Ward, Harry Knight
Prisoner of War 1943-09-04
Birth Date: unkown date
Born:
Home: Vancouver, British Columbia
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RCAF
Unit
460 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Base
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Position
Flight Sergeant
Service Numbers
R/178388
PoW: 222852
Target
Berlin Germany
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)Lancaster Mk.III W4988
Bombing Berlin Germany 1943-September-04 to 1943-September-04
460 () Sqn (RAAF) RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England
460 Australia Squadron (Strike And Strike Again). Lancaster W4988 was on a bombing mission to Berlin, Germany, when it was hit by both flak and night fighters. RAAF Flt. Sgt. N.J. Conway (navigator) was killed. Taken Prisoners of War were RAAF Pilot Officer L.G. Greenaway (bomb aimer), RCAF Flt. Sgt. H.K. Ward (rear gunner), and RAAF Sgt. A.J. O'Brien (wireless operator / air gunner).Aviation Safety Network provided a detailed description of the events:"While over Berlin the aircraft was caught by several searchlights and attacked by German night fighters and the port outer engine caught fire but Pilot Flying Officer Francis Archibald Randall RAAF managed to get away and by stopping the engine minimising the fire. Shortly after W4988 was caught in the light of flares dropped by the fighters and once again attacked. This time the starboard outer engine caught fire and a fire started in the fuselage just aft of the mid-upper turret. The burning engine was stopped and the fire died. During the combat the Bomb aimer Pilot Officer Lindsay Grafton Greenaway RAAF had left the Lancaster in parachute over Berlin. With only two good engines Randall asked navigator Flight Sergeant Norman James Conway RAAF for a course to take them across Denmark on the return flight. He then changed his mind and asked for a course for Sweden. When they sighted the east coast of Sjælland and could see the lights in Sweden the fire in the starboard engine started again and Randall ordered the crew to bale [sic] out. The first to leave the Lancaster was Flt. Engr. Sergeant Arthur Hilton Johns, Wop Sergeant Allen John O`Brian RAAF and Rear Gunner Flight Sergeant Harry Knight Ward RCAF. Then navigator Flight Sergeant Conway left. Mid-upper gunner Sergeant Herbert Bell parachute had been laying [sic] in the fuselage and had been damaged by bullets from the nightfighter. Randall told Bell to unpack it to see that it was not too badly damaged. Bell then jumped with the unpacked parachute folded in front of his chest. When the parachute unfolded the lines tangled round his neck and injured him. Randall left the plane as the last person. Conway jumped 5th and is believed to have landed in the sea off Sjælland and to have drowned. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial."Avro Lancaster
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.
The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia
Lancaster Bomber
Wikipedia 
Harold A Skaarup Web Page Lancaster W4988 Mk.III - Bombing Berlin Germany - 1943-09-04 to 1943-09-04
6 Group Unavailable
460 Australia Squadron (Strike And Strike Again). Lancaster W4988 was on a bombing mission to Berlin, Germany, when it was hit by both flak and night fighters. RAAF Flt. Sgt. N.J. Conway (navigator) was killed. Taken Prisoners of War were RAAF Pilot Officer L.G. Greenaway (bomb aimer), RCAF Flt. Sgt. H.K. Ward (rear gunner), and RAAF Sgt. A.J. O'Brien (wireless operator / air gunner).Aviation Safety Network provided a detailed description of the events:"While over Berlin the aircraft was caught by several searchlights and attacked by German night fighters and the port outer engine caught fire but Pilot Flying Officer Francis Archibald Randall RAAF managed to get away and by stopping the engine minimising the fire. Shortly after W4988 was caught in the light of flares dropped by the fighters and once again attacked. This time the starboard outer engine caught fire and a fire started in the fuselage just aft of the mid-upper turret. The burning engine was stopped and the fire died. During the combat the Bomb aimer Pilot Officer Lindsay Grafton Greenaway RAAF had left the Lancaster in parachute over Berlin. With only two good engines Randall asked navigator Flight Sergeant Norman James Conway RAAF for a course to take them across Denmark on the return flight. He then changed his mind and asked for a course for Sweden. When they sighted the east coast of Sjælland and could see the lights in Sweden the fire in the starboard engine started again and Randall ordered the crew to bale [sic] out. The first to leave the Lancaster was Flt. Engr. Sergeant Arthur Hilton Johns, Wop Sergeant Allen John O`Brian RAAF and Rear Gunner Flight Sergeant Harry Knight Ward RCAF. Then navigator Flight Sergeant Conway left. Mid-upper gunner Sergeant Herbert Bell parachute had been laying [sic] in the fuselage and had been damaged by bullets from the nightfighter. Randall told Bell to unpack it to see that it was not too badly damaged. Bell then jumped with the unpacked parachute folded in front of his chest. When the parachute unfolded the lines tangled round his neck and injured him. Randall left the plane as the last person. Conway jumped 5th and is believed to have landed in the sea off Sjælland and to have drowned. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial."