Operation: Köln, Germany

Date: 1st/2nd March 1941 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit No: 51 Squadron, 4 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Whitley V

Serial: P5108

Code MH:Q

Base: RAF Dishforth, North Yorkshire

Location: Island of Juist in Frisian Island chain

Pilot: Sgt. Victor Walter Bruce 748497 RAFVR Age 22. PoW No: 485 * (1)

Obs: Sgt. Ronald Smith 758058 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Vere Huston 745934 RAFVR Age 24. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Ernest Frederick ‘Ernie’ Matthews 640340 RAF Age 20. KiA (2)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Arthur Mather 648563 RAFVR Age 27. PoW No: 510 * (1)

* Stalag 357, Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 1st/2nd March 1941 Whitley V P5108 took-off from RAF Dishforth at 19:32 hrs to join a force of one-hundred and thirty-one (131) bombers on an operation to bomb two (2) targets in Köln.

The force lost (5) Whitleys two (2) of which were from 51 Sqn. The second was Whitley V N1481 MH:? Flown by Sgt. Douglas Corbett Beddow 748747 RAFVR, who along with crew were posted Missing in Action (MiA) and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

P5108 was last heard on the w/t at 05:24 hrs and 6 mins later the aircraft was forced-landed on a Sandbank on the Island of Juist in Frisian Island chain in the Wadden Sea and about 24 km (15 mls) NW of Pilsum in Germany.

Two (2) German seaplanes landed to collect the prisoners. On the 2nd March 1941 one of these crashed on landing killing Sgt. Smith, Sgt. Huston and Sgt. Matthews. Sgt. Bruce and Sgt. Mather became PoWs.

Research has not identified the unit or the two (2) German seaplanes.

(1) Sgt. Bruce and Sgt. Mather were transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel for the statutory interrogation before being transferred to Stalag Luft 2 in Barth.

Stalag Luft 2 was redesignated as Stalag Luft 1 on the 1st October 1942

In April 1942, all 800 inmates were transferred to the newly constructed Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan, Silesia. In April 1943 they were transferred to Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug. They were both promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) whilst at the camp. On the on they were transferred to Stalag 357, Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland.

On the 1st September 1944 the PoWs were force-marched from Thorn (Toruń) to the site of the former Stalag 11D, with construction being carried out by the Italian PoW from Stalag 11B. The camp was commonly known as Stalag 357, Fallingbostal but officially the designation was Stalag 357, Oerbke.

In early April 1945 the PoWs were informed by the Commandant Oberst (Col) Hermann Ostmann that 12,000 British PoWs were being evacuated from the camp in the face of the Allied advance. The men marched from the camp in columns of 2,000.

WO. Bruce escaped from the marching columns on the 12th April and successfully reached British lines on the 20th April 1945. He was interviewed on the 26th May 1945.

WO. Mather was amongst the PoWs who, after ten (10) days arrived at Gresse, east of the Elbe. There they were issued with Red Cross parcels, but were then unfortunately strafed by British Typhoonfighter-bombers, mistaking them for German troops. Sixty (60) PoW were killed and many wounded.

WO. ‘Dixie’ Deans confronted OberstOstmann and bluntly gave him a choice, to be captured to the Russians or the British. Ostman provided WO. Deans with a pass and a German guard, and they headed west to contact the advancing British troops. On the 1st May WO. Deans and his guard were sheltering in a house east of Lauenbergwhen they heard over the radio the news of the death of Adolf Hitler. The next morning the house was overrun by troops of the British 6th Airborne. WO. Deans was taken to the commander of VIII Corpsand explained the situation. He was given a captured Mercedes car and drove back to Gresse. Two days later the PoW column marched back across the British lines. WO Mather was interviewed on the 10th May 1945.

Victor Walter Bruce was born on the 11th November 1918 in Middlesborough. He was a Veterinary Student prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 24th May 1939. Victor passed away in July 2004 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

Arthur Mather was born on the 6th December 1913 in Northampton. He was employed as a salesman prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 21st June 1939. Arthur passed away in the 4th Qtr of 1962, aged just 48, in Northampton, Northamptonshire.

(2) On the 12th May 1941 the Coast-Guard at Groningen reported that the body of an English Airman was found at the NE point of Simonszand which is some 33 km (20½ mls) WSW of Island of Jiust. The body was taken to Schiermonnikoog where it was determined that the victim had been in the water for 8 to 10 days. Markings on his clothing identified the airman as Sgt. Ernest F. Matthews.

As his aircraft crash-landed on the night of the 1st/2nd March 1941 and he along with Sgt. Smith and Sgt. Huston were airlifted out on the 2nd March, when they perished in the seaplane crash, then the estimate that Sgt. Matthews had been in the water for 8 to 10 days is unrealis.

Burial details:

Sgt. Smith and Sgt. Huston were initially buried at the Lutheran Cemetery at Borkum in the Frisian Islands and finally laid to rest at the Sage War Cemetery on the 28th May 1947.

Above: The Sage War Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sgt. Ronald Smith. Sage War Cemetery, Grave 7.E.9. Grave inscription: "IN MIND A CONSTANT THOUGHT, IN HEART A SILENT SORROW. MUM AND DAD". Son of Joseph and Susannah Smith of Salford Lancashire, England.

Sgt. Reginald Vere Huston. Sage War Cemetery, Grave 7.C.8. Grave inscription: "THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD: AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM..." Born in the 4th Qtr of 1916 Wandsworth, London. Son of Vere Wentringham and Harriet Laura (née Edwards) Huston of Wandsworth, East Battersea, London. Husband of Eileen M. (née Dunn) Huston of Battersea, London, England.

Above: The Schiermonnikoog Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sgt. Ernest Frederick ‘Ernie’ Matthews. Schiermonnikoog Cemetery (Vredenhof), Grave 52. Born in the 3rd Qtr of 1920 in Toxteth, Lancashire. Son of John Frederick and Annie (née Manson) Matthews of Dingle, Liverpool, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape from Aircrew Remembered as dedicated to this crew and their families (Apr 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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: 12 April 2025, 09:07