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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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90 Squadron Crest
14/15.04.1943 No. 90 Squadron Stirling III BF462 WP-P P/O. R.J. Beldin

Operation: Stuttgart

Date: 14/15th April 1943 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: No. 90 Squadron

Type: Stirling III

Serial: BF462

Code: WP-P

Base: RAF Ridgewell, Essex

Location: Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit

Pilot: P/O. R.J. Beldin RAFVR PoW No: 1095 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Harry Noar 977618 RAFVR Age 27. Killed

Nav: Sgt. Edwin Arthur Shaw 1232268 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Air/Bmr: Sgt. Robert John Palmer 1230761 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: W/O II. Richard Barnett Blake 9529 RCAF Age 27. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Stanley Francis Gould 1384731 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Samuel Hammond 1031693 RAFVR Age ? Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Stirling BF462 taking off at 21.48 hrs to join 462 aircraft – 146 Wellington, 135 Halifaxes, 98 Lancasters, 83 Stirlings to attack Stuttgart again. Not classed as a huge success as the pathfinders although claiming to have placed the markers accurately the main bombing force hit the north east of the target.

Only a few bombs hit the centre of Stuttgart. The old church Gedachtnis was destroyed and a 1 bomb had a direct hit on an air raid shelter packed with French and Russian prisoners of war. 257 Frenchman and 143 Russians were killed. This tragedy brought the total death toll to 619, a new record for raids to Germany. 23 aircraft were lost on this raid.

It is understood that the Stirling was attacked by two night fighters identified as a Me110 and a Ju88. The confirmed claim was that of Hptm. Otto Materne of 4./NJG4 his second abschusse of the war. The time of the attack is placed at 01.48 hrs.

The effects of allied bombing on Stuttgart

(1) Hptm. Otto Materne went on to claim a further 3 night kills, before he was a victim on the 6th September 1944.

Burial details:

Sgt. Harry Noar. Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit Churchyard. Grave 4. Son of Harry and Daisy Noar, stepson of Florence Noar, of Droylsden, Lancashire, England.

Sgt. Edwin Arthur Shaw. Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit Churchyard. Grave 6. Son of William and Alice Hannah Shaw, of Bare, Morecambe, Lancashire, England.

Sgt. Robert John Palmer. Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit Churchyard. Grave 1. Son of James Charles and Margaret Amy Palmer, of Circencester, Gloucestershire, England.

W/O II. Richard Barnett Blake. Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit Churchyard. Grave 2. Son of William Barnett Blake and Isabella Blake, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, husband of Rose M. Blake.

Sgt. Stanley Francis Gould. Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit Churchyard. Grave 5. Son of Robert Stanley and Frances Elizabeth Gould, of Dorking, Surrey, England.

Sgt. Samuel Hammond. Soude-Notre-Dame-Ou-Le-Petit Churchyard. Grave 3. Next of kin details not yet available - can you assist?

For further details our thanks to the following, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vol's. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', ‘Bomber Command Database’, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vol's. 1 and  2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries (Updated 2014 version), 'Paradie Archive'. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Tom Kracker - 'Kracker Luftwaffe Archives'. Further information from these titles/organisations are available from us, just use the 'help' button on the main page above or 'add info' button also shown on this page.

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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 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.
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