Toronto, OntarioTook off from Little Staughton at 10:29 in Lancaster Mk III (Sqn code: 6O-J Bomber Command).
Crashed at Opitter, (Limburg) 4km SE of Bree in Belgium though it is likely that some of the crew baled out over Germany.
Three casualties: Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell RCAF KIA Groesbeek Canadian War Cemeter XVII. B. 7. Flight Sergeant Vivian George Hobbs RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 30. E. 18. F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas RAF KIA Heverlee War Cemetery [Ref : 6. D. 21.Three POWs, no camp specified: W/O Herbert Fuller RAF POW F/Lt Ayton Richardson Whitaker RAF POW Flying Officer William Ewart Vaughan RCAF POWThe aircraft withstood a series of fighter attacks, but with his aircraft ablaze he was obliged to give the order to bale out. Four of his crew got out and survived; a fifth, the Flight Engineer Flt Sergeant Hobbs, also made it clear but his chute cruelly failed to open. Thomas stayed at the controls with one of the wounded gunners, Warrant Officer üTexü Campbell RCAF. Neither made it home. Fg Off Vaughan RCAF was captured on 23 December 1944 near Krefeld. Fg Off William Ewart Vaughan RCAF - PoW/Dulag Luft Oberursel/Dulag Luft Wetzlar Stalag Luft 1 Barth Vogelsang/PoW Number? Plt Off Campbell was initially buried in Opitter Roman Catholic Cemetery Belgium. Reinterred 30 November 1945.
