Archive Report: Allied Forces

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07/08.02.1945 No. 50 Squadron Lancaster I PD316 VN:A Flt.Lt. John Boyle

Operation: Ladbergen

Date: 7th/8th February 1945 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: 50 Squadron

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: PD316

Code: VN:A

Base: RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire

Location: Near Ladbergen, Germany

Pilot: Flt.Lt. John Boyle 184181 RAFVR Age 24. Killed

Flt.Eng: Sgt. Gerald Ansell 198616 RAFVR Age 29. Killed

Nav: Sgt. Stanley Hoggett 1569216 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air Bmr: Flt.Sgt. H.R. Hand RAFVR - PoW No further details

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt.Sgt. Deryck Grenville Rodwell 1333583 RAFVR Age 23. Killed

Air Gnr: Sgt. R.G. Turner RAFVR - PoW No further details

Air Gnr: Sgt. Peter Richard Jones 1808439 RAFVR Age ? Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Take off at 20.59hrs from RAF Skellingthorpe and set course for the Dortmund-Ems Canal.

Left: Pilot, Flt.Lt. John Boyle (courtesy Keith Halligan) and the other two, Navigator, Sgt. Stanley Hoggett (courtesy Kevin Thornhill)

It is thought ‘probable’ that this Lancaster was shot down by the Luftwaffe ace Hptm. Gerhard Raht (1) between 00.08 hrs and 00:23 hrs. He was the Kommandeur of I./NJG2 flying with his Bordfunker (2) Fj-Ofw. Anton Heinemann, Beobachter (2) Uffz. Rol Rohlfs-Zoll, Bordmechaniker (2) Uffz. Werner Hesse. No details on location but on its return journey after bombing the Dortmund Ems Canal near Ladbergen.

(1) This was the 53rd abschuss for Hptm. Raht who went on to claim a total of 60 aircraft by war end. He survived the war and died in January 1977 at Reinfeld, Germany. See Kracker Archive on this site.

(2) Bordfunker - Wireless operator, Beobachter - Observer, Bordmechaniker - Flight mechanic.

Burial details:

Flt.Lt. John Boyle. Reischwald War Cemetery. Grave 23 C.18. Son of John and Grace Boyle of Barrow-in-Furness and husband of Doris Boyle of Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England.

Sgt. Gerald Ansell. Reischwald War Cemetery. Grave 23 C.17. Son of William and Elizabeth Sophia Ansell of Birkenhead and husband of Ellen Winifred Ansell of Birkenhead, England.

Sgt. Stanley Hoggett. Reischwald War Cemetery. Coll. grave 23 D.1-3. Born on the 6th January 1923 at Langley Moor, Durham. Son of George and Hannah (née Briggs) Hoggett and husband to Eliza Rebecca (née Harper) Hoggett. Sherburn, Co. Durham, England.

Flt.Sgt. Deryck Grenville Rodwell. Reischwald War Cemetery. Coll. grave 23 D.1-3. Son of Harry and Ida Rodwell of Tring, Herts and husband of Marjorie Gertrude Rodwell of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England.

Sgt. Peter Richard Jones. Reischwald War Cemetery. Coll. grave 23 D.1-3. Next of Kin details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and specialist genealogist Linda Ibrom for relatives of this crew. Special thanks to Keith Halligan, relative of John Boyle, Kevin Thornhill, nephew of Stanley Hoggett for photographs and Hans Ooms for grave photos. For further information we are indebted to sources as quoted below. Further photographs of the pilot submitted April 2016.

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