Operation: Gardening

Date: 9th/10th January 1943 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit No: 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF

Type: Halifax II

Serial: W7857

Code: VR:O

Base: RAF Middleton St. George, County Durham (then North Yorkshire)

Location: North Sea west of Vlieland

Pilot: WO2. Frank Harvey Barker R103678 RCAF Age 22. MiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Ronald Edmund Sackville-Golden 967831 RAFVR Age 26. MiA

Nav: Flt Sgt. Harvey Adam Dunn R99798 RCAF Age 28. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Vincent Armand Hugli R90778 RCAF Age 26. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: WO2. Donald Alexander Watson R74057 RCAF Age 22. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. William Douglas Cameron R140390 RCAF Age 20. MiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. William Gorman Murphy R92790 RCAF Age 20. MiA

Above the five aircrew members are those wearing flying jackets: Back row: Ground crew; Middle row left to right: Sgt. Ground crew, WO2. Watson, Flt Sgt. Dunn: Front row left to right: Ground crew, Flt Sgt. Murphy, WO2. Barker, Flt Sgt. Hugli. (Courtesy of Neil Hill)

Note: WO2. Barker and his four crew members were posted to 419 (Moose) Sqn from 22 Operational Training Unit (OTU) on the 9th September 1942. Mid-Upper Gunner, Sgt. Cameron, was posted from 408 (Goose) Sqn on the 13th November 1942 and joined the crew along with the Flight Engineer, Sgt. Sackville-Golden, when the Sqn commenced their conversion to flying the Halifax.

Note: Wellington III BJ886 was transferred to 427 (Lion) Sqn and was shot down on the 26th February 1943 (5 crew KiA).

Crew photo taken on 6th January - just 3 days before they were all sadly lost. Rear L-R: Don Watson, Bill Cameron, Ron Sackville-Golden, Bill Murphy. Front: Fuzzy Dunn, Frank Barker, Ince Hugli. (courtesy Tim Turner)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Middleton St. George in County Durham at 16:32 hrs with five other crews form the squadron. Laying mines (gardening) in the Schiermonnikoog and Simonsand areas. Visibility was recorded as good with light flak form German ships in the area. All the other aircraft from the squadron returned safely.

Others lost on this operation this night:

Halifax II W7751 NP:F from 158 squadron flown by 20 year old Flt Sgt. Roger Owen 1174901 RAFVR from Worcester was lost together with 5 other crew, 1 died later form his injuries, another taken PoW.

Halifax II DT622 NP:P from 158 squadron flown by Flt Lt. A. Woolnough crashed just 5 minutes after take off, apparently caused by the accidental lowering of the bomb doors - all crew survived.

Wellington IV R1535 GR:G from 301 Squadron (Polish) flown by 32 year old, Fg Off. Tadeusz Tyrała P-1128 from Kraków, Poland killed with 3 other crew, i member survived when their aircraft crashed on return after being hit by a night fighter at Dunmoor Hill in Northumberland.

Halifax W7857 was shot down over the North Sea some 20 km west of Vlieland by the Luftwaffe ace Oblt. Hans-Joseph Jabs of II./NJG1 at 22:15 hrs - interception taking place at some 2,400 m. His 24th Abschuss of the war from which he survived.

Above Oblt. Hans-Joseph Jabs - born in Lübeck in 1917 - died 26th October 2003, Jabs joined the Luftwaffe in 1937. Originally trained as a Messerschmitt Bf109 pilot, Jabs was posted to Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76), flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110, in March 1940. Jabs became a businessman in Westphalia after the war. He was a vice-president of the Gemeinschaft der Jagdflieger (German Air Veterans Federation).

Burial details:

WO2. Frank Harvey Barker. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 179. Born on the 3rd December 1921 in Carbon, Alberta. Son of Frank and Flora (née Banks) Barker, of Carbon, Alberta, Canada.

Sgt. Ronald Edmund Sackville-Golden. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 163. Son of Edward John and Francis Mary Louisa Sackville-Golden, of Faversham, Kent, England.

Flt Sgt. Harvey Adam Dunn. Sage War Cemetery. Grave 7.E.6. Born on the 24th August 1914 in Grey County, Ontario. Son of George and Catherine (née Bell) Dunn of Fordwich, Ontario, Canada.

Flt Sgt. Vincent Armand Hugli. Sage War Cemetery. Grave 7.D.12. Inscription: "A LOVING SON AND BROTHER. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE." Born on the 31st August 1916, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Son of Armand Joseph Hugli (1887 - 1946) and Margaret Ann Hugli (née Deir, 1888-1972), of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Enlisted March 1941. He had two sisters, Mary and Dorothy, two brothers, Phillip and Theo of Front Street.

Body recovered by the Germans on or about the 8th February 1943.

Hugli Lake in Algoma, Ontario was named after Flt Sgt. Vincent Armand Hugli in 1960

WO2. Donald Alexander Watson. Kviberg Cemetery. Grave 3.A.6. Born on the 21st December 1920 in Cardinal, Ontario. Son of William and Jean (née MacPhail) Watson of Carp, (Carleton County, circa 1943) Ontario, Canada.

WO2 Watson's body was washed ashore on the 13th February 1943 on the west coast of Sweden. Buried on the 19th February 1943 with full military honours in the presence of His Majesty's Consulate general at Gothenburg.

Sgt. William Douglas Cameron. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 186. Born on the 18th October 1920 in Great Falls, Montana, USA. Son of Hugh and Margaret (née Douglas) Cameron. Nephew of Alexander and Mary Shaw of Drumheller, Carbon, Alberta, Canada.

Note: William and his sister Margaret lost both their birth parents at an early age and were raised and cared for by their Aunt and Uncle who are listed as their next of kin.

Above: Montage for Flt Sgt. William Gorman Murphy with newspaper clipping, a letter sent home and the necklace given his mother Mary Murphy by the Government of Canada after he was confirmed KIA (Courtesy of Neil Hill)

Flt Sgt. William Gorman Murphy. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 185. Born on the 12th May 1922 in Macleod Alberta. Son of William James and Mary Katherine (née Gorman) of Ardenville, Alberta, Canada.

Researched for relatives of the crew with thanks to Tim Turner who discovered this wonderful crew photo when going through the papers of his Grandparents - relative of Sgt. Ronald Edmund Sackville-Golden. Canadian Commemorative Geographic Feature added and NoK details added for Flt Sgt. Hugli (Nov 2021). Thanks to Neil Hill for the Montage of Flt Sgt. Murphy and for the early crew photograph (Nov 2022).

Other sources as quoted below.