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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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IX Squadron
09.06.1941 No. 9 Squadron Wellington Ic T2620 WS-G F/O Douglas Ferguson Lamb DFC

Operation: Reconnaissance of the French and Belgium coast

Date: 9th June 1941 (Monday)

Unit: No. 9 Squadron

Type: Wellington Ic

Serial: T2620

Code: WS-G

Base: RAF Honington, Suffolk

Location: North Sea off Zeebrugge, Belgium

Pilot: F/O. Douglas Ferguson Lamb DFC 42614 RAF Age 21 Killed (1)

2nd Pilot: Sgt. John Claude Partington 1180179 RAFVR Age 20 Killed (2)

Obs: Fl/Sgt. Dennis John Mansfield. 751041 RAFVR Age? Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. David Alfred Humphrey 553851 RAF Age 19 Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Ronald Seward Bunce 906190 RAFVR Age 22 Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Arthur Eccles 638409 RAF Age? POW No 18278 Camps: 344 - Lamsdorf, Stalag Luft III - Sagan and Belaria

RAF Honington (courtesy FOLD3) Vickers Wellington Ic of No 9 Squadron (courtesy Imperial War Museum)

REASON FOR LOSS:

F/O. Lamb and crew took off from RAF Honington at 15.36hrs for a reconnaissance operation off the coast of France and Belgium and to attack enemy shipping in the Belgium and Dutch coastal sweep. Three other aircraft form No 9 Squadron took off on the same operation. Two returned safely, but reported that they had been attacked by Me 109s. The rear gunner of one of these aircraft reported seeing a Wellington being attacked by two Me 109s and that black smoke was seen coming from this Wellington. The other aircraft that failed to return from this operation was Wellington Ic R1758 flown by Wing Commander Arnold. A total of 18 aircraft took part in this reconnaissance operation with a total loss of 4 aircraft.

German flak battery LF4 claimed shooting down a Wellington, assumed to be T2620, off Knokke on the 9th June 1941 although there is no time recorded.

Information has been provided that Sgt. Partington's body together with another unidentified body had washed up ashore on the beach of Zoutelande, in the South West of Holland.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records show that an 'unknown' was buried at the Flushing (Vlissingen) Northern Cemetery in the adjacent grave, A.13, to Sgt. Partington. For the CWGC to record the 'unknown' it can be fairly certain that this was a Commonwealth serviceman. An analyse of the a/c and crew lost on the night of the 9th June 1941 makes it probable that the 'unknown' in Grave A.13 was one of the three crew members MiA and commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial.


Adegem Canadian War Cemetery and Runnymede Memorial (both courtesy CWGC)

Flying Officer Lamb DFC reported missing (courtesy British Newspapers) Sgt Partington headstone(courtesy Des Philippet) Fl/Sgt Mansfield headstone (courtesy Roots Web)

Burial details:

F/O. Douglas Ferguson Lamb DFC. Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 30. Son of Major D J E Lamb and Mrs Lamb of Hull. (1) Douglas F Lamb was born in 1920 and educated at Hymers College and King Edward VI School, Birmingham. Trained before the war to become an architect and surveyor. Commissioned in June 1939 and was posted to No. 9 Squadron on the 15th May 1941 from No. Group Training Flight, Stradishall. His first flight as a pilot with the Squadron was on an operation to Kiel on the 18th May 1941. Douglas F Lamb was awarded the DFC for gallantry and devotion to duty in execution of air operations while serving with No. 9 Squadron in February 1941. He is remembered on the King Edward VI School War Memorial and in the Hall of Memory, Birmingham

Sgt. John Claude Partington. Flushing (Vlissingen) Northern Cemetery, Netherlands. Grave Ref: Row A. Grave 12. Son of John Laughton Partington and Madeleine Partington of Buenos Aires, Argentina.(B. A. Cantab) (2) John's brother Rene Laughton Partington, also died on service on the 6th October 1942. John Claude Partington was a native from Buenos Aires and is remembered on the Cheltenham College Roll of Honour

Fl/Sgt. Dennis John Mansfield (courtesy of Julie Doherty)

Fl/Sgt. Dennis John Mansfield. Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Belgium. Grave Ref: III. AB. 6. Son of John and Annie Mansfield


Sgt. David Alfred Humphrey. Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 45. Son of Walter Alfred and Mabel Humphrey of Woodley, Berkshire.

Sgt. Ronald Seward Bunce. Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 40. Son of Arthur and Daisy Bunce. Husband of Barbara Britton Bunce of Boscombe, Hampshire


Researched by: Kate Tame Aircrew Remembered and for all the relatives and friends of the crew. With special thanks to Julie Doherty, The British Newspaper Archive - The Daily Mail February 1942, Des Philippet for the headstone photographs. Thanks to John Jones for the German Flak battery information. Thanks to Leon Hilleman for the information regarding the recovery of Sgt. Partington together with the unidentified body.


RS 15.04.2019 - Update to include body recovery information

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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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Last Modified: 15 April 2019, 09:53

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