- Home
- Maps▾
- FAQ▾
- About/Donate▾
- News▾
- Obits
- Contact/Help▾
- PersonalHistories▾
- Cross Reference Research Lists ▶
- Recent Archive Reports
- Profiles in Courage
- 1914 -1918 WW1 Material
- Royal Air Force + RAFVR ▶
- WAAF/WRAF
- Australia
- Belgium
- Canada
- Site honouring Czechoslovak RAF
- Holland: LOST Rob Philips Memorial Archive
- New Zealand
- Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland
- Poland
- Archiwum Mielnika: Polish Air Force Archive
- USAAF & USAF
- USA WASP Flygirls
- USA - Co de Swart Gallery: Baker Crew 95th BG
- USA - Co de Swart Gallery: Geyer Crew 98th BG
- Axis Powers
- Russia/Soviet Union
- RCAF 409 The Nighthawks
- Hore-Kennard RCAF
- Zenon Bartkowiak PAF
- Charles Dills USAAC
- Gerald Schwartz USAAC
- Soviet Women 'Night Witches'
- Full Story of Lancaster Z-Zebra
- First Air Raid Victim
- 1914 -1918 WW1 Material
- Databases▾
- Databases Master List
- Consolidated Names: includes 500K+ names from all our databases
- Cross Reference Research Lists
- Research Sources
- MULTI-NATIONAL DATABASES
- Aces and Aviators International WW1 - 3000+
- Vitz Archive: War Crimes Victims of Axis
- NEW! USAAF & Allies Non Combat Incidents and Losses
- ALLIED DATABASES
- Allied Losses and Incidents: all Commands
- Aircrew Deaths & Resting Places Worldwide 1939 - 47 120,000+
- Alamein Allied Air Forces Memorial 3000+
- Allied Non-British Graves in Europe managed by CWGC
- Battle of Britain: Enhanced and Extended
- Glider Pilot Regiment Casualties
- Korean War UN Forces Database
- LOST Rob Philips Memorial Archive Dutch/2TAF Losses
- Malta Memorial Database
- Nordic Allied Database
- Ottawa Allied Air Forces Memorial Database
- Paradie RCAF Archive
- Archiwum: Polish Air Force Archive
- Polish Honour Roll
- RAAF Honour Roll
- RCAF Notes - 9000+
- Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm
- Runnymede Memorial Database
- Soviet Aces Database 1941 - 1945
- US Aces and Aviators WW2
- US Air Service Victories WW1
- USAAF Allies NonCombat Losses
- USAAF Operations WWll
- US Marine Corps Squadrons WWll
- Vitz Memorial Archive: War Crimes Victims of Axis
- AXIS DATABASES
- Kracker Luftwaffe Archive
- Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
- German Graves in UK
- German WW2 Aces
- Luftwaffe Graves Managed by CWGC
- Luftwaffe Victories by Name/Date
- Archives ▾
- Archiwum: Polish Air Force Archive: Data on 17,000
- Kracker Luftwaffe Archive
- LOST Rob Philips Memorial Archive: Holland
- Paradie Canadian Archive
- Paul McGuiness RAAF Archive WW1 & WW2
- Profiles in Courage
- Vitz Memorial Archive: War Crimes Victims of Axis
- USAAF Combat Operations 1941-45 Worldwide
- 409 RCAF: The Nighthawks
- Detailed Personal Archive RCAF Officer
- Charles Dills Archive
- Gerald Schwartz Archive
- RAF Coastal Command Patrol Areas
- US Intelligence Analysis German Anti Aircraft
- Allied Mine Laying Map (Gardening)
- Airborne Forces - a short history
- More ▾
- de Swart Gallery: Baker Crew, Geyer Crew
- Guide to Complete Site
- Helpdesk
- Donate
- Lay a Wreath
- Your relative's CWGC grave explained
- CWGC War Graves in USA
- Doing Your Own Research
- Research Sources
- US Assistance to Warsaw Uprising
- Our support for charities
- Axis Awards Descriptions
- Stolperstein: Permanent Remembrance
- Who fought for Britain 1939 - 1945
- Aerotoxic Syndrome
- Bermuda Triangle Mystery
- Cross Reference Research Lists
- Not Many People Know That
- Image Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations Used by Forces
- Poetry of Direct Personal Experience
- Staggering Cost in Lives of WWll
- Animated Map All Allied Bombing WW2
- USAAF Combat Operations 1941-45 Worldwide
- Polish Airmen Fighting (Video)
- Important Links
- Canada Memorial Project
- Remembering Banica
- Book Reviews
- 1 BFTS Texas
- Veterans Appeals
- Korean Conflict
- Vietnam Conflict
- Other Conflicts
- Commercial Aviation
- Bush Flying
- Nose Art
- Military Humour
- Airborne Forces - a short history
• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Searchable Lists
Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
Check our Research databases: Database List
.
We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.
Operation: Chastise
Date: 16/17th May 1943 (Sunday/Monday)
Unit: No. 617 Squadron
Type: Lancaster III
Serial: ED927
Code: AJ-E
Base: RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire.
Location: Haldern, 4 km ENE of Rees
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Robert Norman George Barlow DFC AUS/401899 RAAF Age 31. Killed
Fl/Eng: P/O. Samuel Leslie Whillis 144619 RAFVR Age 31. Killed
Nav: F/O. Philip Sydney Burgess 124881 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
Air/Bmr: P/O. Alan Gillespie DFM 144205 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/O. Charles Rowland Williams DFC AUS/405224 RAAF Age 34. Killed
Air/Gnr: F/O. Harvey Sterling Glinz J/10212 RCAF Age 22. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Jack Robert George Liddell 1338282 RAFVR Age 18. Killed
We are anxious to trace all relatives of the crew as a new Memorial is planned for May 2015.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Taking off from RAF Scampton and headed for the Sorpe Dam. Crashed 23.50 hrs. after colliding with high-tension cables at Haldern, 4 km. ENE of Rees. Bodies of the crew were taken to the Nordfriedhof at Dusseldorf, their graves are now in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. All had previously flown with 61 Squadron, their awards, in descending order of crew, being published on May 14th 1943 and July 20th 1945.
Not the crew of ED927 as thought by the relatives of Phil Burgess, probably taken during his training days. (courtesy John Wright via Bill Dick)
Left: Sgt. Jack Liddell (courtesy Eric Rundle) Right: F/O. Philip Burgess (courtesy John Wright via Bill Dick)
Newspaper article: Sgt. Jack Robert George Liddell (courtesy Eric Rundle)
Burial details:
Fl/Lt. Robert Norman George Barlow DFC. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 5.C.9. Son of Alexander and Frances May and husband of Audrey May Barlow of St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia.
P/O. Samuel Leslie Whillis. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 5.C.6. Son of Charles and Edith Whillis of Newcastle-On-Tyne and husband of Gladys Winifred Whillis of Fenham, Newcastle-On-Tyne, England.
F/O. Philip Sydney Burgess. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 5.C.7. Son of Willis and Marie Burgess.
P/O. Alan Gillespie DFM. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 5.C.10. Son of Robert and Margaret Gillespie of Carlisle, England.
F/O. Charles Rowland Williams DFC. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 5.C.11. Son of Horace Edward and Hedwig Helena Williams of Torren Creek, Queensland, Australia.
F/O. Harvey Sterling Glinz. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 5.C.8. Son of Ernest Sterling and Pearl Emily Glinz of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Sgt. Jack Robert George Liddell. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 4.C.5. Further information: Son of Robert Hardinge and Winnifred Lillian Liddell and brother of Sheila Fenwick (nee Liddell) of Weston Super Mare, Somerset, England. Jack enlisted aged 17 on 30th May 1941, keeping his true age a secret and achieved his own personal goal of becoming an airman. He was the youngest fatality of this operation.
Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and specialist genealogist Linda Ibrom for relatives of this crew. Special thanks to Eric Rundle for uniformed photo and details of Sergeant Liddell. William Bird from Australia. John Wright and family.
History Airborne Forces • Soviet Night Witches • Bomber Command Memories • Abbreviations • Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained • USA Flygirls • Axis Awards Descriptions • 'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination • Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis • SOE Heroine Nancy Wake • Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
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 Captain 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', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, 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.
Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •
Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• 
Click to explore the entire site
A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed
by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior
permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2025
Last Modified: 20 February 2015, 12:39