428 Ghost Squadron (Usque Ad Finem). Halifax aircraft EB 216 missing during night operations against Nuremberg, Germany. The navigator, G.S. Brown of Kelowna, British Columbia reported the following, 'We were a mixed crew flying from Middleton-St. George on 428 Squadron. The members of the crew were: Alex Mitchell (P), from Scotland, Charles Lott (WAG), from England, myself, Cletus Lunny (BA) from Quebec, and Jack Harrier (AG) from B.C. As we had just converted to Halifax bombers from Wellingtons we had two additional crew members - an engineer and a mid-upper gunner - both from England. We were senior crew on the squadron and as such we had a pilot as second dickie who had just arrived on the squadron. His name was J.A.M. Mcleish of Ontario. We were shot down by the pilot of a Dornier 217 at 1:45 a.m., August 28, 1943, on an operational flight to Nuremburg, about 40 miles before reaching the target. J.A.M. McLeish was killed instantly by 20 mm. cannon fire from the German aircraft. J. Hamer was killed instantly by 20 mm. cannon fire. C. Lunny was badly wounded. I counted 9 cannon shell holes in him. He bailed out almost too late just before our bombs exploded. I bailed out at 18,000 feet. On landing was immediately taken Prisoner of War and was held at Stalag, IV B at Muhlberg-on-Elbe until liberated by the Russians on April 23. 1945. Alex Mitchell was killed instantly by cannon fire, as were the engineer and mid-upper gunner. Charles Lott bailed out uninjured and was taken P.O.W. I spoke to the German pilot who had shot us down and he said that early that afternoon they had received word of our target for the night and our route to the target. This gave them time to fly to a large aerodrome near Crailshem, refuel, and get up to our height to intercept us." The flight engineer was Sergeant H.A. Gordon (RAF) and the mid-upper air gunner was Sergeant A.E.E. Gourd (RAF).
Hamer, Jack Thomas (Flight Sergeant)
Killed in Action 1943-August-28
Birth Date: 1920-August-12
Born:
Parents: Son of Peter and Isabel Hamer. Nephew of Mrs. J. C. Scott, of Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
Spouse:
Home: Vancouver, British Columbia
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
428 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Usque Ad Finem To the Very End
Base
RAF Middleton St. George
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Air Gunner
Service Numbers
R/118223
Target
Nuremberg Germany
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Finadagrave.com
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Crew or Other Personnel
Halifax EB216
Unit Desciption
428 (B) Sqn Usque Ad Finem ("Ghost")
History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington III, X, Halifax V, II, Lancaster X)
No 428 Squadron was the ninth long-range heavy bomber squadron and the 26th RCAF squadron formed overseas during the Second World War. It was formed at RAF Dalton in Yorkshire, England on November 7, 1942. The squadron was initially assigned to No. 4 Group RAF Bomber Command. With the creation of No. 6 Group RCAF, the squadron was reallocated on January 1, 1943 operating with it until April 25, 1945.
The squadron was originally equipped with Vickers Wellington Mk III and X, and its first operational mission was on January 26–27, 1943, when five Wellingtons bombed the U-Boat base at Lorient in Brittany, on the Bay of Biscay. In the early part of June 1943, the squadron moved to RAF Middleton St. George, Durham where it remained for the remainder of the war. Around this time the squadron was converted to Handley Page Halifaxes (Mk Vs, and later supplemented by Mk II Series IIA). In January 1944, Halifax bombers from No. 428 Squadron participated in the first high-level mining raid "Gardening", when mines were dropped by parachute from 15,000 feet (4,570 m) over Brest on 4/5 Jan and Saint-Nazaire on 6/7 Jan 1944. The squadron flew its last sortie with the Halifax on June 12, 1944 then converted to the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster Mk X, the first sortie taking place on June 14, 1944.
For the final phase of the air campaign against Germany, the squadron took part in day and night raids, with its last operational sortie taking place on April 25, 1945, when 15 Lancasters bombed anti-aircraft gun batteries defending the mouth of the Weser, on the Frisian Island of Wangerooge. The squadron remained in service in the United Kingdom until the end of May 1945, then flew to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia . The squadron was intended to be part of the "Tiger Force" to carry on the war against Japan, but the Japanese surrender led to the disbandment of the force. The squadron was therefore disbanded at Yarmouth in September 1945.
In the course of WWII operations, the squadron flew 283 missions involving 3467 individual sorties. 84 aircraft were lost and a total of 9378 tons of bombs were dropped. the aircrew earned 2 DSO's, 71 DFC's, 2 CGM's and 6 DFM's. Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943-44, Baltic 1944, 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 1943-44. Wikipedia, Kostenuk and Griffin
Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)
Maps for Movements of 428 Squadron 1942-45
MAP 1: 428 Squadron Bases 1942-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab
428 Squadron History Summary 1942-45
History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)
The squadron was re-activated as the fifth Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck equipped squadron, on June 21, 1954, at RCAF Station Uplands as 428 All-Weather (Fighter) Squadron. It was re-activated, as one of nine Canadian based RCAF squadrons, to be operating under the new RCAF Air Defence Command, protecting North American airspace from Soviet intruders and long range bombers. The squadron was finally disbanded on 1 June 1961.