Operation: Düsseldorf, Germany

Date: 11th/12th June 1943 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit No: 12 Squadron, 1 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: ED357

Code: PH:S

Base: RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire

Location: Oost-Flevorland (Ijsselmeer) Netherlands

Pilot: Flt Sgt. Daniel McNicol Thomson 409256 RAAF Age 26. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Kenneth Bowes 1098656 RAFVR Age 23. MiA

Nav: Sgt. James Leslie Osborne 1172557 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. William Middleton Ward 1553630 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Douglas Noel Campbell 1345600 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. William Thomas Pingle R146605 RCAF Age 22. PoW No: 227 * (1)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Clarence Wesley Albert Sparling R51866 RCAF Age 23. PoW No: 254 * (2)

* Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania)

Above left: Flt Sgt. Daniel M. Thomson (from his service record), left Sgt. Clarence W.A. Sparling (Courtesy of the North Bay Nugget, dated 29th May 1945)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Wickenby in Lincolnshire at 22:40 hrs with 782 other aircraft from various squadrons to bomb Düsseldorf.

ED357 was claimed by Oblt. Helmut Bergmann his 13th Abschuss, from Stab NJG1 detached to 8./NJG4. Over Ijsselmeer 10 km west of Harderwijk at 5000 m. at 02:02 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1 January - 22 June) 1943 Part 1 - Theo Boiten)

Hptm. Bergmann and his crew, Fw. Hauthal and Fw. Schopp, were KiA on the night of the 6th/7th August 1944 in the area of Avranches – Mortain when their Bf110 G-4 3C+CS was shot down by 604 Sqn Mosquito MM449 flown by Flt Lt. John Clarke Surman DFC, 64929 RAFVR and Plt Off. Clarence Edwin Weston DFC 178927 RAFVR. Hptm. Bergmann was credited with thirty-three (33) confirmed Abschüsse. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten)

It is believed that all the crew managed to bale out from the aircraft but sadly only two survived.The rear gunner and mid-upper gunner survived after being picked up from the water from some local Dutch people on barges and then looked after before being handed over to the Germans.

Although initial marking was spot on for the first wave a backup marker Mosquito dropped target indicators 14 miles (23 km) off target to the north-east; with the effect that part of the bombing fell there. 130 acres (0.53 km2) of Düsseldorf claimed as destroyed.

After the war, the area was drained and one of the propellers was recovered and today stands as a monument in front of the Town Hall in Dronten and a parade is held there on the anniversary of the end of the war in Holland. The Dutch named streets in honour of all the crew members: Thomsonstraat, Boweshof, Wardhof, Osbornehof, Campbellhof, Sparlinghof, Pinglestraat.

(1) After being captured he was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel on the 17th June 1943. On the 5th July he was transferred to Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug. In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was being made.

PoWs from Stalag Luft 6, the camp closest to the Russian advance, were in the "northern route" of the force-marches, and were transported to Stalag 20A by train on the 14th July 1944. Whilst here he was here he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2)

From here he was transferred to Stalag 357, Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland arriving there on the 17th July 1944. On the 1st September 1944 the PoWs were force-marched from Thorn (Toruń) to the site of the former Stalag 11D, with construction being carried out by the Italian PoW from Stalag 11B. The camp was commonly known as Stalag 357, Fallingbostal but officially the designation was Stalag 357, Oerbke.

On the 7th April 1945 the was amongst the PoWs who were informed by the Commandant Oberst Hermann Ostmann that 12,000 British PoWs were being evacuated from the camp in the face of the Allied advance. The men marched from the camp in columns of 2,000.

After ten (10) days they arrived at Gresse, east of the Elbe. There they were issued with Red Cross parcels, but were then unfortunately strafed by British Typhoonfighter-bombers, mistaking them for German troops. Sixty (60) PoW were killed and many wounded.

WO. ‘Dixie’ Deans confronted OberstOstmann and bluntly gave him a choice, to be captured to the Russians or the British. Ostman provided WO. Deans with a pass and a German guard, and they headed west to contact the advancing British troops. On the 1st May WO. Deans and his guard were sheltering in a house east of Lauenbergwhen they heard over the radio the news of the death of Adolf Hitler. The next morning the house was overrun by troops of the British 6th Airborne. WO. Deans was taken to the commander of VIII Corpsand explained the situation. He was given a captured Mercedes car and drove back to Gresse. Two days later the PoW column marched back across the British lines and were released. His was interviewed on the 10th May 1945.

William Thomas Pingle was born on the 21st May 1921 in Scarborough, Ontario. Prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 8th December 1941 he was employed with the Dunlop Rubber Co. in Toronto.

Courtesy of The Toronto Star, dated 18th June 1995

William passed away on the 17th June 1995 in Scarborough General Hospital age 74.

(2) After the statutory visit and interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel he was to transferred to Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug on the 1st July 1943. Whilst there he was promoted to Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1).

On the 15th July 1944 he was amongst the PoWs that were transferred to Stalag Luft 4, Groß-Tychow, Pomerania arriving there on the 19th July.

Stalag Luft 4, Groß-Tychow, Pomerania had been officially opened on the 28th May 1944 and two weeks after the first 64 PoWs had arrived.

By early 1945, the war was going badly for the Third Reich with Allied forces poised to overrun Germany. As the Russian offensive approached from the east, the Germans decided to move the occupants of certain Stalags, including Stalag Luft 4, farther west.

In late January 1945 the PoWs could see the distant flash of artillery fire from the east. On the 28th January the evacuation was ordered, and a train loaded with mostly sick and wounded were transported to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth, Germany. On the 2nd February another train load was transported to Stalag 13D at Nürnberg, Germany. Over a period of three (3) days from the 6th February some 6,000 prisoners were ordered to leave the camp on foot with little notice. The PoWs in groups of 250 to 300 were marched, heading west, covering long daily distances on starvation rations.

In the 7th February 1945 he escaped from the marching columns together with a WO. Austin RAAF and Flt Sgt. Robertson RCAF. They were captured on the 12th February at Labes (Łobez), Pomerania, Poland, some 52 km (32 mls) to the SW of Stalag Luft 4, Groß-Tychow

WO. Clifton Edward Austin 408617 RAAF PoW No. 868. He was the Mid Upper Gunner from 460 Sqn Lancaster I W4273 which was force-landed after being hit by Flak on the night of the 22nd/23rd November 1942 on an operation to Stuttgart, Germany (4 PoW, 3 Evd).

Flt Sgt. Robertson has not been identified.

They were taken to Stalag 2E at Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern arriving there some 4 weeks later on the 21st March on the 7th April 1945 he was transferred to Stalag 2A, at Fünfeichen, near Neubrandenburg in Northern Germany. The camp was liberated in May 1945 and he was Interviewed on the 17th May 1945.

Clarence Wesley Albert Sparling was born on the 30th July 1919 in Milestone, Saskatchewan. Prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 8th June 1940 he was a Rail Roader in Ontario.

Courtesy of the North Bay Nugget, dated 15th January 1973

Clarence passed away on the 15th January 1973 in North Bay, Nipissing, Ontario after a lengthy illness aged 53.

Burial details:

Flt Sgt. Daniel McNicol Thomson. Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery, Plot 69. Row C. Collective grave 20. Grave Inscription: ‘ALWAYS REMEMBERED’. Born on the 21st August 1916 in Glasgow, Scotland. Son of John James and Kate Thomson of Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia. His sister, Isabella McNicol Tomson of Bentleigh, Victoria was listed as his Next of Kin. His brother, John Daniel Tomson of Bentleigh, Victoria was also to be notified.

Sgt. Kenneth Bowes. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 143. Born on the 11th June 1921 in Yorkshire. Son of John and Gertrude (née Briggs) Bowes. Husband of Joyce (née Barton) Bowes of Darlington, County Durham, England.

Sgt. James Leslie Osborne. Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery. Plot 69. Row C. Collective grave 20. Grave Inscription: ‘AT THE END OF THE LANE OF SHADOWS HE WILL MEET US WITH A SMILE’. Born on the 5th July 1922 in Daventry, Northamptonshire. Son of Harry Leslie and Maud (née Emery) Osborne of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England.

Note: He shares this grave with Fg Off. John Albert Cowley DFM, 120216 RAFVR from Cam, Gloucestershire, England, shot down on the same operation but with 156 Squadron Lancaster III ED935 - all the crew from this aircraft killed or missing

Sgt. William Middleton Ward. Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery, Plot 69. Row C. Collective grave 20. Born on the 11th September 1923 in Edinburgh. Son of William and Louisa Ward of Corstorphine, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sgt. Douglas Noel Campbell. Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery. Plot 69. Row C. Collective grave 19. Grave Inscription: ‘LOVED IN LIFE AND LIVING YET IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO CAN'T FORGET’.Born during 1921 in Glasgow City, Scotland. Son of Dugald Knox Monteith and Agnes (née Johnstone) Campbell of West Drumoyne, Glasgow, Scotland.

Note: He shares this grave with Fg Off. Robert Maxwell Bryant 411748 RAAF from New South Wales, Australia. Shot down on the same operation, but with 156 Squadron Lancaster III ED935 - all the crew from this aircraft killed or missing.

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) for and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to sources as shown. Also to Fulham Rocks for the grave photographs (Aug 2017). Thanks to Paul Markham for the image of Flt Sgt. Thomson (Jun 2025). Other updates by Aircrew Remembered (Jun 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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