Operation: Hüls, Germany

Date: 12th/13th October 1941 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit No: 207 Squadron, 5, Group, Bomber Command

Type: Manchester I

Serial: L7312

Code: EM:L

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire

Location: Horendonk: about 2 km east of Essen

Pilot: Plt Off. Brian Derek Bowes-Cavanagh 89371 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

2nd Pilot: Sgt. Robert Surfleet Stuart 754925 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Obs: Flt Sgt. Jack Alfred Cheesman 581273 RAFVR Age 20. PoW No: 24356 * (1)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Andrew Joseph Carter 1161981 RAFVR Age 26. KiA

WOp/Air/Gnr: Sgt. George Paul Spindler 759054 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. John William Leason 999653 RAFVR Age 28. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Ian Harry Deare Passy 921874 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

* Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania)

REASON FOR LOSS:

L7312 took off from RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire and joined a force of seventy-nine (79) Hampdens and eleven (11) Manchesters detailed to bomb the synthetic rubber factory at Hüls in Germany.

The operation turned out to be a very dissatisfactory because the target was completely cloud covered and the bombing was scattered.

A great series of photo's showing Manchester EM:S of 207 squadron, taken from the top rear turret of a Hampden (courtesy Flight)

L7312 was claimed by Ofw. Paul Gildner as a Whitley, from 4./NJG1 04:05 hrs. This was his 19th Abschuss with his regular crew of Fw. Müller and Uffz. Pollelmeyer who scrambled in Do215 B-5 G9+MM from Gilze-Rijen. L7312 crashed between Oudemirdum and Nijemirdum.(Ref 1, pp 55-56).

Gildner later wrote in his Gefechtsbericht (Combat Report)

• "After several fruitless vectors, I was on to an incoming enemy aircraft at around 04:00 hrs. I flew on a heading of 80 degrees (almost due east), altitude 3700 m. Range 8km. After various course corrections and being given a new height (5000 m), I found myself 1 km from the enemy. Unteroffizier Pollelmeyer, my Bordmechaniker (Flight Engineer), pointed out a shadow 500 m above me. 

• "After several fruitless vectors, I was on to an incoming enemy aircraft at around 04:00 hrs.  I flew on a heading of 80 degrees (almost due east), altitude 3700 m. Range 8km.  After various course corrections and being given a new height (5000 m), I found myself 1 km from the enemy.  Unteroffizier Pollelmeyer, my Bordmechaniker (Flight Engineer), pointed out a shadow 500 m above me.  Climbing, I recognised a Whitley (actually a Manchester) and got into an attacking position.  At 04:05 hrs I attacked from below and astern at a range of around 20m and after delivering a short burst, both engines caught fire.  The Whitley immediately went down at a flat angle and hit the ground burning south west of Roosendal.  I didn’t see anyone bail out.  I landed at Gilze-Rijen at 04:43 hrs." (Ref 1, pp 55-56).

  Oblt. Gildner was KiA on the night of the 24th/25th February 1943 in a forced landing near Gilze-Rijen airfield after engine failure.  He was credited with 43 confirmed Abschüsse two of which where day victories (Ref 2, p32)

Above: Manchester I L7312 crash site images (Credit: Geert L. G. Jacobs)

(1)  Flt Sgt. Cheesman was captured near Eschen in Belgium that day and was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 15th October.  After the statutory solitary confinement, false Red Cross form and interrogation he was transferred to Stalag 8B at Lamsdorf on the 22nd October 1941.

On the 6th May 1942 he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 at Sagan in Lower Silesia which had been established in March 1942. On the 13th October that year he was transferred to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth-Vogelsang.

• Stalag Luft 1 was the first permanent prisoner of war camp for members of the Western Allied Air Forces and was opened in 1941 to hold British officers, but was closed in April 1942, when they were transferred to other camps.  It was reopened in October 1942, when 200 RAF NCOs from Stalag Luft 3 were moved there. 

On the 26th October that year he was transferred to Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug in Memelland.

• In June 1943 Stalag Luft 6 became a Stalag for enlisted men, when British and Canadian NCOs (non-commissioned officers) arrived at the camp from Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3.

In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was being made.  He was amongst the PoWs from Stalag Luft 6, the camp closest to the Russian advance, were in the "northern route" of the force-marches, and were transported to Stalag 20A by train on the 15th July 1944, and from there took part in the forced-march.

He arrived at Stalag Luft 4 at Groß-Tychow in Pomerania on the 19th July.  In late January 1945 the PoWs could see the distant flash of artillery fire from the east.  On the 28th January the evacuation was ordered, and a train loaded with mostly sick and wounded were transported to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth, Germany.  On the 2nd February another train load was transported to Stalag 13D at Nürnberg, Germany.  Over a period of 3 days from the 6th February he was amongst the some 6,000 prisoners who were ordered to leave the camp on foot with little notice.  The PoWs in groups of 250 to 300 were marched, heading west, covering long daily distances on starvation rations.

On the 28th March the column arrived at Ebbsdorf where a large number of the men were jammed into railway box cars and sealed in for some 33 hours until the train arrived at Stalag 11B, near Fallingbostel on the 30th March. Many camps on the eastern edge of Germany were combined into one large camp here. The treatment was a repetition of that at previous camps, with the exception of food, of which there was virtually none. There were no beds or bedding in the buildings.

On the 6th April after only being in this camp for a week, Lagers A and B from Stalag Luft 4 were forced on their final march, this time heading east, doubling back on the route they took to arrive. This last march only lasted approximately three weeks but was just as harsh as the previous march except for the treatment by the Germans, which was somewhat better. There was still little or no food available, and the pace was much slower, advancing 4 to 5 miles a day.

On the morning of the 2nd May 1945 the main column was resting in a ditch next to the River Elbe near Lauenburg, Germany, when British troops arrived and liberated the camp.  The now liberated PoWs were given virtually nothing and told to march west. The march from beginning to end, spanned 86 days over an estimated 600 miles.  Seven (7) PoWs were declared to have died during the march by the Casualty Branch of the Adjutant General’s Office.

Flt Sgt. Cheesman was interviewed on the 4th May 1945

Jack Alfred Cheesman was born on the 7th September 1921 in Lewisham, Greater London. He enlisted in the RAF on the 11th July 1939. Jack passed away on the 5th July 2005 in Bideford, Devon, Devonshire

An article in the Historical Circle - Essen in Dutch, describes the aftermath of the crash (Credit: Geert L. G. Jacobs)

A translation of the main body is reproduced below:

• A twin-engine Manchester of the Royal Air Force crashed at Essen-Horendonk on October 13, 1941. The bomber with the code EM-L and serial number L7312 was attacked at 04:08 at night near Rotterdam by the German oberfeldwebel Paul Gildner in a German Messerschmitt Me110. This caused the British machine to catch fire. Immediately the bombs were dropped but the plane was lost and returning to base seemed impossible.

• The pilot tried in vain to maintain altitude and still managed to reach our territory. At Horendonk the badly damaged Manchester flew low over the woods, spun downwards, bore into the ground with a terrible bang and exploded. This happened shortly after 4 a.m. diagonally behind the farm of Fons Van de Keybus on the corner of the (Grote)Horendonk and the Leegtestraat. The residents of Horendonk were startled awake before the crash by the howling of the sputtering aircraft engines. The havoc on the ground was enormous: debris everywhere, charred tree trimmings, burning wreckage, a large pit of up to 3 meters deep. The remains of the crew were scattered around.

• The Germans were very quick on the spot and closed off the area hermetically. However, one of the British crew members escaped, it was navigator sergeant Jack Cheesman. He immediately realised that the plane was lost and with his parachute already on he opened the forward escape hatch and jumped into thin air. Curiously, he landed less than 200 meters from the crashed plane in the garden of the Schamhoeve of Louis Vrients. At the Vrients family, in their barn, they washed the Brit, took care of him, offered him coffee, etc...Then father Vrients showed him the way to the station and Cheesman left but on the way or at the station was picked up by the Germans and taken to a POW camp in Germany. This he also fortunately survived and after the war he returned to England.

• On the basis of personal belongings found between the debris, the identity of the six crew members could be established. Mayor Jan Meeusen, municipal employee Guillaume Suykerbuyk and Jef Hensen were ordered by the German authorities to collect the mortal remains. The 6 corpses were so mutilated that they could be put in two coffins. These were placed in the old church of Horendonk during the night of October 13-14, 1941 and buried already the next day under the watchful eye of the Germans. The church was packed with citizens who carried many flowers and wreaths. The six men whose young lives were cut short so abruptly lie next to the church at the entrance to the cemetery in Horendonk. Here are four typical British military headstones with their names and the emblem of the Royal Air Force on them. The green plaque, identifying mark for war graves, is also affixed. Every year, around October 20, the KNSB Essen organises a ceremony around the liberation of the municipality.

• That day there is a Holy Mass for the fallen British crew members in the church of Horendonk and their graves in the cemetery are honoured. Family members of the fallen crew also flew in over the years and visited the graves in the cemetery at Horendonk.

• The names of the fallen British crew members are: 

• BRIAN BOWES-CAVANAGH Pilot officer,Llieutenant. He was the flight commander. 21 years old;
• IAN HARRY DEARE PASSY Sergeant air-gunner. 20 years old; 
• ANDREW JOSEPH CARTER Sergeant wireless operator, air-gunner. 26 years old; 
• GEORGE PAUL SPINDLER Sergeant wireless operator, air-gunner. 21 years old;
• ROBERT SURFLEET STUART Sergeant pilot.  He was the reserve pilot. 21 years old;
• JOHN WILLIAM LEASON Sergeant air-gunner. 28 years old

• THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD -- AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD -- AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM -- NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN -- AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN -- AND IN THE MORNING -- WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

BURIAL DETAILS:

Above two images of the crew funeral. The crew's remains were interred in two coffins (Credit: Geert L. G. Jacobs)

Above: Initial Grave marker (unattributed)

Plt Off. Brian Derek Bowes-Cavanagh.  Essen (Horendonk) Communal Cemetery Coll grave. Inscription reads: "MORNING THOUGHTS AND EVENING MEMORIES".  Born during 1920 in Ceylon, India.  Son of Gerald Richard and Cecilia Gwendoline (née Holloway) Bowes-Cavanagh of Hampton, Middlesex, England.

Sgt. Robert Surfleet Stuart.  Essen (Horendonk) Communal Cemetery Coll grave.  Born on the 19th September 1920 in Thorne, Yorkshire West Riding.  Son of George Arthur and Lizzie (née Sharpe) Stuart of Narborough, Norfolk, England.

Sgt. Andrew Joseph Carter.  Essen (Horendonk) Communal Cemetery Coll grave. Inscription reads: “HIS LAMP WAS DIMMED BUT HIS SPIRIT LIVES FOR EVER".  Birth registered in the 3rd Qtr of 1915 in St. Ives, Huntingdonshire. Son of Stephen Benjamin and Kate Ada (née Chapman) Carter of Over, Cambridgeshire, England.

Sgt. George Paul Spindler.  Essen (Horendonk) Communal Cemetery Coll grave.  Birth registered in the 2nd Qtr of 1920 in Luton, Bedfordshire.  Son of George Charles and Pauline J. (née Capron) Spindler of Luton, Bedfordshire, England.

Sgt. John William Leason.  Essen (Horendonk) Communal Cemetery Coll grave.  Inscription reads: "FOR HIM THE GATES ARE OPEN AND HEAVENS BUGLES BLOW HE DIED THAT THAT WE MIGHT LIVE".  Born on the 26th November 1912 in Bridlington, Yorkshire.  Son of Thomas and Susan (née Pickering) Leason. Husband of Enid (née Rimmington) Leason of Hull, England.

Sgt. Ian Harry Deare Passy.  Essen (Horendonk) Communal Cemetery Coll grave. Inscription reads: "CRUSADERS THEY AS ANY KNIGHTS WHO WORE THE CROSS".  He was born in the 3rd Qtr of 1921 in in Plympton, Devon.  Son of Maj. F. H. B. Passy (formerly Indian Army) and Margaret Alexandra (née Graham) Passy of Cornwood, Devon, England.

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Web Master) for relatives of the crew.  With thanks to the following: David Turner - Narborough History Society.  Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered with thanks to Geert L.G. Jacobs for the images of the initial grave marker, German Burial of the crew, crash images and link to Dutch article (11th Nov 2021).  Reviewed, updated with new information with thanks to Robin Chessman, correcting his fathers name which is incorrectly spelt in many official records (31st Oct 2026).

Other sources listed below.

References:

1.         Nachtjagd Combat Archive (13 July 1941 - 29 May 1942)  The Early Years Part 2 - Theo Boiten.

2.         Nachtjagd Combat Archive  - Biographies - Theo Boiten.