially managing to shake them off but not before having his aircraft rendered almost unfit to fly, leaving it with shattered cockpits and gun turrets; holes in the fuel tanks, damaged hydraulics and no navigation instruments. Against all odds Stuart decided to continue the mission and successfully bombed his target before guiding his crippled aircraft home. He was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.] Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943, Baltic 1943, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1943-44, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943. Wikipedia, Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 426 Squadron 1942-46

MAP 1: 426 Squadron Movements 1942-46 (right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab)

MAP 2: 426 Squadron Movements 1942-45 (detail of Map 1)

MAP 3: 6 Group Bomber Bases 1943-1945

426 Squadron History Summary 1942-46

426 Squadron History Summary 1942-46 Page 2

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Dakota, North Star, Yukon, Hercules)

The squadron was re-formed as a Transport unit at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 1 August 1946 from the Dartmouth portion of No. 164 (Transport) Squadron. It moved to Dorval (Montreal), Quebec in March 1947 and was re-equipped from Dakota to four-engine North Star aircraft for long-range transport duty. From July 1950 to June 1954 the squadron was detached to McChord Air Force Base in Washington, USA , from where it was employed on the Korean airlift (Operation “Hawk”) and made 600 round trips across the North Pacific between Vancouver and Tokyo, logging 34,000 flying hours and carrying 13,000 personnel and 7,000,000 pounds of freight and mail without mishap. A typical Korean Air Lift route for 426 Squadron aeroplanes was a physically and mentally demanding fifty-hour round trip flight from McChord to Japan and back with stops at Elmendorf Air Force Base (Alaska), Shemya (Aleutian Islands), Handed and Misawa Air Base (Japan). In 1956 it airlifted United Nations Emergency Force personnel and equipment to the Middle East and, in 1960-62, to the Belgian Congo. The unit moved to Trenton, Ontario in September 1959, and in January 1962 to St Hubert (Montreal) Quebec . The squadron was disbanded on 1 September 1962.

It reformed again as 426 Transport Training Squadron on May 3, 1971, at Uplands, Ontario . The squadron moved to Trenton in August 1971 where it remains today, conducting training on the CC-130 Hercules.The squadron has carried out many tasks since the end of Korean War, including casualty evacuations, Royal tours and other VIP transport, and United Nations air lift operations. Thunderbird has worked in many places: the Arctic, the Middle East and Europe, the Congo and Japan.

426 Transport Training Squadron carries out classes of different courses every year to generate operationally effective air mobility aircrew and technicians in support of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) operations. The squadron also has dedicated personnel assigned to provide operational test and evaluation and system support to Air Mobility fleets. In 1995, the Squadron’s school underwent extensive renovations and acquired state-of-the-art computerized training aids. In spring 2000, the Squadron completed an upgrade to its OFS-130H flight simulator. The changes included a new motion base, new visual system and upgraded avionics equipment. The Squadron also opened a new building housing the Cargo Compartment Trainer for the CC-130H Hercules. Anticipating the future needs of the Air Mobility community and the newly procured CC-130J Hercules, the school expanded its facilities in 2012. The Air Mobility Training Centre (AMTC) was designed and built to accommodate the latest in aircrew and technician simulation, making it one of the most advanced training facilities in the world. The building serves as the home of 426 Squadron staff, whose job it is to train and prepare aircrew, technicians and aeromedical personnel for employment on the CC-130J, CC-130H, and CC-150 Polaris aircraft. Wikipedia, Kostenuk & Griffin, and www.canada.ca/en/air-force/corporate/squadrons/426-squadron.html