Operation: Mannheim
Date: 23/24th September 1943
Unit: No. 97 Squadron
Type: Lancaster III
Serial: JA708
Code: OF-P
Base: RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire,
Location: South of Mannheim, Germany
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Robert A. Fletcher RAFVR PoW No: 2612. Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria
Fl/Eng: Fl/Sgt. Joe E. Nelson RAFVR PoW No: 501. Camp: Stalag Kopernikus
Nav: Sq/Ldr. Kenneth Jack Foster DFC-bar 77915 RAFVR Age 26. Killed
Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Jack F. Beesley RAFVR PoW No: 509. Camp: Stalag Kopernikus
W/OpAir/Gnr: P/O. Wally H. Layne RAFVR PoW No: 605. Camp: Stalag Luft Heydekrug (1)
Air/Gnr: Sq/Ldr. Robert Alexander McKinna DFC-bar 69440 RAFVR Age 33. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Henry Reuben Page 1316109 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off at 1930 hrs from RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire as part of a force of 628 aircraft (312 Lancasters, 193 Halifaxes , 7 Wellingtons, 8 Mosquitoes and 5 B-17's from the 8th US Army Air Force) to destroy the northern part of Mannheim.
P/O. Wally H. Layne and right pilot, Fl/Lt. Robert A. Fletcher
Lancaster JA708 was claimed to have been shot down by Uffz. Josef Brunner from 2./NJG1 south of Mannheim at a height of 3,800 m at 22.50 hrs. (source Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten - April 2017)
Burial Details:
Sq/Ldr. Kenneth Jack Foster DFC-bar. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 18.B.25. Son of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Foster, husband of Eileen Foster, of Southport, Lancashire, England.
Sq/Ldr. Robert Alexander McKinna DFC-bar. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Joint grave. 18.B.23-24. Son of Alexander and Margery of Edinburgh, Scotland. Husband of Helen Dorothy.
Fl/Sgt. Henry Reuben Page. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Joint grave. 18.B.23-24. Son of Arthur George and Ruby of Bristol, England. Husband of Myrtle Jean.
With thanks to David Layne son of P/O. Wally Layne for information and the series of photographs. For further details our thanks to the following, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vol's. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vol's. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries (Updated 2014 version), Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Thanks to Kiel Almond for pointing out the base for the Squadron was RAF Bourn in Cambridgeshire.
(1) David Layne has contributed a great deal of information on this crew and others, we are extremely grateful to him and his research. He also runs a blog: 'Wally's War'.
RS 12.06.2019 - Correction to airbase location
Original upload unknown
RS 12.06.2019 - Correction to airbase location
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