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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30/31.03.1944 No. 12 Squadron Lancaster ND562 PH-D Fl/Lt. Alistair J. Cook

Operation: Nürnberg

Date: 30/31st March 1944 (Thursday/Friday)

Unit: No. 12 Squadron

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: ND562

Code: PH-D

Base: RAF Wickenby

Location: I Km. North of Holzeim, Germany

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Alistair John Cook 87071 RAFVR Age 32. Killed

Pilot 2 (U/T): P/O. Christopher Humphrey Cotton Minchin 172470 RAFVR Age 23. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Kenneth Launcelot Summerscale 1862419 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Nav: P/O. Maurice Rene Nicolas Mouchet J/85366 RCAF Age 26. Killed (1)

Air/Bmr: P/O. Robert Timperley 173558 RAFVR Age 26. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O. Bernard Salt 54522 RAF Age 23. Killed (2)

Air/Gnr: P/O. Jack Ernest McInnes J/88856 RCAF Age 20. Killed 

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Richard Frederick Bayley 658573 RAF Age 25. Killed

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The family of P/O. Bernard Salt would very much like to hear from other relatives in particular during his time at RAF Wickenby - contact us and your details will be forward.

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REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Wickenby at 21:55 hrs to bomb Nuremberg - the greatest loss of the second world war to Bomber Command with 101 claims by the Luftwaffe night fighters, a further 6 probables. 545 allied airmen lost their lives during this operation - more than all their losses during the Battle of Britain in 1940!

Above L-R: Sid, P/O. Bernard Salt and Francis (courtesy Martin Brown)

Shot down by Hptm. Gerhardt Raht (4) of 4./NJG3 at 00:26 hrs during the outward bound flight.

Also lost on this operation from the squadron:

Lancaster III ND441 PH-Z Flown by 22 year old, Fl/Lt. Douglas Mintie Carey DFC (3) J/16480 RCAF of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada - killed with all 6 other crew.

(1) Mouchet Lake east of Nueltin Lake was renamed after P/O. Maurice Rene Nicolas Mouchet in 1975.

(2) The family also lost another of the 3 sons that served in the RAF. 32 Year old, Fl/Lt. navigator Francis Charles Salt 1300629 RAFVR killed with 156 Squadron on the 03rd February 1945. Details on this website.

(3) Carey Lake southeast of Churchill was renamed after Fl/Lt. Douglas Mintie Carey DFC. in 1948.

(4) This was the 30th Abschüse by the Luftwaffe ace Hptm. Gerhardt Raht. He survived the war - died on the 11th January 1977, age just 56.

Left: Hptm. Gerhardt Raht with his Bordfunker, Ofw. Anton Heinemann (courtesy Kracker Archive)

Operations undertaken by P/O. Bernard Salt with his fellow crew members:

15th March 1944: Stuttgart ND572 PH-D F/L Cook A. J. Sgt Farman K 2nd Pilot, Sgt. Summerscale R. L. W/O Mouchet, M. R. RCAF, W/O Timperley R. W/O Salt B. Sgt. McInnes J. E. Fl/Sgt. Bailey R. F.
18th March1944: Frankfurt ND562 PH-D F/L Cook A. J. Sgt. Summerscale K. L. W/O Mouchet M. R. RCAF W/O Timperley R. W/O Salt B. Sgt. McInnes J. E. Sgt. Bayley R. F.
22nd March 1944: Frankfurt ND562 PH-D F/L Cook A. J. Sgt.Summerscale K. L. W/O Mouchet M. R. RCAF W/O Timperley R. W/O Salt B. Sgt. McInnes J. E. Sgt. Bayley R. F.
24th March 1944: Berlin ND562 PH-D F/L Cook A. J. Sgt.Summerscale K. L. W/O Mouchet M. R. RCAF W/O Timperley R. W/O Salt B. Sgt. McInnes J. E. Sgt. Bayley R. F.
26th March 1944: Essen ND562 PH-D F/L Cook A. J. Sgt.Summerscale K. L. W/O Mouchet M. R. RCAF W/O Timperley R. W/O Salt B. Sgt. McInnes J. E. Sgt. Bayley R. F.
30th March 1944: Nürenburg ND562 PH-D F/L Cook A. J.P/O Cotton-Minchin C. H. 2nd P. Sgt. Summerscale K. L. W/O Mouchet M. R. N. RCAF W/O Timperly R. W/O Salt B. Sgt. McInnes J. E. RCAF F/Sgt. Bayley R. F.

Burial details:

Originally all the crew were buried on the 1st April 1944 at the Municipal Cemetery Holzeim - reinterred after war end at Rheinberg War Cemetery.

Fl/Lt. Alistair John Cook. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.17. Son of David and Nettie Cook, husband of Winifrede Isobel Helene Cook, of Edinburgh, Scotland. Total 20 operations with 12 Squadron.

P/O. Christopher Humphrey Cotton Minchin. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.14. Son of James Humphrey and Violet Ada Cotton Minchin, of Kansas City, Missouri, USA. First operation, prior to taking his own command. 

Sgt. Kenneth Launcelot Summerscale. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.16. No next of kin details - are you able to assist? Total 12 operations with 12 Squadron.

P/O. Maurice Rene Nicolas Mouchet. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.18. Son of Suzanne Jacques, of St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. First operation with 12 Squadron.

P/O. Robert Timperley. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.15. Son of George and Agnes Rose Timperley, husband of Edith Edna Haynes Timperley, of Whalley, Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Total 6 operations with 12 Squadron.

P/O. Bernard Salt. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.21. Son of Thomas and Gertrude Ellen Salt of Littleover. Derby, England. Total 6 operations with 12 Squadron.

P/O. Jack Ernest McInnes. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.20. Son of Arthur and Hettie E. McInnes, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Total 5 operations with 12 Squadron (23 in total). Born in June 1920 in Uxbridge, England, Mother was English. Enlisted July 1942, commissioned 29th March 1944.

Fl/Sgt. Richard Frederick Bayley. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 14.D.19. No next of kin details - are you able to assist? Total 6 operations with 12 Squadron.

Other:

Fl/Lt. Douglas Mintie Carey DFC. Hanover War Cemetery. Grave 15.K.8. Son of William Lawson Carey and Myrtle Eva Carey, of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. (Shown Left)

Researched by Martin Brown for Aircrew Remembered, July 2015. For further details our thanks to the sources shown below. Also to the curator of the RAF Wickenby, Anne Law, for her help with assisting Martin.

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