Operation: Luxembourg (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)

Date: 10th May 1940 (Friday)

Unit No: 103 Squadron, 1 Group, Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF)

Type: Battle Mk I

Serial: K9264

Code: PM:L

Base: RAF Bétheniville, France

Location: Near Dippach, 11 km (6¾ mls) WSW of Luxembourg

Pilot: Flt Lt. Maurice Clunes Wells 37535 RAF Age 28. PoW No. 331 * (1)

Navigator: Sgt. Herbert Frank Bullock 565115 RAF Age 25. PoW No. 13050 ** (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: LAC. Thomas Henry Bowen 521480 RAF Age 24. PoW No. 62 *** (3)

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland

** Stalag 8B, in 1943 renamed Stalag 344, Lamsdorf.

*** Stalag 357 Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 13:05 hrs to attack enemy columns near Luxembourg.

After the engine was hit by small arms ground fire, which also hit the coolant tank, the crew abandoned the aircraft which crashed in flames at about 15:00 hrs, near Dippach, 11 km (6¾ mls) WSW of Luxembourg.

Short video describing the crew and loss of Battle I K9264 PM:L (Courtesy of Tom Bowen, Michael Beckers and Peter Schlebaum)

Two other aircraft were also lost from the squadron on this operation:

K9372 PM:K - Plt Off. Kenneth J. Drabble and his crew were KiA.
K9270 PM:O - The Pilot Sgt. Charles H. Lowne was captured and his two crew were KiA,

(1) Flt Lt. Wells was captured almost immediately and was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 12th May 1940. After the statuary period on solitary confinement and interrogation he was transferred to Oflag 9A/H, Schloss Spangenberg "Spangenberg Castle" in the small town of Spangenberg in NE Hesse, Prussia on the 23rd May 1940.

The camp was closed on the 28th February 1941 and he was transferred to Stalag 20A at Thorn/Toruń,Poland arriving there on the 1st March. On the 1st June he was transferred back to the reopened Oflag 9A/H where he remained until the 8th October and was then transferred to Oflag 6B which was SW of the village of Dössel in NW Germany, arriving there the next day.

On the 6th September 1942 he was transferred to Oflag 21B in Szubin which was a few miles SW of Bydgoszcz in Poland arriving the next day. On the 10th April 1943 the camp was cleared of PoWs and he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia arriving there the next day.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages. On the 2nd February he was amongst the prisoners who were sent to Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde in Brandenburg, Prussia arriving there on the 7th February.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army.

Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Flt Lt. Wells was evacuated on the 20th May 1945. He was interviewed on the 24th May 1945.

Flt Lt. Wells remained in the RAF after the war and was transferred to the Reserve of RAF Officers and promoted to Sqn Ldr. on the 1st January 1946, which was promulgated in the London Gazette dated 5th March 1946.

He was promoted to Wg Cdr. on the 1st November 1946 which was promulgated in the London Gazette dated 3rd December 1946. He was transferred to the Reserve on the on the 21st May 1950 as a substantive Sqn Ldr. but retaining the rank of Wg Cdr. London Gazette 6th June 1950. He relinquished his commission on the 25th January 1957 and retired as a Sqn Ldr. but retained his rank of Wg Cdr. which was promulgated in the London Gazette 15th March 1957.

Maurice Clunes Wells was born on the 25th January 1912 in Limpsfield, Surrey and enlisted in the RAF on the 18th November 1935. Maurice passed away in October 1992 in Yeovil. Somerset.

(2) Sgt. Bullock was captured near Arlon on the 14th May 1940 and transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel the next day. After the statuary period on solitary confinement and interrogation he was transferred to Stalag 12A on the 20th May which was located 4 km SW of Limburg and was used as a transit camp. He remained there for about 6 weeks before being transferred to Stalag 8B in Lamsdorf in Silesia (In 1943 it was renamed Stalag 344).

He stayed here for about 6 weeks and during September 1940 he was transferred to Stalag Luft 1 in Barth-Vogelsang. Whilst here he was involved for 4 months in tunnelling projects, however, he was moved before it was completed. In March 1941 he was transferred back to Stalag 8B in Lamsdorf where he remained until January 1945.

During the period of January 1945 and April 1945 he was amongst the PoWs at Stalag 8A, Görlitz in Lower Silesia and Stalag 11B, Fallingbostel in Schleswig, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Stalag 11B was liberated by British troops from the 11th and 8th Hussars on the 16th April 1945.

The then Warrant Officer (WO) Bullock was interviewed on the 27th April 1945.

Herbert Frank Bullock was born on the 16th May 1915 in Bridgenorth, Shropshire. He joined the RAF on the 13th January 1931. Herbert passed away on the 14th March 1983 in Oswestry, Shropshire.

(3) LAC. Bowen was captured near Arlon on the 15th May 1940 and transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel the next day. He was held at Dulag Luft for some unknown reason until the

12th August 1941 before being transferred to Stalag 3E, Dobrilugk-Kirchain in Lower Lusatia, Brandenburg arriving there two days later.

It is believed that during his stay at Dulag Luft he was promoted to Sgt.

Whilst at Stalag 3E an escape was organised for 52 PoWs, however, Sgt. Bowen was removed from the camp 2 days before the escape attempt and was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 on the 26th May 1942. Just over a year later on the 15th June 1943 he was transferred to Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland, arriving there on the 18th June.

It is believed that whilst at Stalag Luft 3 that he was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) hence the reason for his transfer.

In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was made. PoWs from Stalag Luft 6 were in the "northern route" of the force-marches. It was estimated that 100,000 PoWs took the northern route. It went to Stalag Luft 4 at Groß-Tychow, Pomerania then via Stettin to Stalag 9B and Stalag 357, Thorn (Toruń) in Poland.

On the 1st September 1944 the PoWs were force-marched from Thorn (Toruń) in Poland 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.

In early April 1945 the PoWs 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. On the 6th April 1945 he was amongst the men marched from the camp in columns of 2,000.

WO. Bowen escaped from the column the same day along with two other PoWs. They hid in the countryside for the next 11 days and were liberated, weak from the lack of food, by Allied forces. He was interviewed on the 20th April 1945.

Thomas Henry Bowen was born on the 14th April 1916 in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He joined the RAF on the 7th July 1935. Thomas passed away on the 15th December 1997 in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Burial details:

None - crew survived.

Original research and photographs by Michel Beckers for Aircrew Remembered (Mar 2015). Thanks to Tom Bowen for pointing out the error of the aircraft Serial Number. Reviewed and updated with new information (Feb 2025). Thanks to Tom Bowen for the video link (Jul 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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