Musgrove, Stanley (Sergeant)
Prisoner of War 1944-April-27
Birth Date: unkown date
Born:
Parents:
Spouse:
Home:
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
Flight Engineer
Service Numbers
1836352
PoW: 3785
Target
Montzen Belgium
Crew or Other Personnel
Halifax LK807
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
[Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...
"Belgians Remember Them": RAF aircraft's crash sites: Hanneche
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.
Halifax LK807 B.Mk.III - Bombing Montzen Belgium - 1944-04-27 to 1944-04-27
Squadron: 432 (B) Sqn (RCAF)
Start Date: 1944-04-27
Completion Date: 1944-04-27
Mission: Bombing
Operation: unspecified
Target City: Montzen Belgium
Target Specific: rail yards
Base: East Moor
Take Off Time: 23.36
Squadron Code: QO-J
Radio Code:
Return Base:
Return Time:
Crash City: Belgium
Crash Specifics: Hanneche, Burdinne, province of Liege
Crash Latitude: 0.00000000
Crash Longitude: 0.00000000
Crash Reason: fighter
Flak Battery:
Enemy Claim: Leutnant Ewald-Werner Hittler of the 3/NJG 1
War Diary Unavailable
6 Group Unavailable
6 Group Unavailable
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
[Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...
"Belgians Remember Them": RAF aircraft's crash sites: Hanneche
Hanneche - Halifax III LK807 QO-J 432 Squadron RAF - Halifax JD371...