Harmsworth, Royce Desmond Aubrey (Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1944-April-27

Sergeant Royce Desmond Aubrey Harmsworth RAFVR

Birth Date: 1924

Born:

Parents: Son of Elizabeth Harriet Harmsworth, of Andover, Hampshire

Spouse:

Home: Andover, Hampshire, England

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAFVR

Unit

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

Base

RAF East Moor

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Air Gunner (Rear)

Service Numbers

1608330

Home
Google MapAndover, Hampshire, England
Target
Google MapMontzen Belgium
Temporary Burial
Google MapFamily Vault of Laruelle-Magnee, Hanneche Communal Cemetery, Liege, Belgium

Remains were later exhumed from this location and reburied

Final Burial
Google MapHanneche Curchyard
South-west part

Crew or Other Personnel

Halifax LK807

Sergeant George Edward H Flather RAFVR

Sergeant Flather, George Edward H (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Mid-Upper)
Evader
1944-April-27
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Royce Desmond Aubrey Harmsworth RAFVR

Sergeant Harmsworth, Royce Desmond Aubrey (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Killed in Action
1944-April-27
Hanneche Curchyard, Liege, Belgium

Flying Officer Arthur Peter Rogerson Holmes RCAF

Flying Officer Holmes, Arthur Peter Rogerson (RCAF)
Navigator
Evader
1944-April-27
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer Duncan Morrison MacAulay RCAF

Flying Officer MacAulay, Duncan Morrison (RCAF)
Bomb Aimer
Prisoner of War
1944-April-27
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer 2 Warren Ballantyne MacPherson RCAF

Warrant Officer 2 MacPherson, Warren Ballantyne (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Evader
1944-April-27
cemetery unknown

Flight Sergeant Gilbert Millar RCAF

Flight Sergeant Millar, Gilbert (RCAF)
Pilot
Evader
1944-April-27
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Stanley Musgrove RAFVR

Sergeant Musgrove, Stanley (RAFVR)
Flight Engineer
Prisoner of War
1944-April-27
cemetery unknown

Mission

Halifax B.Mk.III LK807

Bombing Montzen Belgium 1944-April-27 to 1944-April-27

432 (B) Sqn (RCAF) East Moor

144 aircraft- 120 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitoes-of 4, 6 and 8 Groups. The bombing force, particularly the second of the 2 waves, was intercepted by German fighters and 14 Halifaxes and I Lancaster were shot down. Only one part of the railway yards was hit by the bombing. The only Lancaster lost was that of Squadron Leader E. M. Blenkinsopp, a Canadian pilot of 405 Squadron who was acting as Deputy Master Bomber. Blenkinsopp managed to team up with a Belgian Resistance group and remained with them until captured by the Germans in December 1944. He was taken to Hamburg to work as a forced labourer and later died in Belsen concentration camp 'of heart failure'. He has no known grave.

432 Leaside Squadron (Saeviter ad Lucem) RAF East Moor. Halifax BIII aircraft LK 807 QO-J was shot down returning from an operation to bomb the railyards at Montzen, Belgium by night fighter pilot Leutnant Ewald-Werner Hittler of the 3/NJG 1, who was flying an He 219 from Venlo airfield in the Netherlands. The Halifax crashed near Hanneche, Burdinne, Liege, Belgium

Rear Air-Gunner Sergeant RDA Harmsworth (RAFVR) was killed in action

Bomb Aimer Warrant Officer Class II (RCAF) and Flight Engineer S Musgrove (RAFVR) survived and were taken as Prisoners of War

The remaining four crew members, Flying Officer APG Holmes (RCAF), Flying Officer DM MacAulay (RCAF), Flight Sergeant G Millar (RCAF) and Sergeant GEH Flather (RAFVR) all survived and became Evaders

There were three 432 Squadron Halifax III aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serials LW592 QO-A and MZ 588 QO-W for additional information on those aircraft and crews

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

Unvetted Source [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

Unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network

Unvetted Source "Belgians Remember Them": RAF aircraft's crash sites: Hanneche

Unvetted Source Hanneche - Halifax III LK807 QO-J 432 Squadron RAF - Halifax JD371...

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.