AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
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.
Check our Research databases: Database List

.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

37 Squadron Crest
13/14.07.1944 No. 37 Squadron Wellington X MF121 Lt. Daniel R. Hjelm SAAF

Operation: Marshalling Yards

Date: 13/14th July 1944 (Thursday/Friday)

Unit: No. 37 Squadron

Type: Wellington X

Serial: MF121

Base: RAF Tortorella, Italy

Location: Not known - target area perhaps.

Pilot: Lt. Daniel Reinhold Hjelm 328638V SAAF Age 24. Killed

Pilot 2: Fl/Sgt. Alexander Barr Hart AUS/426339 RAAF Age 22. Killed

Nav: Lt. J.P. Blanc 211492V SAAF Age 28. Killed

Air/Bmr: F/O. William Frederick Freeman 156411 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Dennis Victor Barnes 1048199 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. James Thomas Welsh 1585063 RAFVR Age 21. Killed 


Relatives of Fl/Sgt. Hart would very much like to make contact with other relatives of this crew.


REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from the landing base at Tortorella, Italy at 20.27 hrs to attack the Lambrate marshalling yards in Milan. 

Second pilot to Wellington MF121 - Fl/Sgt. Alexander Barr Hart (courtesy Kristina Gilson)

The fuel load taken was 750 gallons with a bomb load of 9 x 500 lbs. 

Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take off, it failed to return. 

Above: area of operations, below: 37 Squadron Wellingtons in formation.

Milan War Cemetery (courtesy Elena Rossi)

Burial details:

Initially buried in Limoto Cemetery prior to being moved in 1947 to the British Cemetery in Milan. (together with 5 others - ‘Limoto’ is as described on official documents, although we are unable to place this)

Lt. Daniel Reinhold Hjelm. Milan War Cemetery. Grave II.C.13. Son of Klas A. and Mina Hjelm of South Africa.

Fl/Sgt. Alexander Barr Hart. Milan War Cemetery. Grave II.C.11. Son of Harry and Bethea Sword Hart, of ‘Leabrae, Lily Avenue, Yeronga, Queensland, Australia. Born on 11th June 1922. Enlisted 20th June 1942.

Lt. J.P Blanc. Milan War Cemetery. Grave II.C.6. Son of Dr. M.A. Blanc and Mrs. N. Blanc, of Melsetter, Southern Rhodesia.

F/O. William Frederick Freeman. Milan War Cemetery. Grave II.C.15. Son of Frederick Jonas Freeman and Kate Bartlett Freeman, of Southfields, Surrey. England.

Fl/Sgt. Dennis Victor Henry Barnes. Milan War Cemetery. Grave II.C.15. Son of Henry Sidney and Marguerite Elizabeth Barnes, of Lee, London, England.

Sgt. James Thomas Welsh. Milan War Cemetery. Coll. grave VI. D. 1-7. Son of James and Annie Maria Welsh, of Dagenham, Essex, England.

Sources for further details our thanks to the following, Kristina Gilson from Australia - relative of Fl/Sgt. Hart. National Archives of Australia. Elena Rossi for cemetery photograph. Commonwealth War Graves Commission ‘RAAF Database’.

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
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.
Click any image to enlarge it

Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to buy research books from Amazon •Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2024
Last Modified: 09 November 2014, 22:35

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor