Operation: Köln (Cologne), Germany

Date: 28th January 1945 (Sunday)

Unit No: 15 Squadron, 3 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: HK618

Code: LS:G

Base: RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk

Location: Near Düren, about 35 km (22¼ mls) WSW of Köln (Cologne), Germany

Pilot: Plt Off. Stanley Hewitt ‘Stan’ Bignell 424014 RAAF Age 23. PoW No. 146089 * (1)

Flt Eng: Flt Sgt. Frederick John Keeble-Buckle 3000323 RAFVR Age 19. PoW No? ** (2)

Nav: Flt Sgt. John William ‘Jack’ Lacey 427974 RAAF Age 30. PoW No. 146918 ** (3)

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Don G. Jones 1603701 RAFVR Age? PoW No? (4)

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Charles Allan Garfield Russell 432403 RAAF Age 23. PoW No. 9567 ** (5)

Air Gnr (Mid Under): WO. John Valentine Higgins 1336484 RAFVR Age 22. PoW No? ** (6)

Air Gnr (Mid Upper): Flt Sgt. Thomas Maxwell ‘Max’ Thoroughgood 433284 RAAF Age 20. PoW No ? ** (7)

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. William Alexander ‘Bill’ Wilkie 431136 RAAF Age 19. PoW No. 146921 * (8)

* Stalag 13D, Nuremberg, (Nürnberg Langwasser), Germany

** Stalag 7A, Moosburg, Bavaria

Above left to right: Flt Sgt. John W. Lacey, Flt Sgt. Charles A.G. Russell, Flt Sgt. William A. Wilkie (From their Service Records)

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 28th January 1945 eleven (11) aircraft from 15 Squadron were detailed to join a force of one-hundred and fifty-three (153) Lancasters from 3 Group on a daylight operation to attack the railway yards in the Gremberg district of Köln (Cologne) in Germany.

HK618 was one of three (3) Lancasters that failed to return.

Plt Off. Bignell reported that the starboard outer engine failed, caught fire, and reacted as though it had been slightly damaged by Flak. Efforts to extinguish the flames and to feather the engine were unsuccessful and therefore he ordered the crew to bale out. The front parachute hatch was frozen so the crew abandoned the aircraft via the rear door.

The aircraft was under control of the auto-pilot when Plt Off. Bignell left at a height between 18000 to 20000 feet. He reported that all members of crew successfully escaped. He did not see aircraft after baling out but reports from the squadron indicated that it blew up in the air.

The aircraft wreckage crashed near Düren, about 35 km (22¼ mls) WSW of Köln (Cologne), Germany.

(1) Plt Off. Bignell was captured about 50 km west of Bonn and was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 10th February. After the statutory solitary confinement interspaced with interrogation he was, on the 13th February 1945, transferred to the transit camp, Dulag Luft, Wetzlar arriving there the next day.

On the 17th February 1945 he was transferred to Stalag 13D, Nuremberg arriving there on the 19th February 1945.

Note: Stalag 13D was also known as Oflag 73. In late 1944/early 1945 the camp population grew enormously with the arrival of PoWs evacuated from camps in the east in front of the advance of the Red Army. These included many Americans and British airmen from Stalag Luft 3. Between the 2nd and 12th April 1945 large numbers were marched to Stalag 7A, and on 16th April the camp was liberated by advanced elements of the United States Army.

On the 4th April 1945 he was amongst the PoWs who were forced-marched to Stalag 7A, Moosberg arriving there on the 18th April 1945. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by elements of the US 14th Armoured Division. Plt Off. Bignell was interviewed on the 11th May 1945.

Stanley Hewitt Bignell was born on the 4th February 1921 in Allandale, New South Wales. He was a student teacher prior to enlisted in the RAAF on the 21st July 1942. Stanley passed away suddenly in hospital on the 16th September 1978 in Hazelbrook, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

Above: Courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald, dated 18th September 1978

(2) No official PoW information for Flt Sgt. Keeble-Buckle has been found. However, Roger Keeble-Buckle has provide the following transcript compiled from notes from ‘Max’ Thoroughgood and other members of the crew. The recollection may not exactly reflect with the “General Questionnaires for British/American Ex-PoWs” for four (4) of the crew or the description of events found in Plt Off. Bignell records.

Having formed up with the rest of the Group over southeast England, ‘G’ George headed for the Belgium coast and Germany. When the Group reached the Belgium coast they commenced to climb 21,000ft. Shortly after, the rear gunner reported a fire in the rear turret. Fortunately, the fire had not taken a good hold and was readily extinguished.

The Group’s fighter escort met up at 05 30 degrees east, just after crossing the Belgium coast. The front lines at that time were just west of the German border in Belgium. The run into the target area was over the Aachen Ranges thence to Cologne. After crossing the front lines, the Germans greeted the bomber force with a very heavy concentration of Flak.

Shorty after, the Pilot asked the Fight Engineer to check the instrument panel for trouble as the engines appeared to be running rough. The Flight Engineer reported that the instruments were all as should be however, the Wireless Operator looked through the astro hatch and, with words similar shouted “the starboard outer engines was on bloody fire!”.

Before reaching their target Flak had hit the engine which caused the fire. The pilot took all necessary action in an endeavour to extinguish the fire but to no avail, the fire had taken a good hold and then gave the order to bale out.

Under normal circumstances, the evacuation drill was for the Bomb Aimer to secure back the nose parachute door and the Bomb Aimer, Flight Engineer, Navigator and then the Pilot would bail out through this door. The Mid-Upper Gunner was to open and secure the back rear door and the Radio Operator, Mid-Under Gunner, Mid-Upper Gunner and Rear Gunner to bale out of this door.

On this occasion, the Bomb Aimer could not open the nose door as it was frozen solid with ice so the Pilot gave the order to all to bale out through the rear door and was accomplished in near record time.

As Max, the Mid-Upper Gunner, later stated, the correct procedure was for each airman to sit on the step and roll himself out of the aircraft. However, he attested that nearly all just dived straight out of the open doorway quick and effective! The Pilot was just leaving the aircraft when it exploded and he as blown well clear of the hot spot.

Max, the Mid-Upper Gunner continues:

“Once I had cleared the tail plane, I pulled the rip cord and experienced a sudden and painful jerk fully appreciating the training and words of the instructor back at base – ‘make sure your parachute is so tight that you cannot stand upright’.

Of course, with this jerk, I knew that the parachute had opened with a feeling of floating in the air, I had a good glimpse of the burning plane spiralling to earth. The right wing had fallen off and, with the full bomb load still on board, the plane then blew up.

As we had baled out between 21,000 and 20,000 feet, I blacked out through lack of oxygen, When I can to, I was surrounded by cloud and had no idea where I was. When I broke cloud, I could see the ground and wondered where I would land. With the swaying of the parachute, I became sick and lost my breakfast, As I got closer to the ground I could see the mountain ranges and pine forest, all covered by snow. I landed in a pine forest and after falling some distance through the pine trees, I came to rest, hanging some 20 feet above the ground.

Realisation then struck, the ground below was German soil and many stories had been told about airman who bailed out over enemy territory came vividly to mind. After releasing my harness, I climbed down the pine tree to the snow-covered ground. I then buried some papers and my Mae West jacket and contemplated my next move.

I knew from the briefing and Jack the Navigators navigational remarks, that we would be approximately two hours walk behind the front lines. My decision was to try and walk to the front lines and eventually meet up with allied troops, this was about 14:30 hrs, so I headed West. (Two buttons on our Battle Dress when cut away and set together formed a simple but effective compass)

Whilst making my way from one hill to the next, each valley was fairly clear, so of necessity I had to be careful when crossing.

After walking for about one hour in the snow the going was much more difficult than I first imagined. Whilst checking one of the valleys for the all-clear, I jumped from the bank, about eight feet high and landed comfortably, However, when I looked around, there standing in what was a doorway in the hillside was a German soldier. Who got the biggest shock, who will ever know?

Of all places to jump, I quickly found out that this was a dug-out occupied by a Front Line German Colonel. I was marched into the Colonel for interrogation.

About 30 minutes later, our Navigator Jack Lacey was brought into the Office. The Colonel was a very genial officer and stated that we should’ve dug in and laid low. He estimated that within one or two days the front lines would have reached us.

We were then given our first taste of German Ezart coffee, which had a terrible taste but at least it was hot.

We were then escorted back some 8 miles further behind, where we were interrogated by another officer who spoke excellent English. At approximately 8.00pm we were then marched for 2 hours to another centre. This march was hard work, as the snow was about a foot deep. At arrival at the next centre we were told that all our crew had been captured. Later that night we met up with Stan (Pilot), Bill (Air Gunner rear), Don (Bomb Aimer) and John (Air Gunner mid-under). Don had a broken his ankle on landing but still no signs of Allan (Radio Operator) or Fred (Flight Engineer).

The next day, with the exception of Don, who was transported to hospital, we were the marched a further 30kms behind enemy lines to a small town named Flamersheim which was under the control of the SS.

Here we were given a very thorough interrogation and where I managed to receive a couple of belts across my head because, when asked what was my nationality, I put my Battle Dress jacket shoulder to the Officer and on the jacket was the was the word Australia instead of answering the question. This was now 31st January 1945. We were the taken to a disused warehouse, which became our temporary home.

At about 2.00am Fred was brought into the camp a little worse for wear. Apparently, Fred was rendered unconscious by a blow to his face from his chute when exiting the aircraft exacerbated by the effects of anoxia. Having landed badly the was immediately taken prisoner by two German soldiers who then applied some “personal attention” to him.

Whilst we were held captive in the disused warehouse at Flamersheim, one of the guards struck Jack over the head with a piece of timber. The injury sustained needed medical attention and I have no doubt from Jack’s reactions that the blow caused considerable pain. The injury took days to heal.

In the Flamersheim camp were some 150 yanks and a number of British paratroopers taken from Arnhem. It was also here that a German Guard stole our wrist watches.

A yank Airforce Major was brought into the camp with burns to his face (he had bailed out from a Thunderbolt fighter) and he had also been bashed about by the Germans.

Our two meals per day consisted of a bowl of soup morning and afternoon. During the day we cut wood and carted coal for the Soldiers and Civilians.

The next day we had to march some 20kms to a holding camp at Bonn. A number of the POW’s were injured, a Yank had frozen feet. Because we were not marching as the Germans expected, the paratroopers were deliberately slowing the pace because of the injured and sick, one paratrooper had a bayonet jammed up his rear and another had his face slashed. My feet became terribly blistered and for the last two kilometres I was almost carried by two of the paratroopers.

We arrived at Stalag 6G, near Duisdorf, Bonn late in the afternoon of the 1st February. At this transient camp we were given two hessian bags to act as blankets, three meals a day, soup for breakfast, coffer for lunch and 1/16th loaf of black bread for tea.

On 4th February the RAF had a raid on the town of Bonn and a couple of bombs accidently landed on the camp. During this raid, the bomb blasts caused a brick wall of our hut to collapse on a number of POW’s. Some of the debris hit Jack which caused more problems with his injured head. The camp was badly damaged and three were killed. The Germans attacked us, calling us “Terror Fliegers” (Terror Fliers) and we were given protection in a bomb shelter by French POW’s.

The next day we were marched to a workers camp 16kms away at Siegburg on the Sieg river. This camp had previously been occupied by Russians and the rooms were infested with lice and bedbugs. We were not given any food for 56 hours then only ½ loaf of bread. We went on the scrouge through the garbage bins and collected some cabbage, pickled tomatoes and left over spuds. We mixed all this together and made an edible (marginal) soup.

On 8th February, we were taken to the railway station and put into covered carriages marked for “Huit Chevaux” (8 horses). They put some 40 men in each carriage. There was straw on the floor, basically standing room only although a few who were pretty sick managed to lay down. Sanitation consisted of one bucket placed in the corner, What a terrible and degrading journey!

We travelled all night and arrived the following day at a town called Limburg. It was here that all aircrew were separated from the other prisoners, and we were sent off on another train. At approximately 10:30pm we arrived at the Frankfurt marshalling yards and railway station, consisting of 26 platforms. We were put in a cellar for the night and the guards generously brought us 9 glasses of beer to share between 15 PoWs.

The next day we were taken from the railway station at Frankfurt am-Main to Dulag Luft at Oberursel. The date was 10th February. This was an Interrogation Centre (affectionately known as a sweatbox). Each prisoner was placed in solitary confinement in rooms approximately 6ft by 4ft. consisting of a solitary bed. Most of the room was below ground level, with about 2ft. There was only one small window near the ceiling. When you needed to go to the toilet, it was necessary to pull a knob which allowed a lever to drop down outside thus drawing attention of the guard to your needs. You were not taken to the toilet until the hallways and toilet were free of other people.

The interrogation was very comprehensive. The interrogation Officer amazed me with the knowledge that they had about our crew and the RAF setup generally. They knew when we joined the Squadron, how many operations we had flown, and the names of the New Zealand crew we shared the house with at our Mildenhall Station. At all our briefings, it was emphasised that, if captured, gave only your Name, Rank and Service Number. The Germans already knew much more than this!

On 12th February, Jack, Fred, Bill and myself arrived at Dulag Luft, Wetzlar. At this camp we were given the complete delousing process. Hair shaved off every part of the body; showered and body dusted with a powder. Here we were fitted out with clean clothing.

On 14th February we were on our way again, this time travelling for three days across country because of the damage done to railway lines by Allied Air Force.

On 17th February we arrive at Nuremburg, also known as Oflag 3 and sometimes Stalag Luft 3.

We were to stay in this camp until 4th April. We were allocated to Compound 4 and for the first time since being shot down, we met up with Allan Russell, who was in Compound 5. Each Compound contained about 1,000 POW’s. In our hut we had a mixture of Australians, British and Yanks. We were I double decker bunks each with on blanket. Jack demanded a lower bunk because of his back as he could not climb into the top bunk.

The food left a lot to be desired, we were given a loaf of bread each day, shared between six men. We also received about a cup of soup each day, usually made from oatmeal and peas. The few times we received a Red Cross parcel was a REAL treat. We received our first Red Cross parcel on 27th February, two men to a parcel. The cigarettes in the Red Cross parcels became a means of barter. You could swap anything for cigarettes, which was certainly great for me and Fred being non-smokers.

Life in the camp was very monotonous, make-shift games of cricket and football. Some of the American PoW’s with roots going back to Germany held lessons in fundamental German for those interested.

The ablution block contained hand basins only serviced only with cold water. The used water from the hand basins ran through a large pipe to then flush the toilet block.

The toilet block was constructed as a long timber dwarf wall approximately 24in from the ground and mounted on top was a length of timber that served as the toilet seat. This ran the length of the wall and was approximately 4in wide. Between this dwarf wall and the main wall of the block was a slit trench approximately 24in wide. This then gave a long trench running the complete length of the toilet block. The trench was some 7ft deep. Through this trench ran the water from the ablution block and carried the waste through the trench to another pipe to the eventual waste disposal area. Being short in the legs, I could not lean back against the wall for support, so I had to balance precariously on the 4in seat! Of course, going to the toilet was a friendly affair. You had to be accustomed to do in public what you had been doing in private all your life. These occasions became the central news exchange, most news on the lavatory line were know a SHR’S.

To be given the luxury of a shower, this happened VERY rarely, all PoW’s had to strip to their birthday suit, stand under the shower ready for the turning on by the guards. The German guards used to get their kicks by turning on the cold water instead of the hot. The outside temperature was freezing with snow covering the ground. Naturally we were NOT amused!

Generally, the Germans did not interfere with our way of life. Each day we had to assemble for roll call to be counted. The guards would call “Raus! Raus! Fertich machen zum Apell! Schnell! Schnell! (Rush! Rush! Get ready for parade! Quick! Quick!). If the guards mis-counted then we would have to stand in the cold whilst the count was done again.

Guards were always on duty in the Watch Towers and at the main gates. Unless you were foolish enough to step over the danger wire, a single strand of wire placed 10ft inside the compound barbed wire outer fence, you were rarely spoken to by a German. Well trained Alsatian dogs were used by the Germans as assistants for the guards. The dogs were so trained that to raise an arm to defend yourself or to break into a run would see them flying at your throat, but to stand still and walk slowly backwards, the dogs did not attack. The guards patrolled the roads between compounds with dogs om leashes.

The RAF during the night and the Yanks during the day were giving a round the clock bombing of Nuremburg, As the camp was well outside Nuremburg proper, we were not directly affected by the bombing raids. It was general Allied procedure that the run into and run away from a bombing target was not to be over a POW camp. A humorous incident was when one group of bombers were coming in at night, a Yank in our hut screamed to one of his mates to put out his cigarette as the glow would show up and the bombers would drop bombs on us.

Another ritual and routine task was, that being ever mindful of the presence of lice, that we used to inspect each other’s head for lice on a daily basis. Reminded me of pictures I had seen of monkeys doing the same thing.

Compound 3 consisted completely of Serbian PoW’s, from Generals down to Privates. Each day they would go through the routine of a full parade and inspection. I got the impression that the Germans treated them as a bit of a joke.

On 1st April a number of Australian Imperial Force (AIF) Diggers were marched into the Compound. They had been captured some four years earlier in Greece and Crete and were still in good spirits, with these Aussies were also some South Africans, New Zealanders and Indian Gurkhas.

One of the American PoW’s kept coming across to we Australians and joining in the conversations. He told us that in fact he was an Australian soldier who had been captured in Crete and had escaped. He had made his way south through Austria and into Yugoslavia where he had met up with and joined the Partisans of Marshall Tito. We were convinced he was a German plant and would not give him the time of day. (Later, when we were liberated, we found out his story to be true)

As the Russians advanced in the Winter of 1944/1945, the Germans had to evacuate all Allied PoW’s likely to be in the Russian path. Little has been told of these “forced” marches, which took place from January 1945, during the coldest winter in the European War. During these marches, rations were scanty, clothing was inadequate and unsuited to the conditions. For many of the PoW’s these marches were the greatest ordeal of their entire imprisonment.

On the 3rd April, rumours were in the air that we would have to evacuate the camp. We were then told that on the next day we would move camp and that no Red Cross parcels would be allowed to be taken out of camp. Well our group, being ones not to waste food, made up our recipe for biscuits. They contained Oleo margarine, prunes, raisins, powdered milk and anything else we had left over. The biscuits looked good when finished, they were distributed among our group. On 4th April we evacuated the camp and no inspection was made of our gear. SO MUCH FOR RUMOURS!

We were to march until 18th April. During this march we were strafed and rocket-attacked by American Thunderbolts, fortunately without casualty within our crew but with many casualties among the other prisoners. Throughout this period all the prisoners were fed minimally or not at all. Orders given to us by the Germans were frequently emphasised with violence and Fred was struck about his knees with a rifle butt on one such occasion. This aggravated by the blow on his face when he bailed out left him in the need of help keeping out of the clutches of the SS who were following and slaughtering any stragglers from the column of march.

The first day we moved in a Southerly direction and eventually and eventually camped near the township of Feucht. We slept in the grounds of a church. Bill and I ate some of our “biscuits”.

The next day we passed through the town of Burgthann marched all night in the rain and slept in the early hours of the morning in pouring rain. Because of the richness of our “biscuits” Bill and I, together with others, got a good dose of dysentery, On the march blokes were dropping off to the side of the road in numbers. Thankfully, we were marching through bushland at the time.

On 6th April we marched to Neumarkt where we received one Red Cross parcel to six prisoners. One of the AIF PoW’s suggested that we join the sick parade, these PoW’s were allowed to travel in a group.

Our next town was Freystadt where we stayed for two days. One of our guards was the conductor of the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra and was just waiting for the day the war ended so he could return to his music. Generally, the guards on the march were first world war veterans, sprinkled with recuperating wounded soldiers. These guards gave us up to date information on the ear and they knew the end was in sight.

From Freystadt we marched onto Berching for our next nights stay. On 9th April we marched into Beilingries on the Altmühl river. Here we shared another Red Cross parcel. The countryside was looking very picturesque.

At various overnight stops we would make contact with German civilians and try for a trade of our chocolate for bread. Sometimes successful, but the population was very wary of us.

Our next stay was at the town of Altmannstein where we had a two day rest. These two days were spent in the barns of some farmers, at least we had cover and hay to sleep on. Ever scrouging for food, I found some hens and settled down waiting for one to lay an egg. This eventually happened and about sis blokes jumped out of hiding to claim the egg, I missed out!

That night Bill and I sneaked out (our group took it in turns to scrounge) to look for a farm house to try for some food. We found one not far away, went to the kitchen door and knocked. A man came out and made him understand we were on the march and wanted food. He made us to understand and wait and went inside. Shortly after he returned and motioned us inside. He took us to the main room of the house, and to our surprise, the farmer was a Colonel in the German army. Butterflies took over and I thought another attack of dysentery had come on!

However, the Colonel turned out to be very understanding, spoke perfect English, had been educated in England and when the war broke out was in Canada with his brother. He had decided to come back to Germany, but his brother stayed in Canada and joined the Canadian Air Force. He gave us food and pointed out how foolish we were and advised us that the march was being followed by SS troops to pick up any attempt by escapees. We made our way back to camp, thankful and a LOT wiser.

We left after two days of rest and when we reached the Danube River, we were escorted across by German troops who had wired the bridge ready to blow it up at a moment notice.

Our next town was Neustadt where we again shared a Red Cross parcel. We the moved onto Mainburg where we spend the night. Our next stop was at Au where we spent two days. On reaching Langenbach we again shared a Red Cross parcel. On 18th April we reached Moosburg which is situated on the Isar river. The march covered approximately 200kms.

We received good rations whilst in the camp at Moosburg, received a Red Cross parcel each week and generally treated very well. We had 400 PoW’s to each tent and this was overcrowded. On the morning of 29th April, we heard gun fire in the distance and knew that the Allied troops were not far away. About 11:00 am in the morning, American fighter planes flew Victory Rolls over the camp and, just after noon, the American 3rd Army entered the camp and liberated the PoW’s.

Soon after the advanced guard had entered the camp, General George Patton, resplendent in his uniform, his pearl handled revolvers at his side, officially took command of the camp and then handed it over to the senior Allied Officer who happened to be a British Group Captain.

On 1st May we went into the village to collect souvenirs but were unsuccessful. For the next week we scrouged around for food, one of the boys killed a pig and a number of us caught fish by using hand grenades for bait. Eating freshly killed and cleaned pig is not the smartest thing that I have ever done.

On 7th May we were driven to the airstrip known as Ingolstadt. There we spent our days waiting for our aircraft to arrive and fly us back to England. The Americans were evacuating their PoW’s at the rate of 12 aircraft to 1 British.

Our billets were in an underground fortification which had been used for the detention of political prisoners. We investigated way back in the fortification and found huge supplies of tinned meat and fruit. Much to our disgust, every tin had been punctured and rendered useless. By the evacuating political prisoners or by the retreating Germans, who knows?

VE day was 8th May, we were still at the airstrip and I swapped my RAAF battle jacket for an American crew jacket.

On the night of 8th May the liberated Russian and French forced labourers invited all and sundry to a party. Despite being warned by a South African not to drink the home made Vodka, I did taste the brew. I have never been so sick in my life, and each day, for the next two days, praying that our evacuation aircraft did NOT arrive.

It was on 11th May that a Dakota arrived and flew us to Reims in France where we transhipped to a Lancaster bomber and flown to Ford in England.

During the flight one of the crew enquired if one of the soldiers would like to fly in the mid-upper turret. He had a taker who, when settled in, proceeded to work the turret around like a merry-go-round. I asked the soldier if he had counted the number of times he had swung the turret. The soldier said he hadn’t been counting and why should he? I said to him that as the turret was on a worm screw, once it had gone six revolutions in one direction it had to be reversed in the opposite direction otherwise it would screw off. Despite others trying to convince the soldier that I was having him on, he would NOT move the turret. Being a mid-upper gunner and the smallest guy, I had to climb up and turn the turret in the correct direction to get him out.

After landing at RAF Ford, we were taken to the Grand Hotel in Brighton for recuperation. We were given a complete medical, given new uniforms and other clothing and generally looked after very well. My weight when shot down was 10 stone 6 pounds and on my return to England I weighed 8 stone 13 pounds.

On 15th May we returned to the Squadron at Mildenhall to express our thanks to the parachute packing staff. I can remember Stan, our pilot, asking the WAAF what would happen if the parachute had not opened. Quick as a flash she said “Bring it back and we will give you another one”.

On 24th May, along with other ex POW’s, we were invited to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. We spoke to the King, Queen, Princess Margaret Rose and saw Princess Elizabeth.

This way a wonderful day and an experience never to be forgotten.”

Many thanks to Max Thoroughgood for the majority of this text and to the rest of his crew members Stan H. Bignell, Jack W. Lacey, Don G. Jones, Allan Russell, John V. Higgins and Bill Wilkie. In memory of all the above in particular Frederick John Keeble-Buckle.

Frederick John Keeble-Buckle was born on the 25th September 1925 in Bethnal Green, London. Frederick passed away on the 31st March 2021.

(3) Flt Sgt. Lacey was captured near Düren that day and transferred to Dulag Luft Oberursel After the statutory solitary confinement interspaced with interrogation he was transferred to Stalag 13D Nuremberg arriving there on the 21st February 1945.

Note: Stalag 13D was also known as Oflag 73. In late 1944/early 1945 the camp population grew enormously with the arrival of PoWs evacuated from camps in the east in front of the advance of the Red Army. These included many Americans and British airmen from Stalag Luft 3. Between the 2nd and 12th April 1945 large numbers were marched to Stalag 7A, and on 16th April the camp was liberated by advanced elements of the United States Army.

On the 1st April 1945 he was amongst the PoWs who were forced-marched to Stalag 7A, Moosberg arriving there on the 15th April 1945. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by elements of the US 14th Armoured Division. Plt Off. Bignell was interviewed on the 11th May 1945. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by elements of the US 14th Armoured Division. Flt Sgt. Lacey was interviewed on the 19th May 1945.

John William Lacey was born on the 7th January 1915 in Perth, Western Australia. He was a School Teacher prior to enlisting in then RAAF on the 13th October 1942.

(4) No official PoW information for Flt Sgt. Jones has been found. Flt Sgt. Thoroughgood reported that Flt Sgt. Jones had a broken his ankle on landing and was taken away to a hospital. No further information has been found.

(5) Flt Sgt. Russell was captured near Köln (Cologne) that day. His PoW story was the same as Flt Sgt. Lacey, see (Ser 3) above. Flt Sgt. Russell was interviewed on the 21st May 1945.

Charles Allan Garfield Russell was born on the 26th February 1921 in Rockdale, New South Wales. He was a shop assistant prior to enlisting in the RAAF on the 11th December 1942. Charles passed away on the 13th February 2008 in Ryde Hospital, New South Wales.

(6) WO. Higgins was captured near Düren that day. His PoW story was the same as Flt Sgt. Lacey, see (Ser 3) above. WO. Higgins was interviewed on the 17th May 1945.

John Valentine Higgins was born on the 26th January 1922. He was a Window Dresser and Salesman in Watford, Hertfordshire prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 10th September 1941.

(7) No official PoW information for Flt Sgt. Thoroughgood has been found.

Thomas Maxwell ‘Max’ Thoroughgood was born on the 15th January 1925 in Crookwell, New South Wales. He enlisted in the RAAF on the 2nd March 1943. Thomas passed away on the 4th May 2001 in Kempsey, New South Wales.

(8) No official PoW information for Flt Sgt. Wilkie has been found, however, his Service Record documents that he was:

Captured near Bonn and was held there for three (3) days;
Dulag Luft, Oberursel for two (2) days;
Dulag Luft, Wetzlar for three (3) days;
Stalag Luft 3, Nurnberg for fifty-two (52) days;
Stalag 7A, Moosburg for fifteen (15) days and he was liberated on the 29th April 1945.

William Alexander Wilkie was born on the 12th February 1925 in Ballarat, Victoria. He was a Junior Draughtsman prior to enlisting in the RAAF on the 21st May 1943. William passed away on the 1st October 2018 in Ballarat, Victoria.

Burial details:

None, all the crew survived

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their families with thanks to Roger Keeble-Buckle for the recollections of then crew in the form of a transcript (Dec 2025).

Other sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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