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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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90 squadron badge
20/21.07.1944 No. 90 Squadron Lancaster I LM185 WP-D Fl/Sgt Lane

Operation: Homberg

Date: 20/21st July 1944

Unit: No. 90 Squadron

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: LM185

Code: WP-D

Base: RAF Tuddenham, Suffolk

Location: Boxtel, Holland

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. William Lane 613629 RAF Age 23. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Edward John Flaherty 1219836 RAF Age 23. Killed

Nav: Sgt. William Norman Morgan 1651121 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Hugh McBeath Brown 1415876 RAFVR Age 24. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Peter Harry Richardson 1580737 RAFVR Age 20.Killed (1)

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Arthur Forster Marshall 1699568 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Percy Naylor 2212864 RAFVR Age 35. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

LM185 took off from it's base at RAF Tuddenham, Suffolk at 23:02 hrs. as part of a group of 147 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes to attack the oil plant situated in the town of Homberg. German night fighters caught the Lancasters by surprise and 20 were lost.

The crew of LM185: Rear L-R - possibly Sgt. Peter Harry Richardson, Fl/Sgt. Hugh McBeath Brown, possibly Sgt. Arthur Forster Marshall, Sgt. Edward John Flaherty, Front - probably Sgt. William Norman Morgan, Fl/Sgt. William Lane, probably Sgt. Reginald Percy Naylor. (Courtesy Carole McLernon)


This Lancaster is thought to have been intercepted and shot down by Lt. Josef Forster of 8./NJG2 at 01:45 hrs with the aircraft crashing into the suburbs of Boxtel.

Two other Lancasters from 90 Squadron were also lost on this raid. LM183 P-L piloted by Fl/Lt. Philp Rossington all the crew of 7 were killed. LM189 WP-U flown by F/O. Frank McGlone and his crew of 6 were also all killed.

(1) Sgt. Peter Harry Richardson was a former pupil of Moseley Grammar school (Now secondary/grammar school). We are working very closely with the school's historians to remember all the ex pupils who died whilst serving with the RAF and recorded on the school memorial. (The link to the school website is shown below and also if you click the photo above)

Burial details:

Fl/Sgt. William Lane. Boxtel R/C Churchyard. Grave 6. Son of Hilda Lane of Middlesborough, Cleveland, England.

Sgt. Edward John Flaherty. Boxtel R/C Churchyard. Grave 7. Son of Isabel Flaherty, and stepson of Robert Priestley, of Batley, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. William Norman Morgan. Boxtel R/C Churchyard. Grave 1. Son of George Robert and Edith Joyce Morgan, of Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales.

Fl/Sgt. Hugh McBeath Brown. Boxtel R/C Churchyard. Grave 8. Son of Dr. William Brown, M.B., and Margaret Elizabeth Brown, of Penyfai Lane, Glamorgan, Wales. Husband of Elizabeth Brown.

Sgt. Peter Harry Richardson. Boxtel R/C Churchyard. Grave 5. Son of Robert Tait Richardson and Jessie May Richardson, of Billesley, Birmingham, England.

Sgt. Arthur Forster Marshall. Eindhoven Gen. Cemetery. Plot KK. Grave 117. Son of Arthur and Caroline Marshall, of Low Fell, Gateshead, Co. Durham, England.

Sgt. Reginald Percy Naylor. Eindhoven Gen. Cemetery. Plot KK. Grave 118. Son of Arthur Lewis Naylor and May Naylor, husband of Sarah Naylor, of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England.

Researched for Carole McLernon, niece of pilot Fl/Sgt. William Lane, Robert Brown, son of Fl/Sgt. Hugh Brown who contacted us in November 2015 and for all relatives of the crew. With thanks to Keith Townsend, historian of Moseley Secondary/Grammar school memorial records, Paul ten Broeke and Moos Raaijmakers for grave photographs. Other sources as shown below.

KTY 15.11.2015 - Fl/Sgt. Brown identified on crew photo courtesy of his son, Robert Brown.

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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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