McElheran, John Archibald (Pilot Officer)

COMMUNCATIONS

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671 aircraft - 348 Halifaxes, 285 Lancasters, 38 Mosquitoes - of 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups to attack communications, mostly railways, at Amiens/St-Roch, Amiens/Longueau, Arras, Caen, Cambrai and Poitiers. (It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Caen, all of these targets were the sites of well-known battles of earlier wars and Caen was soon to be the scene of fierce fighting.)

Bomber Command's records state that the Poitiers attack, by 5 Group, was the most accurate of the night and that the 2 raids at Amiens and the raid at Arras were of reasonable accuracy. The target at Cambrai was hit but many bombs also fell in the town. The most scattered attack (also by 5 Group) was at Caen.

23 aircraft - 17 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters - were lost from these raids; all of these losses were from 4 and 6 Groups. A Canadian airman, Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski from Winnipeg, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery on the Cambrai raid, His Lancaster, of 419 Squadron, was attacked by a night fighter and set on fire and the crew were ordered to abandon the aircraft. Mynarski was about to jump when he saw that the tail gunner was trapped in his turret and he went through fierce flames to help. The rear turret was so badly jammed that it could not be freed and the trapped gunner eventually waved Mynarski away. By the time he left the aircraft, Mynarski's clothing and parachute were on fire and he died while being eared for by French civilians soon after he landed. The tail gunner was fortunate to survive the crash and his report on Mynarski's courage led to the award of the Victoria Cross. Pilot Officer Mynarski is buried in the small village cemetery at Meharicourt, east of Amiens.

GELSENKIRCHEN

303 aircraft - 286 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitoes of 1, 3 and 8 Groups - carried out the first raid of the new oil campaign; the target was the Nordstem synthetic-oil plant (the Germans called the plant Gelsenberg A.G.), 17 Lancasters were lost, 6.1 per cent of the Lancaster force.

The attack opened with exceptional accuracy owing to good work by the Path- finders and to improved versions of Oboe sets now available. Later phases of the bombing were spoiledby the clouds of smoke from the burning target and by a rogue target indicator which fell to miles short of the target and was bombed by 35 aircraft. A German industrial report* shows that all production at the oil plant ceased, with a loss of i,000 tons of aviation fuel a day for several weeks, as well as the loss of other fuels. Gelsenkirchen's civil records also pay tribute to the accuracy of the attack; 1,500 bombs fell inside the oil-plant area. The civil records also describe the extensive damage in the nearby working-class district of Horst. A total of 270 people were killed, including 24 workers in the oil plant at the time of the attack, 23 foreign workers who were killed when their wooden barracks near by were hit, and 6 school- boy 'Fiakhilfersi'.

Minor Operations: 27 Mosquitoes to Cologne, 3 R.C.M. sorties, 39 Serrate and 13 Intruder patrols 9 Halifaxes and 5 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and St-Nazaire, 13 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.

Total effort for the night: 1,083 sorties, 40 aircraft (3.7 per cent) lost. The Bomber Command War Diaries, Middlebrook and Everitt

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6 Bomber Group June 12/13, 1944

32 Lancaster from 408 and 419 Squadrons were joined by 60 Halifaxes from 420, 425, 426, and 432 Squadrons on an attack of the rail yards at Cambrai. The crews were over the target at between 4,000 and 6,000feet, releasing 745,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, this attack was accurate with serious damage being done.

While some of the group went to Cambrai, 89 Halifaxes from 424, 427,429, 431, 433 and 434 Squadrons were ordered to attack the rail yards at Arras. The crews were over the target at between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, releasing 705,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, serious damage was caused.

4 Halifaxes from 428 squadron were ordered on a mining operation to Lorient and Saint-Nazaire. The crews were over the garden at 12,000 feet, sowing 8@1500 and 8@1850 lb mines. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)

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671 aircraft- 348 Halifaxes, 285 Lancasters, 38 Mosquitoes-of 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups to attack communications, mostly railways, at Amiens/St-Roch, Amiens/Longueau, Arras, Caen, Cambrai and Poitiers. (It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Caen, all of these targets were the sites of well-known battles of earlier wars and Caen was soon to be the scene of fierce fighting,)

Bomber Command's records state that the Poittiers attack by Group 5 was the most accurate of the night and that the 2 raids at Amiens and the raid at Arras w, of reasonable accuracy. The target at Cambrai was hit but many bombs also fell the town. The most scattered attack (also by 5 Group) was at Caen.

23 aircraft - 17 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters - were lost from these raids; all these losses were from 4 and 6 Groups. A Canadian airman, Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski from Winnipeg, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for bravery on the Cambrai raid. His Lancaster, of 419 Squadron, was attacked by night fighter and set on fire and the crew were ordered to abandon the aircraft. Mynarski was about to jump when he saw that the tail gunner was trapped in this turret and he went through fierce flames to help. The rear turret was so bac jammed that it could not be freed and the trapped gunner eventually waved Mynarski: away. By the time he left the aircraft, Mynarski's clothing and parachute were on fire and he died while being cared for by French civilians soon after he landed. The tail gunner was fortunate to survive the crash and his report on Mynarski's courage led to the award of the Victoria Cross. Pilot Officer Mynarski is buried in the srnall village cemetery at Meharicourt, east of Amiens.

source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

Halifax III aircraft MZ 601 QO-A missing during a night trip to Cambrai, France, shot down by a combination of flak and night fighter attack. The crash location was not determined

Pilot Officer JA McElheran (RCAF), Pilot Officer GA Dieno (RCAF), Pilot Officer WL Blanchard (RCAF), Pilot Officer RL Botsford (RCAF), Sergeant AL Mellor (RAFVR) and Sergeant PM Steers (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Sergeant JA Ludwig (RCAF) survived and was taken as Prisoner of War

Sergeant RP Irwin (RAF)(Eire) survived and became an Evader

There were two 432 Squadron Halifax aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serial LW 616 QO-R for additional information

Research of France-Crashes 39-45

Halifax BIII MZ601 [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

6 Group Bomber Command

RAF Commands