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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13/14.09.1942 No. 156 Squadron Wellington III BJ600 P/O. Brough

Operation: Bremen

Date: 13/14th September 1942 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit: No. 156 Squadron

Type: Wellington III

Serial: BJ600

Code: GT-?

Base: RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire.

Location: Loozen, Netherlands.

Pilot: P/O. George Valentine Brough NZ/39082 RNZAF Age 21. Killed

Pilot U/T: Sgt. Phillip Stevenson Hammond 1331531 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Obs: Sgt. William Chippendale Massey 1031306 RAFVR Age 31. Killed

Air/Bmr: Sgt. Jack Herring 1213839 RAFVR. Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Thomas Cuthbert Dewar 988654 RAFVR Age 30. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Herbert 644484 RAF Age 21. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 22:45 hrs with eleven other aircraft from the squadron to join 332 other aircraft on an operation to bomb Bremen.

Observer/Air bomber for Wellington BJ600 Sgt. Jack Herring (courtesy Liz Hampton)

It is reported that the raid was heavy with 848 houses destroyed and Bremen industry suffering considerable damage with the Lloyds dynamo works put out of act for some two weeks and various parts of the Focke-Wulf factory for up to 8 days. 5 nearly completed aircraft were destroyed and 3 more damaged. 70 people on the ground were killed and a further 371 injured.

15 Wellingtons, 2 Lancasters 1 Halifax, 1 Hampden, 1 Stirling and 1 Whitley were lost, with 87 aircrew killed, another 28 being made PoW.

Above and below what is believed to be some of the crew and aircraft from the Squadron. Top left: Sgt. Phillip Stevenson Hammond with who we believe to be Sgt. Thomas Cuthbert Dewar. Right: Sgt. Phillip Stevenson Hammond with who we believe to be Sgt. William Chippendale Massey - perhaps you can assist? (courtesy Paul Stevens)

Wellington BJ600 was attacked and shot down at 03.00 hrs by Major Karl Theodor Hülshoff of Stab NJG2. The Wellington crashing at 03:13 hrs. at Loozen. (See Kracker Luftwaffe Archive on this site)

This was the ninth abshüsse for Major Karl Theodor Hülshoff (Some sources place Ufz. Rudolf Frank as responsible)

Final letter home from Sgt. Jack Herring (courtesy Liz Hampton)

Niece of Sgt. Herring, Geraldine Beaumant, visiting his and crews graves. Geraldine recalls remembering Jack throwing her in the air as a child! (courtesy Liz Hampton)

Burial details:

P/O. George Valentine Brough. Gramsbergen General Cemetery. Plot 3. Coll. Grave 5-7. Son of Louis Brough and of Myrtle Brough (née Page), of Takaka, Nelson, New Zealand. 365 flying hours logged and on his 17th operation.

Sgt. Phillip Stevenson Hammond. Gramsbergen General Cemetery. Plot 3. Coll. Grave 5-7. Son of Dudley Victor and Simone Margueite Hammond, of Newdigate, Surrey, England.

Above as described below (courtesy Nigel Dedross)

Sgt. William Chippendale Massey. Gramsbergen General Cemetery. Plot 3. Grave 8. Son of George Henry and Selina Massey, of Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Husband of Leila Annie Massey, (née Skinner) of Leeds, England.

Above left, prior to operational service and right, his wedding to Leila at Thorner near Leeds, 1934. (courtesy Nigel Dedross)

Further information supplied by Nigel Dedross: "A farmer buried him near their cottage and wrote to our family, adding they would place fresh flowers on his grave regularly. After the war the body was exhumed and taken to Gramsbergen General Cemetery for re-burial. The photos are of him in his uniform and him (right) with my father, Jack and his parents George and Selina (née Chippindale) Massey. My father, who has now passed away also, was very close to his Aunt Selina and Cousin Will." Prior to service worked as a milkman, his father worked at Leeds Post Office.

Sgt. Jack Herring. Gramsbergen General Cemetery. Plot 3. Coll. Grave 5-7. Son of Ernest and Edith Annie Herring, of Sandal, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Thomas Cuthbert Dewar. Gramsbergen General Cemetery. Plot 3. Grave 9. Son of James Mcl. C. Dewar and Annie Kempie Cuthbert Dewar. Stepson of Susan R. W. Dewar.

Sgt. William Herbert. Gramsbergen General Cemetery. Plot 3. Coll. Grave 5-7. Son of William and Elsie Clemantina Herbert, of Wakefield, Yorkshire, England.

Taken at RAF Aberystwyth in August 1941. No. 2 Squadron, 'C' Flight.

Rear Row: Duncan, Howarth, Blee, Keeble, Chessells, Harrison, Jones, Carpenter, Wood, Smith, Brown, Hill, Howe, Sundrey, Coupland. Centre: Knight, Murray, Cave, Hill, Nash, Skea, Dyson, Highsted, Denslow, Chalmers, Davies, Craddock, Young, Whitley, Baxter, Ashcrofts, Day. Seated: Chambers, Huntley, Young, Pomroy, Perry, Brownhill, Sgt. Williams, P/O. Gillings, Fl/Lt. Coaten, Herring, Gosden, Morris, Lewis, Pullen, Holloway, Anderson. Front Row: Hebden, Williams, Bailey, Stephens, Stanley, Jarman, Oldfield, Williams.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Liz Hampton, relative of Sgt. Herring, also to Paul Stevens, nephew of Sgt. Phillip Hammond who contacted us in January 2017. Paul was born to his sister in 1952. Also to Nigel Dedross, relative of Sgt. William Massey who contacted us in April 2017. Other sources as quoted below.

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