Graham, Harold Joseph (Pilot Officer)

Prisoner of War 1944-October-10

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date

Born:

Parents:

Spouse:

Home: Stratford, Ontario

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light

Base

RAF East Moor

Rank

Pilot Officer

Position

Mid Upper Gunner

Service Numbers

J/90750
PoW: 1023

Home
Google MapStratford, Ontario
Target
Google MapBochum Germany

Took off from East Moor at 17:12 in Halifax Mk VII (Sqn code QO-N Bomber Command) on an operation to Bochum Germany.

Aircraft was hit by two bombs from above, tail-plane was hit by flak and three of four engines stuck on idle (controls disabled).

POWs includes Graham: Flying Officer Robert Cahoon Diamond RCAF J/number POW camp not listed. Warrant Officer Class 2 Walter Arthur Harrington, RCAF POW camp not listed. Sergeant Kenneth Williams Hutchinson, RAF POW Stalag Luft L7 Bankau. F/Lt Walter Nicholson, RCAF POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan & Belaria. Pilot Officer Allan Graham Sharpe, RCAF POW Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug. Flying Officer Walter Arthur Stohlberg, RCAF POW Stalag Luft L3. Sergeant Kenneth Williams Hutchinson RAF POW Stalag Luft L7 Bankau.

Crew or Other Personnel

Halifax NP801

Flying Officer Robert Cahoon Diamond RCAF

Flying Officer Diamond, Robert Cahoon (RCAF)
Pilot
Prisoner of War
1944-October-10
cemetery unknown

Pilot Officer Harold Joseph Graham RCAF

Pilot Officer Graham, Harold Joseph (RCAF)
Mid Upper Gunner
Prisoner of War
1944-October-10
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer 2 Walter Arthur Harrington RCAF

Warrant Officer 2 Harrington, Walter Arthur (RCAF)
Rear Gunner
Prisoner of War
1944-October-10
cemetery unknown

Flt. Lieutenant Walter Nicholson RCAF

Flt. Lieutenant Nicholson, Walter (RCAF)
Navigator
Prisoner of War
1944-October-10
cemetery unknown

Pilot Officer Allan Graham Sharpe RCAF

Pilot Officer Sharpe, Allan Graham (RCAF)
WOp-AG
Prisoner of War
1944-October-10
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer Walter Arthur Stohlberg RCAF

Flying Officer Stohlberg, Walter Arthur (RCAF)
Bomb Aimer
Prisoner of War
1944-October-10
cemetery unknown

Mission

Halifax B.Mk.VII NP801

Bombing Bochum Germany 1944-October-09 to 1944-October-10

(B) Sqn (RCAF) East Moor

435 aircraft- 375 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitoes - of I, 4, 6 and 8 Groups, 4 Halifaxes and I Lancaster lost.

This raid was not successful. The target area was covered by cloud and the bombing was scattered. The local report says that there was some damage in the southern districts of Bochum, with 140 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and approximately 150 people killed.

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

Halifax B VII NP 801 QO-N, during a raid to Bochum, Germany was struck by falling bombs from an aircraft flying above it over the target and abandoned. The entire crew survived

Flying Officer RC Diamond (RCAF), Flying Officer W Nicholson (RCAF), Flying Officer WA Stohlberg (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 AG Sharpe (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 HJ Graham (RCAF), FS WA Harrington (RCAF) and Sergeant KW Hutchinson (RAF) all survived and were taken as Prisoners of War

Detail from books: Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 and The Long Road, Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII (Bankau) to Berlin, June 1944-May 1945. Both books by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Grub Street Press

Unit Desciption

432 (B) Sqn Saeviter Ad Lucem ("Leaside")

History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington X, Lancaster II, Halifax III, VII)

The Squadron was the twelfth RCAF bomber squadron to be formed overseas in WWII. It was formed on May 1, 1943 at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, UK as a unit of No 6 (RCAF) Group of RAF Bomber Command: indeed, it was the first bomber squadron to be formed directly into No 6 Group. Using the squadron identification letters QO it flew Vickers Wellington Mk X medium bombers until it moved to East Moor, Yorkshire on 19th September 1943, when it re-equipped with Avro Lancaster Mk II aircraft. East Moor was part of No 62 (RCAF) Base. The squadron re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk III aircraft in February 1944, and with Halifax Mk VII in July of that year, and continued with them until the squadron was disbanded at East Moor on May 15, 1945.

In the course of operations the squadron flew 246 missions, involving 3130 individual sorties, for the loss of 73 aircraft. 8980 tons of bombs were dropped. Awards to squadron members included 2 DSOs, 119 DFCs,1 Bar to DFC, 1 CGM, 20 DFMs and 1 Croix de Guerre (France). Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1944, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943.Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 432 Squadron 1943-45

MAP 1: 432 Squadron Bases 1943-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab

432 Squadron History Summary 1943-45

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)

The squadron was re-formed at Bagotville, Quebec as an All-Weather Fighter unit on 1 October 1954. The squadron flew Avro CF-100 Canuck aircraft on North American Air Defence until it was disbanded on 15 October 1961.