Joce, Chester Samuel (Sergeant)

Prisoner of War 1944-December-17

Male Head

Birth Date: 1911-September-10

Born: Plymouth, England

Parents:

Spouse:

Home:

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: 1943-May

Service

RAFVR

Unit

61 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Per Purum Tonantes Thundering through the clear air

Base

RAF Skellingthorpe

Rank

Sergeant

Position

Air Gunner (Rear)

Service Numbers

1881284
PoW: 1332

Target
Google MapMunich Germany

There is a note in the Clutton-Brock/Crompton book, (The Long Road,...) that Sergeant Joce escaped during a prisoner march and was repatriated through Odessa. Further research is required to find more detail

Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 by Oliver Clutton-Brock, page 329

The Long March, Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII (Bankau) to Berlin, June 1944-May 1945 by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Raymond Crompton, pages 244, 314

Unvetted Source Joce, Charles S - Online Museum of Prisoners of War

Crew or Other Personnel

Lancaster LM729

Pilot Officer Percy Barlow RCAF

Pilot Officer Barlow, Percy (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Action
1944-December-17
Durnbach War Cemetery, Gmund am Tegernsee, Germany

Sergeant Ronald William Bennett RAFVR

Sergeant Bennett, Ronald William (RAFVR)
Bomb Aimer
Killed in Action
1944-December-17
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer Hilton Alfred Hales RAAF

Warrant Officer Hales, Hilton Alfred (RAAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-December-17
cemetery unknown

Sergeant Chester Samuel Joce RAFVR

Sergeant Joce, Chester Samuel (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Prisoner of War
1944-December-17
cemetery unknown

Sergeant David Thomson Muir RAFVR

Sergeant Muir, David Thomson (RAFVR)
Flight Engineer
Killed in Action
1944-December-17
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer Edward Roy Newland RCAF

Flying Officer Newland, Edward Roy (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1944-December-17
Durnbach War Cemetery, Gmund am Tegernsee, Germany

Sergeant Herbert Alfred Tuck RAFVR

Sergeant Tuck, Herbert Alfred (RAFVR)
Air Gunner (Mid-Upper)
Killed in Action
1944-December-17
cemetery unknown

Mission

Lancaster Mk.I/III LM729

Bombing Munich Germany 1944-December-17 to 1944-December-17

61 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Skellingthorpe

61 Squadron RAF (Per Puram Tunantes), RAF Skellingthorpe. Lancaster III aircraft LM 729 QR-V was shot down by flak thirty five-miles south-east of the targets in Munich, Germany near Degendorf, Germany with only the rear air-gunner surviving the aircraft loss

Flying Officer Percy Barlow (RCAF), Flying Officer Edward Roy Newland (RCAF), Warrant Officer Hilton Alfred Hales (RAAF), Sergeant Ronald William Bennett (RAFVR), Sergeant David Thomson Muir (RAFVR) and Sergeant Herbert Alfred Tuck (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Although claimed as shot down by flak, Rear Gunner Chester Samuel Joce (RAFVR) later reported that a photo-flash bomb, used by aircrew to illuminate the target area in order to photograph bomb damage exploded inside the fuselage after the bomb load was released, killing most of the crew. The tail plane and rear turret separated from the fuselage and Joce survived to fall free and became a Prisoner of War

Nachtjagd Combat Archrive, 1944 Part 5 16 October - 31 December by Theo Boiten, page 64

Unvetted Source Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database