Brooker, Philip Leonard (Flight Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1944-October-14

Flight Sergeant Philip Leonard Brooker RAFVR

Birth Date: 1908

Born:

Parents: Leonard Charles & Edith Maud Brooker

Spouse:

Home: Sanderstead, Surrey, England (parents)

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RAFVR

Unit

550 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Per Ignem Vincimus Through fire we conquer

Base

RAF North Killingholme

Rank

Flight Sergeant

Position

Wireless Operator/Air Gunner

Service Numbers

1600214

Temporary Burial
Google MapLohmannselde Forest Cemetery, Germany, near crash site

Remains were later exhumed from this location and reburied

Took off from North Killingholme at 06:39 in Lancaster Mk I (Sqn code BQ-F2 Bomber Command) on an operation to Duisburg Germany.

Engaged by heavy flak and exploded throwing clear the pilot before crashing into the garden of a house in the Gertstrasse at Baerl, Germany.

Killed includes Brooker: Pilot Officer John William Brown RCAF J/92163 KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave Plot 29. Row A. Graves 7-12. Sergeant Kenneth William Nettleton RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave Plot 29. Row A. Graves 7-12. Sergeant Kenneth Ronald Salton RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave Plot 29. Row A. Graves 7-12. Sergeant Albert Percy Soper RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave Plot 29. Row A. Graves 7-12. Flight Sergeant Raymond Frank Veness RAF KIA Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. grave Plot 29. Row A. Graves 7-12.

POWs: Flying Officer Alec Abrams RCAF J/87651 POW Stalag Luft L3, Sagan & Belaria, POW# 8493.

Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 by Oliver Clutton-Brock, page 232

Mission

Lancaster Mk.I NG133

Bombing Duisburg Germany 1944-October-14 to 1944-October-14

550 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF North Killingholme

550 Squadron (Per Ignem Vincimus) RAF North Killingholme. Lancaster BI aircraft NG 133 BQ-F2 was struck by heavy flak and exploded, crashing near Baerl, Germany on the River Rhine during a daylight operation against targets in Duisburg, Germany

The pilot, Flying Officer A Abrams (RCAF) was thrown clear in the explosion and survived to become a Prisoner of War

Pilot Officer JW Brown (RCAF), Flight Sergeant PL Brooker (RAFVR), Sergeant KW Nettleton (RAFVR), Sergeant KR Salton (RAFVR), Sergeant AP Soper (RAFVR) and Flight Sergeant RF Veness (RAFVR) were all killed action

550 Squadron Lancaster bomber PD 319 BQ-G and the entire crew was also lost on this operation

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

Unvetted Source 550 Squadron and RAF North Killingholme Association