Operation: Mailly-le-Camp, France

Date: 3rd/4th May 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 50 Squadron

Type: Lancaster lII

Serial: LM480

Code: VN:U

Base: RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire

Location: Saint-Mesmin, France

Pilot: Flt Lt. Thomas Henry Blackham DFC, 124922 RAFVR Age 21. Id No: 78380 *, PoW No. 8044 ** (1)

2nd Pilot: Plt Off. Cyril Edward Stephensen 409859 RAAF Age 21. KiA

Flt Eng: Plt Off. Charles Richard Ernest Walton 174051 RAFVR Age 28. KiA

Nav: Plt Off. David Gwynfor Jones 144926 RAFVR Age 24. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Stewart James Godfrey 887171 RAFVR Age 30. Evader/Killed (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Sidney Charles Wilkins 1396525 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Herbert George Ridd 1003849 RAFVR Age 29. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. William Dennis Dixon 1835971 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimer, Germany in July 1937.

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

REASON FOR LOSS:

LL840 took off at 22:07 hrs from Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire to attack enemy troop concentrations at Mailly-le-Camp in France. The target was bombed accurately on time by Mosquito pathfinders led by Wg Cdr. Leonard Cheshire. However, the order for the main force to commence bombing failed to get through because of radio communication problems which resulted the 346 Lancasters orbiting an assembly marker. Added to the delay there was a three-quarter moon in a cloudless sky resulting in a total of 42 Lancasters being shot down by German night fighters.

After clearing the target area LM480 was claimed by Hptm. Martin Drewes, his 28th Abschuss and 2nd of 5 victories this night, from Stab III./NJG1, over Saint-Mesmin near Romilly : at 2,000m at 00:36 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 2 - Theo Boiten).

Maj. Drewes survived the war and was credited with 46 confirmed Abschüsse with 2 awaiting confirmation. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten)

The aircraft wreckage fell to earth at Saint-Mesmin which is a village straddling the railway line between Romilly-sur-Seine and Troyes in France and about 35 km (21¾ mls) SW of Mailly-le-Camp.

(1) Flt Lt. Blackham managed to keep the aircraft flying until all his crew had baled out safely, and then a sudden explosion knocked him senseless, hurling him through a glass panel. He recovered consciousness to find himself surrounded by flames and jumped clear moments before the aircraft exploded in mid-air.

Parachuting in Maquis country he narrowly escaped being hung as a German spy, but another British airman in the vicinity was able to vouch for him. For over two months he lived and fought with the Maquis, until he was sent on to Paris for return to England along the Réseau Comète (Comet Line).

He joined Fg Off. Mutter an the local Maquis in the Forêt d’Othe to the west of Souligny.

This was Fg Off. Neville Edward Stone Mutter, pilot of 65 (East India) Sqn Mustang III FB119, which crash landed after being hit by Flak on the 30th April 1944 on a Ranger sortie.

After D-Day the group was attacked and as a result the Maquis split into small parties. Flt Lt. Blackham, Fg Off. Mutter and a Frenchman made their way to Melun, where they were put in touch with an English woman. They stayed in Melun for 4 days after which the English woman sent them to a French woman in Pringy.

She put them on a train for Paris via Melun. At Melun they were met by two guides who took them to a hotel in Porte de Clichy where they stayed for 2 weeks. Whilst there they were visited by an American lady who was married to a Frenchman and who was trying to find a way to get them back to the UK.

The hotel was raided by Gestapo but they only took money and jewels but they were warned that they should move so the American woman took them to her flat where they stayed for a week. During this time she had put them in touch with some French communists at Aubervilliers in northern Paris. As they had no intention of helping them to get home they returned to stay with the Countess until she left the country. Despite her best efforts she could not help them.

On the 22nd July 1944 they that they would be met by a Frenchman who could help them met a man who said he was a Canadian British agent. The so-called Canadian took them to his flat. He told them that he and his friend would put them up for the night and then arrange for a car to drive them to the south of France.

This so-called Canadian British agent was in fact:

Jean-Jacques who was a Belgian traitor named Jaques Desoubrie (Jean-Jacques, Jean Masson, Jean Decan and Pierre Boulain were aliases) who had infiltrated the Réseau Comète (Comet Line) escape route in Brussels and Paris. He was responsible for the Nazis rounding up dozen of members of the Réseau Comète and Allied airmen. He was finally captured and stood accused at a French military trial in Lille. He was convicted and condemned to death for having participated in the capture and assassination of members of the resistance and for sending Allied military to their deaths in violation of the Geneva convention. He was executed by firing squad.

They left the flat with the two of them at 22:00 hrs and were walking along when they were surrounded by plain clothes Gestapo on the Pont de La Concord and arrested. They were then taken to Gestapo HQ for interrogation.

They were then transferred to Fresnes prison which was located to the south of Paris and was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 they were amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

He was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, East Compound over the period 15th to 20th October 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.

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.

Flt Lt. Blackham joined PoWs from the North, East and remaining West compound PoWs and sent to the Marlag und Milag Nord PoW camp at Westertimke in Lower Saxony.

Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager (naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’.

On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen.

However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men and marched them out, heading east. Records show that Flt Lt. Blackham was listed as being on this forced march. The next day, at around at 10:00 hrs the column was strafed by RAF aircraft, and two PoWs were killed.

Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The Germans agreed.

On the 9th April 1945 the guards at Marlag und Milag Nord camp moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. Meanwhile, the column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe, north of Hamburg, on the 18th April.

On the 27th April the camps were liberated by elements of the British Guards Armoured Division.

The next day, the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945.

Flt Lt. Blackham was awarded DFC whilst with 50 Squadron. London Gazette 7th April 1944.

Citation reads: "As pilot, this officer has participated in a number of sorties and has displayed outstanding determination, fearlessness and devotion to duty. This was well illustrated on a recent occasion when detailed to attack Berlin. On the outward flight the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the elevators were damaged. Soon afterwards the bomber was struck by bullets from a fighter. The rear turret was rendered unserviceable arid the oxygen installation was damaged. The target was still 100 miles distant but Flight Lieutenant Blackham continued his mission. On the bombing run, 3 members of his crew became unconscious "through lack of oxygen. The flight engineer successfully repaired the oxygen system and the affected members were revived. Flight Lieutenant Blackham then pressed home a determined attack and afterwards flew the damaged aircraft to base. A few nights later, this officer again displayed praiseworthy skill and resolution in-a successful attack on Augsburg.”

After returning to England he remained in the RAF and was promoted to Sqn Ldr on the 1st February 1949 and then to Wg Cdr. on the 1st July 1960.

Wg Cdr. Blackham was appointed to be an Ordinary Officer of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE (M)) on the 1st January 1964. He was appointed to commission as a Gp Capt. on the 1st July 1966 and appointed to Air Cdr. on the 1st July 1974. He retired from the Royal Air Force and was transferred to the RAF Reserve of Officers as a Gp Capt. on the 11th July 1977.

On the 1st February 1979 Air Cdr. Blackham was appointed as Gentleman to be Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Mid Glamorgan, Wales.

Thomas Henry Blackham was born on the 11th July 1922 in Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland and passed away on the 6th April 2003, aged 80, in Liskeard, Cornwall.

(2) Flt Sgt. Godfrey was initially assisted in evading the Germans by a Mme Deguilly of Romilly-sur-Seine who passed him onto the local resistance group.

Unfortunately the forest camp at Mailly-le-Camp where he was hiding was attacked by German troops on 24th June 1944 and he was killed. Flt Sgt. Godfrey’s body has never been recovered and as a consequence he is remembered on the Runneymede Memorial.

No further information has been found regarding the 51 days during which he was evading.

Flt Sgt. Godfrey has been appointed to a commission and promoted to 175487 Plt Off with effect 15th April 1944. Promulgated in the London Gazette on the 6th June 1944.

Burial details:

Above: Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery which has just the six casualties from this aircraft

Plt Off. Cyril Edward Stephensen. Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery Grave 3. Grave inscription: "HE FLEW AWAY". Born on the 28th July 1922 in Maryborough, Queensland. Son of Christian Julius and Marie Louise Aimee Stephensen of Newtown, Tasmania, Australia.

Plt Off. Charles Richard Ernest Walton. Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery Grave 2. Grave inscription: "WE WHO LOVED YOU WILL NEVER FORGET. GOD BLESS DADDY. WIFE CONNIE, JUDY AND TERRY". Son of Charles and Catherine (née Taylor) Walton; husband of Constance Phoebe (née Taylor) Walton, of Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire, England.

Plt Off. David Gwynfor Jones. Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Grave inscription: ""AND WHAT HE GREATLY THOUGHT- HE NOBLY DARED" MARION AND NOREEN". Husband of Noreen May (née Bumstead) Jones, of Southall, Middlesex, England.

Plt Off. Stewart James Godfrey. Runnymede Memorial Panel 211. Son of Stewart Thomas and Matilda Godfrey of Paisley, Scotland. Husband of Phyllis Edna (née Peagram) Godfrey, of Acton, Middlesex, England.

Sgt. Sidney Charles Wilkins. Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery Grave 5. Grave inscription: "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM". Son of Sidney Charles and Alice Wilkins, of New Cross, London, England.

Sgt. Herbert George Ridd. Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery Grave 6. Grave inscription: "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER HIM". Son of Abram John and Mary Elizabeth (née Morgan) Ridd, of Swansea, Wales.

Sgt. William Dennis Dixon. Saint-Mesmin New Communal Cemetery Grave 1. Grave Inscription: "SOME WILL FORGET YOU NOW YOU'RE GONE BUT WE WILL REMEMBER NO MATTER HOW LONG". Son of William and Annie Dixon, of Carway, Carmarthenshire, Wales.

Researched by Ralph Snape and John Jones for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their families (Jul 2022). Reviewed, reorganised and update to Buchenwald narrative (Jun 2024).

Other sources as quoted below:

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