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Langstone, Clarence Ernest (Flying Officer)

Prisoner of War 1944-July-29

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
467 Sqn- Squadron
Rank
Flying 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
Navigator
Service Numbers
J/27488
PoW: 7161

Lancaster Mk.I LL846

Bombing Stuttgart Germany 1944-July-29 to 1944-July-29

467 (B) Sqn (RAAF) RAF Waddington, England

467 Australian Squadron. Lancaster Mk I LL846 took off from RAF Waddington on 28 July 1944 on a mission to Stuttgart, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off. Subsequent reports indicated LL846 crashed at sea 5 miles off Le Havre, France, after being hit by flak.

From RAAF:

The crew members of LL846 were:

  • Flying Officer Arthur Henry Birch (171883) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW
  • Flying Officer Samuel Johns (425021) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 26 November 1946
  • Flying Officer C E Langstone (J/27488) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
  • Flight Sergeant Bruce Peter Molloy (419472) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 7 February 1946
  • Flight Sergeant Matthew John O'Leary (426379) (Bomb Aimer) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 14 September 1945
  • Sergeant Desmond Kenneth James Phillips (1866742) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
  • Sergeant Bryan Robert John Pring (1853987) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) PoW

It was later established that the aircraft ditched and that Sergeant Phillips sustained severe head injuries and was unable to get into the dinghy despite valiant efforts by Flying Officer Johns to get his colleague on board. By morning the Flight Engineer could no longer be seen and he is presumed to have drowned. The other six members of the crew became PoWs.

In a later report by the then Warrant Officer O'Leary he stated "was being marched westwards by the Germans ahead of advancing Russian troops. With two other RAAF companions they fell out in a village pleading exhaustion and waited there fourteen days for the advancing Russians. They were then marched back 45 miles to a reception centre and later taken by motor lorry and train to Poland, and subsequently Odessa."

In his report Warrant Officer Molloy stated "The aircraft was hit by flak about 6000 feet at Le Havre as we were first heading for UK. Flames were coming from the port wing which would have broken off but for the Skippers presence of mind who immediately put the aircraft down and made a perfect ditching 5 miles off Le Havre. All got out but the Engineer was badly smashed up during the ditching and disappeared from us and was not seen again. Six of us spent three days in the dinghy. I was a POW all the time until released by the Russians from German POW Camp."

Sergeant Phillips who was listed as missing is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Runnymede, Surrey, UK.

Home
Google MapToronto, Ontario
Target
Google MapStuttgart Germany

Lancaster LL846

Male Head

Flying Officer Langstone, Clarence Ernest (RCAF)
Navigator
Prisoner of War
1944-July-29
cemetery unknown

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

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

Lancaster Mk.I LL846

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