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MacNeill, J B (Flying Officer)

Prisoner of War 1944-August-28

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Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Service
RCAF
Unit
460 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAAF)
Strike And Return
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/28919
PoW: 5388

Lancaster Mk.III NE144

Bombing Stettin Germany 1944-August-28 to 1944-August-28

460 (B) Sqn (RAAF) RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom

460 Australia Squadron (Strike And Return). Lancaster NE144 was on an operation against Stettin, Germany, when it was shot down by a German night fighter which shot away the elevator controls and trims, set fire to the H2s and 6000 rounds of ammunition, and disabled part of the electrical equipment and intercom. Pilot Flight Lieutenant K.W. Humpfries ordered the crew to put on parachutes and to try to put out the fire. Next he dropped the bomb load and turned towards base. Upon discovering that the elevator controls were gone, he headed for Sweden, controlling the Lancaster by use of the throttles. Mid-upper gunner Sergeant Dennis Fallon and W/Op Flying Officer Ronald K. Stratford DFM was told to get the badly wounded rear gunner out of his turret. They were losing height all the time and when down to 3000 ft the crew were ordered to take up ditching positions. Fallon and Stratford had got Aviet out of the turret, but refused to leave him in the aft fuselage and choose to stay with him. The ditching at approx. 01:00 hours north of the island of Anholt was successful, but the tail broke off and went down. Humpfries was thrown about 20 metres out in front of the Lancaster and when he swam back, he found Navigator Flying Officer T.B. MacNeill, Bomb Aimer Sergeant G.D. Walsh and Flt. Engr. Sergeant S.R. Wild sitting on the Lancaster with the dinghy out. The three men in the tail had gone down with it.

Casualties included RAFVR Flying Officer R.K. Stratford (DFM)(air gunner), and Sgt's. P.B. Aviet (air gunner) and D. Fallon (air gunner). Taken Prisoners of War were RCAF Flying Officer J.B. MacNeill (navigator); RAAF Flying Officer K.W. Humphries (pilot); and RAF Sgt's. G.D. Walsh (bomb aimer) and S.R. Wild (flight engineer).

Took off from Binbrook at 21:06 in Lancaster Mk III NE144 AR-F2 on a raid to Germany.

Shot down by a night-fighter and was ditched in the Baltic.

Killed: Sergeant Philip Bodein Aviet RAF KIA Falkenberg Forest Cemetery Ref : Sec. III. 104., Sweden. Sergeant Dennis Fallon RAF KIA Falkenberg Forest Cemetery Ref : Sec. III. 101. Flying Officer Ronald Kenneth Stratford RAF KIA Denmark Anholt Cemetery.

POWs: Sergeant Glyn David Walsh RAF POW Stalag Luft L7 Bankau near Kreuzburg, Upper Silesia. Sergeant Samuel Roberts Wild RAF POW Stalag Luft L7 Bankau near Kreuzburg, Upper Silesia. F/Lt Kevin Willoughby Humphris RAF POW Stalag Luft L1 Barth Vogelsang.

Target
Google MapStettin Germany

Lancaster NE144

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Flying Officer MacNeill, J B (RCAF)
Navigator
Prisoner of War
1944-August-28
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.III NE144

;AR-F2

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