Operation: Louvain, Belgium

Date: 12th/13th May 1944 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit No: 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn, RCAF, 6 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax III

Serial: LK883

Code: OW:E

Base: RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire

Location: Londerzeel, Oorst, Belgium

Pilot: Fg Off. John Howard Black J12252 RCAF Age 29. PoW No: 4897 * (1)

Flt Eng: Flt Sgt. Walter Berry DFM, 1080826 RAFVR Age? Evader (2)

Nav: Fg Off. Ross Hubert Doubt J26935 RCAF Age 30. Evader (3)

Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. J.W. Van Maarion J27583 RCAF Age 30. Evader (4)

WOp/Air Gnr: WO1. Robert Joseph Fitzpatrick R104074 RCAF Age 26. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Under): Sgt. James Howard Jones R197301 RCAF Age 19. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upper): Sgt. Kenneth Wesley Drumm R197424 RCAF Age 22. KiA

Air Gnr(Rear): Sgt. Albert Christopher Jones 1815824 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

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

Above: Left to right WO1. Fitzpatrick, Sgt. James Howard Jones, Sgt. Drumm from their Service Records.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 12th/13th May 1944 Halifaxes from 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn, joined a force of 120 aircraft on a mission to bomb the railway yards at Louvain in Belgium.

Of the 3 Halifaxes that failed to return 2 were from 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn:

Halifax III LW682 OW:M was shot down by a night-fighter killing Plt Off. W B Bentz RCAF and his crew of seven were KiA.

LK883 was claimed by Oblt. Hans-Heinz Augenstein from 12./NJG1, his 29th Abschuss 8 km west of Mechelen at 2.000 m. at 00:25 hrs.

Hptm. Augenstein, then the Staffel Kaptäin of 12./NJG1, was KiA on the night of the 6th/7th December 1944 10 km NW of Münster-Handorf airfield, when his Bf110 G-4 G9+HZ was shot down by 85 Sqn Mosquito NF.XIX ‘O’ flown by Flt Lt. Edward R. Hedgecoe DFC & Bar 86574 RAFVR (Attached from 157 Sqn) and Fg Off. Norman L. Bamford DFC & Bar 149134 RAFVR. Hptm. Augenstein was credited with 37 confirmed Abschüsse and 3 awaiting confirmation. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten).

Flt Lt. Black gave the order to abandon the aircraft and stayed at the controls until the aircraft was below 1000 ft, by which time he thought that all of the crew must have baled out, and then baled out himself. He was captured immediately after landing.

WO1. Fitzpatrick baled out but got caught up on the aircraft and was pushed out by Fg Off. Van Maarion.

The aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Londerzeel, Oorst a small town on one of the main routes between Brussels and Antwerpen.

(1) Flt Lt. Black was captured at Londerzeel that day. After the statutory visit and interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan arriving there on the 20th May 1944.

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.

At first the groups of men were marching in close columns some 200 m. in length, which over the hours stretched to some 2 km. At the rear of the columns PoWs too exhausted to walk were on tractors with trailers and horse carts.

The marching columns passed through Iłowa, Borowe, Gozdnica, Przewóz, Potok, Łęknica, Bad Muskau, Kromlau, Graustein and to Spremberg which was a distance of some 93½ km (58 mls). Between Łęknica and Bad Muskau, he together with Fg Off. G.L. Brown and Fg Off. J.B. Craggs escaped the column.

Fg Off. Grant Leroy Brown J18354, RCAF. He was the Bomb Aimer from 83 Sqn Lancaster III ND494 OL:G which was hit by Flak and then a night-fighter on the night of the 9th/10th May 1944 on a mission to Gennevilliers, France (3 KiA, 4 PoWs);

Fg Off. John Brian Craggs 146452 RAFVR. He was the Bomb Aimer from 15 Sqn Stirling III BK704 LS:Z which was hit by Flak on the night of the 13th/14th May 1943 on a mission to Bochum. The pilot Sqn Ldr. Clifford Charles John Bowyer 118812 RAFVR was KiA. The other 7 crew became PoWs.

They were free for 7 days and marched by night but the lack of food exhausted them and forced them on to the roads. They were strafed by Russian aircraft but were not hurt. They were captured by German forces on the 8th February near to the Russian lines. They were sent to Stalag 13D at Nuremberg arriving there on the 12 February 1945.

Between the 2nd and 12th April 1945 he joined the large numbers force-marched to Stalag 7A, arriving there on the 28th April 1945. The next day the camp was liberated by elements of the US 14th Armoured Division.

John Howard Black was born on the 28th July 1914. He was a Hardrock miner in Manitoba prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 4th April 1941.

(2) The escape and evasion report for Sgt. Berry is not available soe the details of his evasion are no known. What is known is that he was liberated in Belgium and was interviewed on the 9th September 1944.

Sgt. Walter Berry was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) whilst with 76 Squadron (London Gazette 16th November 1943).

(3) Fg Off. Doubt baled out and landed in a field at Londerzeel where he hid until the morning. He then contacted a farmer, who brought another man, after which he was taken to Mechelen, some 12 km (7½ mls) due east, where he stayed for 4 days. From there he was taken to Brussels, 21 km (13 mls) to the south, where he was handed over to two ladies. One of the two provided food, clothes and arranged for lodgings in Brussels where he stayed hidden for the next 5 weeks.

He was moved twice whilst in Brussels to keep ahead of the Gestapo and finally stayed at a house from the 25th May until the 14th July. One of the ladies paid the owner of this house 70 francs a day for his keep and lodging for at least half of the time that he was there.

The local resistance organisation then moved him out of Brussels and was eventually taken to Montignies-lez-Lens, 11¼ km (7 mls) north of Mons, where he remained until the 3rd September when the town was liberated by Allied forces. He arrived back in England on the 8th September 1944.

He found out later that the two ladies and another man who had assisted him were arrested by the Gestapo.

Ross Hubert Doubt was born on the 17th July 1913 in Toronto. He was a Textile Printer prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 9th February 1942.

(4) The escape and evasion report for Fg Off. Van Maarion is not available soe the details of his evasion are no known.

Burial details:

Above: Brussels Town Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC))

Plt Off. Robert Joseph Fitzpatrick. Brussels Town Cemetery, Grave X.18.28. Born on the 21st January 1918 in St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. Son of Frederick and Sarah (née Penny) Fitzpatrick of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. Husband of Eva Marie (née Farrell) Fitzpatrick St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, Canada.

WO1. Fitzpatrick was posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J87097 Plt Off. effective 11th May 1944.

Plt Off. James Howard Jones. Brussels Town Cemetery Collective Grave X.19.6-8. Grave Inscription: ‘OUR DEARLY BELOVED SON AND BROTHER. FOR EVER IN OUR HEARTS. MOTHER, DAD AND DON’. Born on the 30th March 1925 in Port Credit, Ontario. Son of John Milican and Mary Catherine (née Lynas) Jones of Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada.

His father, Sgt. John M. Jones A17016 RCAMC was serving in the London Military Hospital in London Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Jame H. Jones was posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J90284 Plt Off. effective 11th May 1944.

Plt Off. Kenneth Wesley Drumm. Brussels Town Cemetery Collective Grave X.19.6-8. Born on the 3rd January 1922 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. Son of John Walter and Sue (née Smith) Drumm of Galt, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt Drumm was posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J94303 Plt Off. effective 11th May 1944.

Sgt. Albert Christopher Jones. Brussels Town Cemetery Collective Grave X.19.6-8. Grave Inscription: ‘FOR EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS. DAD’. Born on the 6th February 1924 in Dover, Kent. Son of Albert and Annie (née Page) Jones of Langley, Worcestershire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape and John Jones and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Aug 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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