Operation: Essen, Germany

Date: 3rd/4th April 1943 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit No: 158 Squadron

Type: Halifax II

Serial: HR754

Code: NP:K

Base: RAF Lissett

Location: Between Stud Farm and Wassand Hall near Sigglesthorne, Yorkshire

Pilot: Sgt. John Keedwell 925015 RAFVR Age 29. KiA (1)

Flt Eng: Sgt. John Robert Franks 998499 RAFVR Age 35. KiA

Nav: Plt Off. William Rhymer Simpson 130239 RAFVR Age 22. Injured (2)

Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. John Burgess 128714 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Sydney Nurse 1496525 RAFVR Age 22. Injured (3)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Reginald Victor Loose 1395954 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Leonard Froud 1379219 RAFVR Age? Injured (4)

Above Sgt. Reginald Victor Loose as an aircrew trainee (Courtesy of Paul Markham)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 19:40 hrs to bomb the city of Essen - with a total force of 348 aircraft (225 Lancasters, 113 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes) Weather forecast was not good for the operation but it turned out that there was no cloud over the target resulting in accurate bombing.

Widespread damage was caused in the centre and the western half of the city. 635 buildings were destroyed with a further 526 suffering severe damage. Casualties on the ground amounted to 118 killed, 458 injured.

HR754 pressed home the attack and returned home. For unknown reasons the aircraft flew very low and overshot its approach to the airfield and crashed at 00:48 hrs in the morning of the 4th between Stud Farm and Wassand Hall, located east of the village of Sigglesthorne, 3 miles WSW of Hornsea in Yorkshire.

Sgt. Keedwell and three of his crew were killed, two were injured and only Flt Sgt. Leonard Froud, the rear gunner, escaped unscathed.

The injured crew members were taken to hospital. The deceased were taken to their home towns to be buried there. The two injured crewmen, Plt Off. William Simpson and Sgt. Reginald Nurse returned to action and were both killed later in the war.

Of the 21 aircraft loss on this operation 2 others from the Sqn failed to return:

Halifax II DT635 NP:F - Flown by Flt Lt. John Denis Cole 118067 RAFVR and his crew were KiA;

Halifax II DT795 NP:N - Flown by Frederick Henry Blake R78495 RCAF and his crew were KiA.

(1) The Slimbridge Local History Society via Den Bannister submitted the following information:

John’s first career was as a journalist with the Bristol World before he joined the police force, initially in Norwich and latterly in Bath. The Bath Weekly Chronicle Herald of Saturday, 21 October 1933 records the arrival of John and another man to the Bath police force. It goes on to say that both are well over 6 feet tall, are public schoolboys and play a good game of cricket.

However, his interest in aviation led him to taking flying lessons and gaining his civil pilot’s licence while still serving in the police force.

The Western Daily Press and Bristol Mirror of Friday 29 January 1937 records him joining the Bristol and Wessex Aeroplane Club as a new pilot member.

Later in February the same newspaper speculates that as John has received permission from his Chief Constable to take up flying it might one day see Bath police controlling race-meeting traffic from the air.

John joined the RAF and undertook his basic flying training in Canada. He went on to join 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit based at Ricall airfield near York where he was trained to fly Halifax bombers.

He joined 158 Squadron at RAF Lissett on 14 March 1943 along with the six men who were to form his crew. Two weeks later the crew flew their first operation to St Nazaire.

John with his father Thomas and younger brother Lionel taken outside the Berkeley Arms Purton

(2) The then Fg Off. Simpson was KiA on the 6th September 1943 aboard 77 Squadron Halifax II JB839 KN:K. He was the Navigator on an operation to Mannheim (none of the 8 crew members survived)

Fg Off. William Rhymer Simpson. Durnbach War Cemetery, Grave 6.D.19. Grave inscription: "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER". Son of George Gray Simpson and Catherine Rhymer Simpson, of Lochore, Fife, Scotland.

(3) Flt Sgt. Nurse was KiA on the 25th February 1944 aboard 408 Squadron (RCAF) Lancaster II DS844 EQ:X

(4) Flt Sgt. Froud survived the war, marrying in 1945 and died peacefully in 1987 aged 79.

Burial details:

Sgt. John Keedwell. Slimbridge Churchyard (St. John The Evangelist), north of church. Grave inscription: "HE DIED THAT WE MAY LIVE". Born on the 2nd October 1913 in Axbridge, Weston Super Mare, Somerset. Son of Thomas and Janet Mary Keedwell, of Purton, Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England.

John is commemorated in four places, the City of Bath Police Memorial on the ground floor of Bath Police Station in Manvers Street, Bath, the main Bath memorial, the 158 Squadron memorial at Lissett and in the church of St Mary the Virgin in Berkeley.

Sgt. John Robert Franks. Leeds Cemetery (Lawnswood), Sec. Y. Grave 969. Born on the 10th August 1907. Son of Bertie and Jane Franks of Carlton, Goole, Yorkshire, England. Husband to Muriel Preston (née Smith) Franks of West Yorkshire, England.

Fg Off. John Burgess. Carnmoney Cemetery. Sec. Z.Z. Grave 16. Son of John and Elizabeth Burgess of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Sgt. Reginald Victor Loose. Staines Cemetery(London Road). Block F. Grave 444. Grave inscription: "IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR SON KILLED DURING AIR OPERATIONS OVER ESSEN". Born on the 23rd March 1923 in Lewisham, Kent. Son of Victor Raymond and Alice (née Williams) Loose, of Staines, Middlesex, England.

Researched by Den Bannister and the Slimbridge Local History Society, submitted to Aircrew Remembered in Jan 2018. Thanks to Paul Markham for the image of Sgt. Loose. Other updates by Aircrew Remembered (May 2025).

Other sources listed below.

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