Winnipeg, ManitobaFlight Sergeant John Joseph Carey (RCAF), was originally missing presumed killed in action, with no known grave. He was commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Human remains were recovered in 2008 from a search of the Laacker See, lake south of Bonn, Germany that Halifax BB 212 crashed into in 1942. DNA analysis confirmed the remains to be that of Flight Sergeant Carey in 2015 and he had a full military burial at Rheinberg War Cemetery in July 2015
Carey, John Joseph (Flight Sergeant)
Killed in Action 1942-August-29
Birth Date: 1920-February-04
Born: Winnipeg, Greater Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Parents: Son of Captain Leo Joseph Carey & Janet Ballantine (nee Wilson) Carey, of Ottawa, Ontario
Spouse:
Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Enlistment: Ottawa, Ontario
Enlistment Date: 1940-May-31
Service
RCAF
Unit
103 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Noli Me Tangere Touch me not
Base
RAF Elsham Wolds
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Air Gunner
Service Numbers
R/53908
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Finadagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Crew or Other Personnel
Halifax BB214
Mission
Halifax B.Mk.II BB214
Bombing Nuremberg Germany 1942-August-28 to 1942-August-29
103 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Elsham Wolds
103 Squadron RAF (Nili me Tangere) RAF Elsham Wolds. Halifax MkII aircraft BB 214 PM- was intercepted on the way to the targets at Nuremberg, Germany over the Hohe Acht mountains at Adenau by night fighter crew Feldwebel Fritz Schellwat & Unteroffizier Willmann of 5/NJG1 flying a Bf110 and shot down. The bomber crashed into the Laacher See near Glees, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany with the loss of four crew members killed
Pilot Officer Vincent Merrill MacDonald Morrison (RCAF), Sergeant John Louis MacLachlan (RAFVR) were killed in action. Flight Sergeant John Joseph Carey (RCAF) and Sergeant James Wilfrid Platt (RAF) were missing presumed killed in action. Sergeant Platt's body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Sergeant Carey was originally commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial but human remains were located in the lake in 2008, eventually identified as those of Sergeant Cary and he was buried at the Rheinberg War Cemetery in 2015
Sergeant Harold Gainsford Dryhurst (RAF), Sergeant Bernard Francis Anthony Hughes (RNZAF) and Sergeant Arthur Allan Roberts (RAAF) survived the crash and were taken as Prisoners of War
Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 84
Royal Air Force Serial and Image DatabaseHalifax BB214 B.Mk.II - Bombing Nuremberg Germany - 1942-08-28 to 1942-08-29
Squadron: 103 (B) Sqn (RAF)
Start Date: 1942-08-28
Completion Date: 1942-08-29
Mission: Bombing
Operation: unspecified
Target City: Nuremberg Germany
Target Specific:
Base: RAF Elsham Wolds
Take Off Time: 20:37:00
Squadron Code: PM-
Radio Code:
Return Base:
Return Time:
Crash City: Germany
Crash Specifics: the Laacher See near Glees, Rheinland-Pfalz
Crash Latitude: 0.00000000
Crash Longitude: 0.00000000
Crash Reason: fighter
Flak Battery:
Enemy Claim: Feldwebel Fritz Schellwat & Unteroffizier Willmann of 5/NJG1
War Diary Unavailable
6 Group Unavailable
6 Group Unavailable
103 Squadron RAF (Nili me Tangere) RAF Elsham Wolds. Halifax MkII aircraft BB 214 PM- was intercepted on the way to the targets at Nuremberg, Germany over the Hohe Acht mountains at Adenau by night fighter crew Feldwebel Fritz Schellwat & Unteroffizier Willmann of 5/NJG1 flying a Bf110 and shot down. The bomber crashed into the Laacher See near Glees, Rheinland-Pfalz Germany with the loss of four crew members killed
Pilot Officer Vincent Merrill MacDonald Morrison (RCAF), Sergeant John Louis MacLachlan (RAFVR) were killed in action. Flight Sergeant John Joseph Carey (RCAF) and Sergeant James Wilfrid Platt (RAF) were missing presumed killed in action. Sergeant Platt's body was never found and he is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Sergeant Carey was originally commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial but human remains were located in the lake in 2008, eventually identified as those of Sergeant Cary and he was buried at the Rheinberg War Cemetery in 2015
Sergeant Harold Gainsford Dryhurst (RAF), Sergeant Bernard Francis Anthony Hughes (RNZAF) and Sergeant Arthur Allan Roberts (RAAF) survived the crash and were taken as Prisoners of War
Nachtjagd Combat Archive, The Early Years Part 3, 30 May - 31 December 1942 by Theo Boiten, page 84