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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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105
07th November 1942 105 Squadron Mosquito B.IV DK328 Fl/Lt. Bristow DFC

Operation: Anti-Shipping

Date: 07th November 1942 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 105 Squadron (motto: Fortis in Proeliis - 'Valiant in battles')

Type: Mosquito B.IV

Serial: DK328

Code: GB-V

Base: RAF Marham, Norfolk

Location: Gironde estuary, France

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Alec Norman Bristow DFC 101502 RAFVR PoW No. 816 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan

Nav: Fl/Lt. Bernard Willis Marshall 104775 RAFVR PoW No. 827 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off with 5 others at 12:56hrs. on an attack on the 5000 ton Elsa Essberger accompanied by U-373 moving through the Gironde.

The squadron heavily damaged the ship which was forced to return for repairs. The Elsa Essberger was sunk on the 05th August 1944 in order to block passage to the advancing allies.

DK328 was hit by anti aircraft fire and the pilot was forced to ditch close to the beach. The two crew waded ashore to be taken prisoner.

They remained in Stalag Luft Sagan for the remainder of the war. They were both actively involved in the construction of the tunnels which eventually were used in the fateful 'Great Escape'.

Fl.Lt. Bristol arrived back in England on the 07th May 1945 after suffering on the forced march. He left the RAF at the end of the war but rejoined in April 1947 as a flying instructor finally leaving as a squadron leader in 1956. He then became a senior pilot instructor for BOAC then BA on 707's and VC10's until 1980.

Born on the 20th October 1916 at Epson. n 1938, he joined Holes Dairy in Brighton, where he met Joan Hazeldean and they married on the 08th June 1941. They had three daughters, Angela, May, Fiona and Joanna. Alec had joined the RAFVR in January 1939. He passed away in Guilford on the 18th October 1990, age 73.

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in September 1942 for the Oslo raid on the Victoria Terrasse building, the Gestapo HQ. The operation was carried out by four aircraft:

Led by Sq/Ldr. Douglas Alfred George Parry 79162 and his navigator Fl/Lt. V. George 'Robby' Robson 116437 (shown above). The others, Fl/Lt. Peter Wilton P/O. Townsend Rowland 127801 with F/O. Richard Louis Reilly 119261 (both surviving a forced landing in DK340 on 11th October 1942) , Fl/Sgt. Gordon Carter with Sgt. William Young. Although a moral boosting success 80 Norwegian civilians were killed or injured. Fl/Sgt. Carter and Sgt. Young in Mosquito DK325 GB-S were shot shot down over Oslofjord and killed by a FW190 of 3./JG 5 flying from Stavanger.

Note: Fl/Lt. Robson medals sold at auction for £6000 on 24th February 2016 - Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar, the reverse of the Cross officially dated ‘1942’ and the Bar ‘1943’; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn.

Burial details:

None - both crew survived as PoW.

Others:

Fl/Sgt. Gordon Kenneth Carter. Oslo Western Civil Cemetery. Grave 1.B.4. S/N: 1283561 Age 26. Born on the 24th March 1916. Son of Allan and Ethel Carter; husband of Lenore Amelia Carter, of Upminster, Essex, England. Grave inscription: 'Fondly Remembered By His Wife Norrie, Mother, Dad And Sister Phyll'.

Sgt. William Shirley Young. Oslo Western Civil Cemetery. Grave 1.C.1. S/N: 1344278 Age 20. Son of Alexander and Mima Young, of Glasgow, Scotland. Grave inscription: 'Greater Love Hath No Man'.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of these crews with thanks to Joanna Bristow- Watkins, Guildford Dragon News, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vol's. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', ‘Bomber Command Database’, Commonwealth War Graves Commission. other sources as quoted below:

KTY 04-10-2021

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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