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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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44 squadron crest
16/17.08.1941 No. 44 Squadron Hampden I AE239 Sgt. Armstrong

Mission: Düsseldorf

Date: 16/17th August 1941 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit: No. 44 Squadron (motto: Fulmina regis iusta - 'The King's thunderbolts are righteous')

Type: Hampden I

Serial: AE239

Code: KM-?

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire.

Location: North sea - no exact location

Pilot: Sgt. John Gordon Armstrong 1167158 RAF Age 20. Missing - believed killed

Obs: Sgt. Charles Richard Morley R/69579 RCAF Age 27. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. John Flint 945734 RAFVR Age 25. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Sydney Cyril Edwards 909506 RAFVR Age 31. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 23:15 hrs from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire to attack the railway yards in Düsseldorf. No details as to success of this operation but many fires were reported.

Aircraft carried 1 x 1,000 lb bomb and 1 x 500 lb bomb. Also carried EH.510 Nickel (newspaper propaganda - see bottom of page) to be dropped.

52 Hampdens along with 6 Manchesters took part with the loss of 5 aircraft - eight aircrew were killed with 18 made Prisoner of War.

No nightfighter claims have been found of this loss which happened over the North Sea.

Photo sent in by David Wall - are you able to identify any or where it was taken?

The crew had a lucky earlier escape when their Hampden crash landed during an operation to Koln on the 30/31st July 1941 at 00.15 hrs Carlton-le-Morland, south south west of Lincoln (see map below )


Left and above: Sgt. John Flint (courtesy David Wall)

Burial details:

Sgt. John Gordon Armstrong. Runnymede War Memorial. Panel 38. Son of Philip Gordon Armstrong and Doris Adelaide Armstrong, of Clifton, Bristol, England.

Sgt. Charles Richard Morley. Runnymede War Memorial. Panel 61. Son of Frank William and Florence May Morley of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Sgt. John Flint. Runnymede War Memorial. Panel 43. Son of William Andrew and Margaret Jane Flint, of Blyth, Northumberland, England.

Sgt. Sydney Cyril Edwards. Kiel War Cemetery. Grave 4.F.20. Son of Clara Edwards, of Camberwell, London, England

Researched for David Wall nephew of Sgt. John Flint and dedicated to all relatives of this crew. With thanks for additional information to Ken Ogilvie, the Psychological Warfare website. Other sources as shown.

Right: EH.510 Newspaper propaganda.


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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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