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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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102 Squadron Crest
03.04.07.1941 No. 102 Squadron Whitley V Z6573 Sq/Ldr. O.R.C. Moseley

Operation: Essen

Date: 03/04th July 1941 (Thursday/Friday)

Unit: No. 102 Squadron

Type: Whitley V

Serial: Z6573

Code: DY-?

Base: RAF Topcliffe, Yorkshire

Location: Crashed at Buscherhofe near Neuss-Kaarst

Pilot: Sq/Ldr. Oswald Robert Compton Moseley 37113 RAF Age ? Killed

Pilot 2: Sgt. Hilton William Fish R/68111 RCAF Age 21. Killed

Obs: P/O. Harold Harry Wells 85022 RAF Age 20. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Patrick Joseph William Ennis 911094 RAFVR Age 21. Killed (1)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Robert Murray Milligan 976204 RAFVR Age ? Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 23:14 hrs, joining some 69 Wellingtons and 29 Whitleys to Essen, attacking the Krupps armaments works and railway targets. 3 Wellingtons and 3 Whitleys lost. Returning crews reported that bombing was difficult because of thick cloud. Essen reports only light damage with two people injured, but many bombs fell on the towns of Bochum, Dortmund, Duisberg, Hagen, and Wuppertal as well as on other places".

Nachtjagd Combat Archives Part 1 1941 - Theo Boiten, reports a probable claim for this aircraft. The entry records that the aircraft was coned by 11-13/III/ Flak Regt 611, hit by 3/Res Flak Abt 407 and 1-3/Res Flak Abt 404. The aircraft crashed at Buscherhofe near Neuss-Kaarst.

102 Squadron Whitley at RAF Topcliffe.

102 Squadron lost two other aircraft during this operation:

Whitley P5014 - Flown by 20 year old, Sgt. Donald Fraser Gibson 927583 RAFVR of Muswell Hill, Middlesex England - Killed remaining 4 PoW.
Whitley T4330 - Flown by Sgt A. Davis RAFVR - all crew escaped unhurt after emergency landing on return.

Researched for the Wimbledon College Roll Of Honour - Aircrew Remembered have offered to provide basic information for the school records. Sgt. Patrick Ennis had been a former pupil.

(1) His older brother, 26 year old, Sq/Ldr. Anthony Stewart Reginald Ennis DSO. DFC. 104249 RAFVR, also killed whilst serving with the RAF.

Burial details:

Sq/Ldr. Oswald Robert Compton Moseley. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 6.B.10-11. Son of Oswald Richard Moseley and Catherine Elizabeth (née Gregg). Husband of Irene Margaret Dauber.

Pilot 2: Sgt. Hilton William Fish. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 6.B.10-11. Son of Leonard W. Fish and Veda E. Fish, of St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada.

Obs: P/O. Harold Harry Wells. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 6.B.10-11. Son of Horace and Mary Annie Wells, of Windsor, Berkshire, England. Husband of Peggy Wells.

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Patrick Joseph William Ennis. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Grave 6.B.9. Son of Wing Cdr. Wilfrid Edmund Ennis and Maud Marie Ennis, of Edgware, Middlesex, England.

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Robert Murray Milligan. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 6.B.10-11. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researched for the Wimbledon College Roll Of Honour. Thanks to John Jones for the Nachtjagd Combat Archives details. For further details our thanks to the sources shown below.

RS 16.11.2018 - Addition of Nachtjagd Combat Archives details

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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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