Operation: Wiesbaden

Date: 2nd/3rd February 1945 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit: 460 Squadron, RAAF ('Strike and Return')

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: PB807

Code: AR:H

Base: RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire

Location: Riedelbach, Germany

Pilot: Fg Off. John Maguire 419193 RAAF Age 21. Killed

Flt Eng: Sgt. Roy Barrett Newton 906779 RAFVR Age 25. Killed

Nav: Plt Off. Norman Wade Everett 434454 RAAF Age 20. Killed

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Robert H. Whiticar 1388677 RAFVR Injured/PoW Unknown Camp

WOp/Air Gnr: WO. Donald Bernard May 429820 RAAF Age 20. Killed

Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. David George Russell R263225 RCAF Age 26. Killed

Air Gnr: Sgt. Wilfred George Potter 2210442 RAFVR Age 29. Killed

A relative of Plt Off. Everrett would very much like contact with the relatives of Flt Sgt. Whiticar - please contact us in the first instance and we will pass on your details.

REASON FOR LOSS:

A force of 495 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos was despatched on this the one and only large raid of the war by Bomber Command on Weisbaden. Despite complete cloud cover most of the bombing hit the town. A brief local report stated that 520 houses and about 30 other buildings were destroyed and 400 houses and 50 other buildings were seriously damaged.

5 important war industries along the banks of the Rhine were untouched but the railway station was damaged. Casualties were recorded as 'approximately 1000 killed and 350 injured'.

12 Lancasters were lost: 3 due to flak, 3 due to collisions, 1 abandoned after engine fire, 1 returned due to engine failure and crashed on landing and 4 crashed in Germany cause unknown.

Lancaster PB807 took off at 20:42 hrs from RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire, bombed the target and was on its return when it was attacked within minutes by 22 year old, Lt. Wolfgang Bretschneider of 6.NJG4 between 23:51 - 23:53 hrs. Flt Sgt. Whiticar noticed his Ju 88 below and warned his skipper. The Luftwaffe pilot dropped back and then pulled up sharply to start another attack, Flt Sgt. Whiticar shouted 'Corkscrew' to Mac which the pilot did. Again the fighter came on their tail and again Mac Corkscrewed but the Lancaster was hit and caught fire. The rear gunner then opened fire, hit the Ju 88G-1 Werk No 620969 3C+EP which then crashed killing all his crew. (23 year old, RO. Uffz. Walter Walter Stolz and 21 year old, Flt Eng Uffz. Siegfried Burghardt, all buried at Usingen) The Ju 88 also crashed at Riedelbach.

Description of Corkscrew Manoeuvre

Six of the crew were thought to have been killed whilst still in the air, Rob Whiticar managed to bail out of the strickened aircraft landing in some trees about a quarter of a mile from where the Lancaster crashed.

Flt Sgt. Whiticar was found the following evening, crawling through some woods on the outskirts of the village. He was taken to an Inn where a local Wehrmacht detachment was based and received treatment form a nurse, Margarete Faupel for a bullet wound in the foot and a broken leg. Then taken away after treatment as a PoW - no details as to camp or PoW number.

Above: Brothers Everett (courtesy Jennifer Everett) Right: Plt Off. Russell (courtesy Dave Champion)

Another crew was lost during this operation, the other:

Lancaster I ME326 AR:P Flown by 31 year old, Grp Capt. Keith Raymond John Parsons 109 RAAF survived with his rear gunner, 21 year old, Flt Sgt. Frederick Human 1595696 RAFVR - later to die of his injuries) after a mid-air collision with 626 Squadron Lancaster PD286 UM:G2 -- 1 crew member also killed, 6 escaped injury. Keith Parsons went on to become an Air Commodore CBE, DSO, DFC, AFC and passed away on the 27th June 2011 in Adelaide, Australia.

Burial details:

Initially buried in the local cemetery at Riedelbach - reinterred after the end of the war.

Fg Off. John Maguire. Durnbach War Cemetery. Joint grave 6.D.12-13. Grave inscription reads: 'MAY PEACE ETERNAL BE THE LOT OF THOSE WHOM WE HAVE LOVED'. Born on the 26th June 1923 at Traralgon, Victoria. The son of Thomas Henry and Myrtle Florence Maguire and husband of Nellie Maguire, of 97 Sepulchre Gate, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Roy Barrett Newton. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 6.D.9. Grave inscription reads: 'YOUR MEMORY IS OUR DEAREST TREASURE MUM, DAD, BROTHER AND SISTER'. Son of Arthur Joseph and Elizabeth Newton, of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England.

Plt Off. Norman Wade Everett. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 6.D.11. Grave inscription reads: 'AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE REMEMBER THEM'. Born on the 17th August 1924 at Kyogle, NSW. The son of Son of Harry Vernon Everett and Mary Doris Irene Everett, of Ettrick Road, Kyogle, New South Wales, Australia.

Understood to be on his 27th operational sortie. His brother, WO. Kenneth Everett 420927 RAAF also served, in Coastal Command on Malta

WO. Donald Bernard May. Durnbach War Cemetery. Joint grave 6.D.12-13. Grave inscription reads: 'ASLEEP WITH THE BRAVE UNTIL THE DAY DAWNS'. Born on the 8th May 1924 at Elliston, South Australia. The son of Son of Josiah Charles and Bessie Kate May, of Nunjikompita, South Australia.

Plt Off. David George Russell. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 6.D.8. Born 24th April 1918 in Pelham Corners, Welland County, Ontario. Grave inscription reads: 'GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS'. Son of Robert and Margaret (née Leslie) Russell and husband of Phyllis Jean (née Crick) Russell, of Fonthill, Ontario, Canada.

Commissioned and promoted to Plt Off. (J95488) with effect 1st February 1945

Sgt. Wilfred George Potter. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 6.D.10. Grave inscription reads: 'MEMORIES OF YOU ARE ALWAYS DEAR. MAY YOUR SKIES BE ALWAYS CLEAR'. Son of William and Beatrice Potter, of Manchester; husband of Edna May Potter, of Old Trafford, Manchester.

Understood to be on his 26th operational sortie.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Jenifer 'Everett' and the family of Norman and Kenny Everett. Also to the National Archives of Australia. Also to Dave Champion for additional details - June 2018. With thanks to Janet Bates AFA Association, Ballarat Branch for correction to pilot photo - April 2019. Thanks to Stacey for pointing out the error in the Sqn Number. (Nov 2021). Other sources as quoted below: