Operation: Coquereaux, France (Flying bomb storage site)

Date: 31st July/1st August 1944 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit No: 429 (Bison) Squadron RCAF, 6 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax III

Serial: LV950

Code: AL:C

Base: RAF Leeming, Yorkshire.

Location: St-Martin-au-Bosc, France

Pilot: WO2. John Roy Irish R1071A RCAF Age 24. KiA

Flt Eng: Plt Off. Reginald Thomas Walsham 55891 RAF Age 26. KiA

Nav: Flt Sgt. John Alexander Santo R163703 Age 23. KiA (1)

Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. John Ernest Gloeckler J28762 Age 26. KiA (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. William John Louis Wright 5214 RCAF Age 27. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. Hugh Boyd Gilmore R204689 RCAF Age 20. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Gordon Leroy Lindensmith R219954 RCAF Age 20. KiA

Above left to right: Plt Off. John R. Irish, Plt Off. John A. Santo (from their service records)

Above left right: Fg Off. John E. Gloeckler, Plt Off. William J. L. Wright, Plt Off. Hugh B. Gilmore, Plt Off. Gordon L. Lindensmith

REASON FOR LOSS:

In the early morning hours of the 13th June 1944, the first V1 flying bomb fell on the railway bridge across Grove Road in East London badly damaging the bridge and a number of houses. A young mother and her eight month old baby were killed as well as a 12 year old boy and three other adults.

By the end of June to the first week of August 1944, V1 attacks on London were at their height with over 100 falling on some days mostly in the south eastern suburbs.

During the eight week period commencing with the first attack on the night of 16th/17th June 1944, Bomber Command launched over 60 raids on flying bomb launch sites, storage areas and supply points in the Pas de Calais and other parts of north western France. Some of the sorties were very large, one involving in excess of 1000 aircraft, bombing multiple targets others were smaller raids against individual launching sites.

On the night of the 31st July /1st August 1944 Halifax III LV950 joined a force of two-hundred and two (202) bombers on an operation to bomb two (2) launching sites and two (2) storage sites but only it was only at the Forêt de Nieppe storage site that effective damage was caused. LV950 was one of only two aircraft that failed to return.

LV950 was coned by 4./Flakschienw. Abt. 308 at a height of between 1000 and 1500 m., and was hit by Flak and exploded in mid-air. The wreckage crashed 1 km west of Sailly about 1 km NE of Sait-Martin-au-Bosc at 00:25 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten)

(1) John Santo grew up in the Bender district of Saskatchewan, near present day Kipling, of Saskatchewan. He enlisted in the RCAF on the 5th May 1942.

He graduated as a Navigator from No. 2 Air Observer School (AOS) at Edmonton and was posted overseas on the 26th August 1943. After joining his crew at 24 Operational Training Unit (OTU) he was posted to 429 (Bison) Squadron on the 29th April 1944.

Above: Plt Off. John Santo (courtesy David and Patrick Santo)

Above: Identity Card for Plt Off. John Santo (From his service record)

Plt Off. Santo’s twin brother WO1. Frank Robert Santo R70901 was killed on a training mission on the 5th May 1943 aboard 22 OTU Wellington X HF630. Only the tail Gunner survived.

Patrick Santo noted, that there were nine (9) children in the family of Alexander and Margaret Santo including two sets of twins. My father is half of the second set of twins (his twin brother died at 6 weeks of age of whooping cough). 8 of the nine children enlisted in the military during the 2nd WW. The second youngest, Edward, was underage at the time but managed to get into training. The youngest was only 11 when the war ended. Margaret Santo was honoured as Silver Cross mother of the year in 1973 when the island and the bay were named after her two fallen children.

(2)

Click the image to read.

Above: Translation of a letter sent to Fg Off. Gloeckler's fiancé Miss Lola De Long of Halifax, Nova Scotia by an Italian PoW assigned by the German authorities to assist with the burial of the bodies. Sgt. De Roma discovered her address in the pocket of his uniform while searching Gloeckner's body for identification. Originally written in Italian, Miss De Long sent it to the RCAF in Ottawa who translated it for her.

Above left and centre: Plt Off. John Roy Irish (courtesy Marilyn Irish) Right: Plt Off. Hugh Boyd Gilmore

Above extreme left: Plt Off. Reginald Thomas Walsham (courtesy Shaye-Louise Jolley) Right: Plt Off John Roy Irish (courtesy Marilyn Irish)

Burial details:

Above: The graves of the crew of LV950 are the only Commonwealth War Graves in the St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Above left to right: Plt Off. John R. Irish, Plt Off. Reginald T. Walsham, Plt Off. John A. Santo Fg Off. John E. Gloeckler.

Above left to right: Plt Off. William John L. Wright, Plt Off. Hugh B. Gilmore and Plt Off. Gordon L. Lindensmith.

Full resolution images of the graves are available to relative - please contact us.

Plt Off. John Roy Irish. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 2. Grave Inscription: "UNTIL THE DAY BREAK, AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY. SONG OF SOLOMON.II.17". Born on the 26th November 1921 in Ancaster, Ontario. Son of Roy Charles and Agnes Loretta (née Gove) Irish of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J87468 Plt Off.

Plt Off. Reginald Thomas Walsham. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 7. Grave Inscription: "I SEE ABOVE THE HILL TOPS OF TIME THE DAWN OF A FAIRER AND A BETTER DAY". Born in the 2nd Qtr of 1918 in Aldershot, Hampshire. Son of Thomas and Ellen Annie (née Clarke) Walsham of Aldershot, Hampshire. Husband of Lilian Elsie (née Smith) Walsham of Roehampton, London, England

Plt Off. John Alexander Santo. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 5. Born on the 21st September 1920 in Bender, Saskatchewan . Son of Alexander and Margaret (née Baskie) Santo of Bender, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J88290 Plt Off.

Santo Bay in Saskatchewan is named after Plt Off. Santo

Fg Off. John Ernest Gloeckler. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 1. Grave Inscription: "GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. REMEMBERED BY MOTHER, ARTHUR AND BOB". Born on the 19th December 1918 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Son of Henry John Michael and Verna Louise (née McGuire) Gloeckler of Shawville, Quebec, Canada.

Gloeckler Lake in Saskatchewan is named after Fg Off. Gloeckler..

Plt Off. William John Louis Wright. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Grave Inscription: "GOD LOVED MY HUSBAND WHO DIED FOR HIS COUNTRY”. Born on the 8th September 1917 in Kenton, Manitoba. Son to John Luis and Agnes Stewart (née Leathen) Wright of Kenton, Manitoba. Husband to Evelyn Jennie (née Cumming) Wright of Langley, Prairie, British Columbia, Canada.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J88779 Plt Off.

William Wright Lake in Manitoba is named after Plt Off. Wright.

Plt Off. Hugh Boyd Gilmore. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Grave Inscription: "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS". Born on the 31st October 1923 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Son of Samuel Hugh and Gertrude Elsie (née Kidd) Gilmore of Eburne, British Columbia.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J90250 Plt Off.

Plt Off. Gordon Leroy Lindensmith. St. Martin-au-Bosc Communal Cemetery Grave 5. Grave Inscription: "IT WAS SAID UNTO THEM, THAT THEY SHOULD REST YET FOR A LITTLE SEASON. REV. VI.11". Born on the 20th January 1924 in Kitchener, Ontario. Son of William Percy and Gertrude (née Wiegand) Lindensmith in Toronto, Ontario, Canada .

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J90312 Plt Off.

Researched and written by Colin Bamford for the Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the all relatives of the crew of Halifax LV950. With many thanks to Marilyn Irish, Hugh Boyd Wylie, Dave Plummer, David and Patrick Santo for so kindly providing their family photographs and also Michel Coste for following up my leads in France. With thanks to Pierre Vandervelden "In Memory" website”, also to Shaye-Louise Jolley for photograph of Plt Off. Reginald Thomas Walsham. Her Grandmother, R. Jolley - formerly Walsham, was his only child (May 2012). Headstone images added (Dec 2015). New images added (Jul 2017). Additional crew photographs and details added (Feb 2020). Reviewed, updated with new information and reorganised by Aircrew Remembered (Jun 2026)

Other sources listed below:

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