Operation: Gardening (1)

Date: 26/27th August 1944 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit: No. 166 Squadron (motto: 'Tenacity')

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: LM652

Code: AS-R

Base: RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire

Location: Kattegat, Denmark

Pilot: F/O. Royden Garfield Bradley J/28537 RCAF Age 21. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Walter France 1591940 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. Ernest Vernon Hammond 1622724 RAFVR Age 21. Missing - believed killed

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Richard Nathaniel Smith R/168261 RCAF Age 24. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O. Albert Scott 157536 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

Air/Gnr: F/O. Gustaf Flegel J/38270 RCAF Age 23. Killed

Air/Gnr: F/O. Frank Kenneth Morley J/38276 RCAF Age 19. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off from RAF Kirmington at 20:35 hrs on a Gardening (1) operation in the Danzig Bay area.

Shot down by Uffz. Bruno Rupp of 4/NJG3 over Samsø Island 2,000m at 03:20 hrs.

F/O. Royden Bradleys body was washed up on the 06th October at Tved Mols. The body of F/O. Gustaf Flegel also washed ashore on the 30th October 1944 at Skjernoen.

Above: F/O. Royden Bradley, Fl/Sgt. Ernest Hammond, Fl/Sgt. Richard Smith, F/O. Gustaf Flegel and F/O. Frank Kenneth Morley.

(1) 'Gardening' term used to describe the laying of sea mines. Gardening map shown here.

Burial details:

F/O. Royden Garfield Bradley. Tved Churchyard (Mols). Also remembered on family grave in Carp. Born on the 19th September 1922 in Carp, Ontario, Canada. Worked for Canada Locomotion Company as a machine operator. Enlisted on the 23rd July 1943. Son of Clifford (died 14th July 1955, aged 65) and Louisa May Bradley (née Hawkshaw - died 1997, age 100), of Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada. Epitaph/; 'I Have Fought A Good Fight, I Have Finished My Course, I Have Kept The Faith Ii Timothy IV.7'.

Sgt. Walter France. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 229. No further details, are you able to assist?

Fl/Sgt. Ernest Vernon Hammond. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 218. Son of Ernest and Margaret Hammond, of Seven Kings, Essex.

Fl/Sgt. Richard Nathaniel Smith. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 255. Born on the 22nd May 1920 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Enlisted on the 11th June 1942. Son of Nathaniel (died 29th December 1980, age 92) and Bertha Irene Smith (née Place - died 02nd July 1973, age 75), of 109 East 23rd Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

P/O. Albert Scott. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 209. No further details, are you able to assist?

F/O. Gustaf Flegel. Mandal Churchyard. GraveI.2.13. Born on the 11th December 1920 in Grayson Saskatchewan, Canada. Enlisted on the 12th November 1943. Son of Joseph (died 24th March 1942, age, 57) and Sophia Flegel (née Gelowitz - died 31st May 1965, age 75) of 2435 East 23rd Avenue, Vancouver British Columbia. Husband of Harriet Margaret Flegel (née Bowen - married 18th January 1941), of 895 Kipling Street, Trail, British Columbia, Canada. Epitaph: 'In Loving Memory Of Gus. Ever Remembered By Your Wife, Sons, Mother And Family'.

F/O. Frank Kenneth Morley. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 247. Born on the 28th May 1925. Enlisted on the 12th November 1943. Son of John Gordon Morley (died June 1957, age 61) and Dorothy Ena Morley (née Low - died September 1992, age 93), of 232 West Gore Street, Stratford, Ontario, Canada.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to John Jones, the National Archives Kew, Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 Part 4 - Theo Boiten, Government of Canada. Kracker Luftwaffe Archive. Paradie Archive.

Pages relating to RCAF European losses
Pages relating to 1944 losses
Canadian database.

Other sources as quoted below:

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