Operation: Stuttgart, Germany

Date: 14th/15th April 1943 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 106 Squadron, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: ED752

Code: ZN:H

Base: RAF Syerston, Nottinghamshire

Location: Crashed landed SW of Moreuil in France

Pilot: Plt Off. Leslie Charles James ‘Les’ Brodrick 122363 RAFVR Age 21. PoW No. 1219 * (1)

2nd Pilot: Sqn Ldr. Jerrard ‘Jerry’ Latimer DFC, MiD, 39286 RAF Age 26. KiA (2)

Flt Eng: Sgt. Gordon William Hancock 576889 RAF Age? KiA

Nav: Flt Lt. James Allan Burns J14197 RCAF Age 25. PoW No. 1342 *

Bomb Aimer: Lt(A). Gerard Muttrie RNVR Age 23. KiA (3)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Harold Buxton 1177603 RAFVR Age 31. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. William Thomas McLean 1551176 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Harry Jones 1320799 RAFVR Age 22. PoW No. 1011 ** (4)

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

** Stalag Luft 4, Groß-Tychow, Pomerania, Prussia now Tychowo, Poland

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 14th/15th April 1943 seven (7) aircraft from the Sqn were detailed to join a force of four-hundred and sixty-two (462) aircraft on mission to bomb targets at Stuttgart in Germany. Of the twenty-three (23) aircraft lost on this mission only ED752 from the Sqn failed to return.

Aboard ED752 after dropping their bombs Plt Off. Brodrick dived the aircraft low for the return leg. Somewhere near Amiens he flew over a grass airfield and the aircraft was raked by ground machine gun fire which hit the port inner engine. It immediately burst into flames which extend up to the fuselage. He thought about gaining height to allow the crew to bale out but at that moment a straight flat field appeared.

As he flared for the touchdown the nose of the aircraft fell and it crashed straight in and stopped abruptly. Everyone in the forward fuselage were thrown through the roof of the fuselage. Plt Off. Brodrick’s harness held and he managed to extricate himself from the cockpit. He found Flt Lt. Burns the only one of the crew still alive but he was bleeding badly so dragged him away from then crash site. They were joined by Flt Sgt. Jones who was the only other survivor. They surrendered to the Germans so that they could get medical help for Flt Lt. Burns and their own injuries. (Ref 1. p.112)

ED752 had been hit by light Flak of II. Zug of II. Zug./4. Lei. Flak Abt. 694. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1 January - 22 June) 1943 Part 1 - Theo Boiten).

The aircraft had come down SW of Moreuil in France.

(1) Plt Off. Brodrick was captured near Amiens that day and was sent to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 18th April. After the statutory solitary confinement and interrogation he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia arriving there on the 5th May 1943. Arriving at the camp he was immediately involved in tunnel activities and was theTrapführer (In charge of tunnel entrance) for one of the three tunnels. ((Ref 1. p.112).

He was promoted to Fg Off. with effect on the 14th March 1944 (London Gazette 31st March 1944).

His activities earned him an early place in the two-hundred (200) selected for the escape. On the night of the 24th/25th March 1944, seventy-six (76) officers escaped from the north compound of Stalag Luft 3 which, at that time, held between 1000 and 1500 RAF PoWs. The escape was made by the means of a tunnel. At about 05:00 hrs on the 25th March the 77th PoW was spotted by guards as he emerged from the tunnel.

Fg Off. Brodrick was the fifty-second (52nd) officer out of the tunnel and joined a party of ten (10) in the woods. They walked west for about 2 km and then split into small groups. He, Flt Lt. Birkland and Flt Lt. Street remained together and set out in a southerly directly, hiding in woods by day until just before dawn on the 27th March. They decided to give themselves up because they were very wet and suffering from the cold. (Ref 2. p.196).

Flt Lt. Birkland and Flt Lt. Street were amongst the fifty (50) who were murdered by the Gestapo.

They approached a cottage and found that it was occupied by Germans who arrested them. They were taken a local police station where they managed to destroy their false papers in a fire on the pretext of warming themselves. At 12:00hrs they were taken to the civil police station at Görlitz where he and Flt Lt. Street were held in a cell with Flt Lt. Churchill. Over the next few days he was interrogated and on the 6th May he was sent back to Stalag Luft 3 along with Flt Lt. Royle, Flt Lt. Churchill, Flt Lt. Nelson, Flt Lt. Armstrong, Flt Lt. Bethell and Flt Lt. Shand. (Ref 2. p.196).

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.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages.

He was amongst those who, on the 2nd February, was sent to Marlag und Milag Nord at Westertimke arriving there on the 4th February.

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, which included Flt Lt. Brodrick, and marched them out, heading east. 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-Milag 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. Fg Off. Brodrick was interviewed on the 3rd May 1945.

Leslie Charles James Brodrick was born on the 19th May 1921 in Earlsfield, Surrey. He was an Insurance Clerk prior to enlisting in the RAFVR 24th April 1939. Leslie passed away on the 8th April 2013 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

(2) Jerrard Jeffries joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) on a short service commission in October 1936.

He was posted to 17 Sqn in August 1937, seeing some action with this unit over France in May 1940. He was then posted to 85 Sqn, but on 12th July 1940 was promoted to become a Flight Commander at 310 sqn which was the first Czech fighter Sqn to be formed at RAF Duxford.

Fg Off. Jerrard Jeffries RAF was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 1st October 1940.

Citation: “This officer has led his flight with skill and gallantry. His determined leadership and skilled training have contributed largely to the success of his squadron. He has destroyed four enemy aircraft and severely damaged another two”.

Above: Courtesy of the Evening Standard, dated 30th September 1940

He was promoted to Flt Lt. effective from the 3rd September 1940 (London Gazette 12th November 1940) and was promoted to Acting Sqn Ldr. effective from the 1st September 1941 (London Gazette, 24th September 1941).

Acting Sqn Ldr. Jerrard Jeffries DFC was conferred the Czechoslovak Military Cross of 1939 by the Provisional Czechoslovak Government which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the January 1941.

In January 1941 Jerrard Jeffries changed his name by deed poll to Latimer, his mother’s maiden name.

During the month he was promoted again to command the Sqn, remaining until June, when he handed over to the first Czech unit commander.

On the 7th July 1941 he formed and took command of No. 1455 (Fighter) Flight equipped with the Turbinlite Douglas Havocs, remaining with this unit until January 1942.

The Havoc was guided to enemy aircraft by ground radar and its own radar. The mounted searchlight would then be used to illuminate attacking enemy bombers for defending fighters accompanying the Havoc to shoot down.

He was then posted to No. 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU) where he converted to flying Lancasters after which he was attached to 106 Sqn.

Acting Sqn Ldr. Jerrard Latimer DFC was Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 24th September 1941.

(3) Lt(A). Muttrie was aboard as one of the observers from the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) seconded to Bomber Command squadrons for their knowledge of ship recognition and they flew as Bomb Aimers.

He was attached from HMS Daedalus and had flown with Guy Gibson on the sortie that took the broadcaster Richard Dimbleby over Berlin on the 16th/17th January 1943.

(4) After the statutory interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel Flt Sgt. Jones was transferred to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth-Vogelsang. Whilst at the camp he was involved in a tunnelling attempt with several others but it was discovered before the tunnel was completed.

Stalag Luft 1 received only NCOs between October 1942 and November 1943. After which the camp was only used for Commissioned Allied officers and he was amongst the NCOs who were then transferred to Stalag Luft 6 in Heydekrug.

In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was being made. PoWs from Stalag Luft 6, the camp closest to the Russian advance, were in the "northern route" of the force-marches, and were transported to Stalag 20A at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland by train in July 1944 and from there took part in the forced-march. The columns went to Stalag Luft 4 at Groß-Tychow in Pomerania where the then Warrant Officer (WO) Jones remained until February 1945.

In late January 1945 the PoWs could see the distant flash of artillery fire from the east. On the 28th January the evacuation was ordered. On the 2nd February a train load was transported to Stalag 13D at Nürnberg, Germany. Over a period of 3 days from the 6th February some 6,000 prisoners were ordered to leave the camp on foot with little notice. The PoWs in groups of 250 to 300 were marched, heading west, covering long daily distances on starvation rations.

On the 28th March the column arrived at Ebbsdorf where a large number of the men were jammed into railway box cars and sealed in for some 33 hours until the train arrived at Stalag 11B, near Fallingbostel in Schleswig on the 30th March. On the 1st April he was amongst the PoWs that were on the forced-march from Fallingbostel to Lübeck. On the 15th April he escaped from the column along with WO. Townsend and WO. Nettleton about 15 km from Lüneburg. They joined a company of the 15th Royal Scots on the 19th April 1945.

Sgt. Anthony Edward Townsend 13362281 RAFVR, PoW No. 517. He was a pilot from 222 Sqn whose Spitfire IX MH389 was shot down by a German fighter over Lille on the 8th September 1943;

Sgt. Frank Everaert Nettleton 1386217 RAFVR, PoW No. 1019. He was a pilot from 56 Sqn whose Typhoon 1A R7714 was lost shot down by Flak off Ijmuiden on the10th April 1943.

WO. Jones was interviewed on the 24th April 1945.

Harry Jones was born on the 14th November 1921. He was a farm labourer on the New Monks Farm in Lancing, Essex prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 23rd October 1941. No further information found.

Burial details:

Above: Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery, which is 5¼ km (3¼ mls) due south of Moreuil. Left to right: Sgt. Buxton, Sgt. McLean, Sqn Ldr. Latimer, Sgt. Hancock, Lt(A). Muttrie. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sqn Ldr. Jerrard Latimer DFC, MiD. Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery Grave 3. Born as Jerrard Jeffries in Tamworth, Sutton Coldfield in the 3rd Qtr of 1916. Son of Frederick Jefferson (deceased in 1940) and Ethel Maud (née Latimer) Jeffries . Husband to Winifred Mary (née Butler) Latimer of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Gordon William Hancock. Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Grave Inscription: “SO YOUNG, HE GAVE ALL IN THE BATTLE OF RIGHT AGAINST MIGHT. NEVER FORGOTTEN”. Son of William Edward and Elsie Hancock of Burgess Hill, Sussex, England.

Lt (A). Gerard Muttrie. Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery Grave 5. Grave Inscription: “ETERNAL REST GIVE UNTO HIM, O LORD; AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM”. Born in 3rd Qtr of 1919 in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Son of Thomas Wilfred and Anne (née McGratty) Muttrie. Husband to Margaret Patricia (née Nutter) Muttrie of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.

Sgt. Harold Buxton. Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery Grave 1. Grave Inscription: "HE SHALL COVER THEE WITH HIS FEATHERS". Born on the 10th August 1912 in Crewton, Derby. Son of Tom and Mary I. (née Fowler) Buxton of Derby, Derbyshire, England.

Sgt. William Thomas McLean. Sauvillers-Mongival Communal Cemetery Grave 2. Grave Inscription: “THERE WAS GLORY IN HIS GOING; HE DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE”. Son of Thomas William and Annie McLean of Keith, Banffshire, Scotland.

Also remembered at the Scottish National War Memorial, Roll of Honour.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to this crew and their families (Mar 2025).

Other sources listed below:

References:

1. The Great Escape – The full dramatic story with contributions from survivors and their families - Anton Gill - ISBN: 878-0-75531-037-1.

2. Stalag Luft III - An official history of the “Great Escape” PoW Camp - Published by Frontline Books - ISBN: 978-1-47388-305-5.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2026 Last Modified: 04 November 2025, 14:57