Drummond, Augustine Francis
Killed in Action 1944-03-27
Birth Date: 1917
Born:
Home:
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAAF
Unit
626 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
To Strive And Not To Yield To strive and not to yeild
Base
RAF Wickenby
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Flight Sergeant
Service Numbers
424862
Target
Essen Germany
First Burial
Row A. Grave 2. at Maubeuge-Centre Cemetery, France
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Lancaster Mk.I LL839
Bombing Essen Germany 1944-March-26 to 1944-March-27
(B) Sqn (RCAF) Wickenby
Battle of Berlin
705 aircraft - 476 Lancasters, 207 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitoes. The sudden switch by Bomber Command to a Ruhr target just across the German frontier caught the German fighter controllers by surprise and only 9 aircraft- 6 Lancasters, 3 Halifaxes - were lost, 1·3 per cent of the force.
Essen was covered by cloud but the Oboe Mosquitoes marked the target well and this was a successful attack. 48 industrial buildings were seriously damaged and 1,756 houses destroyed. 550 people were killed, 49 missing and 1,569 were injured. .The figures for killed and missing are broken down in the Essen report as follows:
Germans - 192 women, 155 men, 27 children, 6 soldiers, 4 policemen and 2 Hitler Youth. Foreigners - 74 forced workers and I prisoner of war. The remaining 138 victims were mixed German and foreign concentration-camp prisoners, large numbers of whom were now providing the labour forces in German factories.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Lancaster LL839
Avro Lancaster
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 LL839 Mk.I - Bombing Essen Germany - 1944-03-26 to 1944-03-27
6 Bomber Group March 26/27, 1944
21 Lancasters from 408 and 426 squadrons were joined by 84 Halifaxes from 420, 424, 425, 427, 429, 432, and 433 squadrons on an attack at Essen. The crews were over the target at between 17,000 and 24,000 feet, releasing 72,000 lbs of high explosives and 400,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports, bombing was accurate with severe damage being caused.
While part of the group went to Essen, 47 Halifaxes from 419, 428,431, and 434 squadrons were ordered on an attack of the rail yards at Courtrai. The crews were over the target at between 10,000 and 12,000 feet, releasing530,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, the rail yard was severely damaged but some overshot into the town damaging many buildings. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
705 aircraft - 476 Lancasters, 207 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitoes. The sudden switch by Bomber Command to a Ruhr target just across the German frontier caught the German fighter controllers by surprise and only 9 aircraft- 6 Lancasters, 3 Halifaxes - were lost, 1·3 per cent of the force.
Essen was covered by cloud but the Oboe Mosquitoes marked the target well and this was a successful attack. 48 industrial buildings were seriously damaged and 1,756 houses destroyed. 550 people were killed, 49 missing and 1,569 were injured. .The figures for killed and missing are broken down in the Essen report as follows:
Germans - 192 women, 155 men, 27 children, 6 soldiers, 4 policemen and 2 Hitler Youth. Foreigners - 74 forced workers and I prisoner of war. The remaining 138 victims were mixed German and foreign concentration-camp prisoners, large numbers of whom were now providing the labour forces in German factories.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt