Operation: Hamburg, Germany

Date: 27th/28th July 1943 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit No: 467 Squadron, RAAF

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: W5003

Code: PO:H

Base: RAF Bottesford

Location: Neuenkirchen, Germany

Pilot: Plt Off. James Llewellyn Carrington 413167 RAAF Age 25. KiA

Flt Eng: Flt Sgt. Eric Clive Brookes 1482399 RAFVR Age 20. PoW No: 1288 * (1)

Nav: Flt Sgt. Michael Rodney Warr King 1315580 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Henry Victor Hawkins 658138 RAFVR Age 25. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. William Green 1081353 RAFVR Age 34. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Herbert Bradley 620508 RAF Age 27. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Stanley Drake 1480717 RAFVR Age? PoW No: 2855 ** (2)

* Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania)

** Dulag Luft, Hohemark (Reserve Lazarett)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off from Bottesford as part of a group of 787 aircraft - 353 Lancaster's, 244 Halifaxes, 116 Stirlings, 74 Wellingtons. 17 aircraft were lost. A total of 2,326 tons of bombs were dropped.

There were very few survivors from the firestorm area, approximately 40,000 people died, most of them from carbon monoxide poisoning when all the air was drawn out of their basement shelters. In the period following this raid, approximately 1,200,000 people fled the city in fear of further raids.

Lancaster W5003 was shot down by the German Night-fighter Ace Major Günther Radusch of Stab II./NJG3 at 00.43 hrs over Wöhrden, 6 km (3¾ mls) south West of Heide at a height of 5.900 m.

Above "Fips" Radusch had a total of 66 victories of which 1 was in day time the end of the war. He survived but no further information on his post war activities. He died on July 29th 1988 of natural causes in Nordstrand, Schleswig-Holstein. (By strange coincidence the same area W5003 came down)

Above: 19 Operational Training Unit (OTU), Course No. 30, dated 22nd October 1942. Plt Off. (then a Sgt) Carrington is on the front row 7th from the left and Sgt. Green is on 4th row from the front, 4th from the right. (Courtesy of Paul Markham)

(1) Flt Sgt. Brookes was captured near Heide the same night and was hospitalised in Schleswig for his injuries. Whilst there he was interrogated but offered nothing and was threatened with the Gestapo. He was later interrogated by the same German officer at Dulag Luft, Oberursel. He was transferred to Stalag 10B Sandbostel, Schleswig on the 27th July where he remained until the 20th August 1943. He was then transferred to Stalag Luft 1, Barth arriving there on the 25th August 1943.

At Stalag Luft 1 he, accompanied by Sgt. Bostle and Sgt. McLearnen, attempted to escape but was entirely unsuccessful as they were caught whilst cutting through the main barbed wire entanglements. From October 1942 to November 1943, Stalag Luft 1 received only non-commissioned officers (NCOs). It is probably that it was his promotion to Warrant Officer (WO) that prompted his transfer to Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug in East Prussia on the 2nd November 1943 arriving there on the 5th November.

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. He was amongst the PoWs who were transported to Stalag 20A at Thorn (Toruń), Poland by train on the 14th July 1944 and then onto Stalag Luft 4, Groß-Tychow, Pomerania arriving there on the 19th July 1944

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, and a train loaded with mostly sick and wounded were transported to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth, Germany. On the 2nd February another train load was transported to Stalag 13D at Nürnberg, Germany. Over a period of 3 days from the 6th February some 6,000 prisoners, amongst whom was WO. Brookes, 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 on the 30th March. Many camps on the eastern edge of Germany were combined into one large camp here. The treatment was a repetition of that at previous camps, with the exception of food, of which there was virtually none. There were no beds or bedding in the buildings.

On the 6th April after only being in this camp for a week, Lagers A and B from Stalag Luft 4 were forced on their final march, this time heading east, doubling back on the route they took to arrive. This last march only lasted approximately three weeks but was just as harsh as the previous march except for the treatment by the Germans, which was somewhat better. There was still little or no food available, and the pace was much slower, advancing 4 to 5 miles a day.

On the morning of the 2nd May 1945 the main column was resting in a ditch next to the River Elbe near Lauenburg, Germany, when British troops arrived and liberated the camp. The now liberated PoWs were given virtually nothing and told to march west. The march from beginning to end, spanned 86 days over an estimated 600 miles.

WO. Brookes was interviewed on the 5th May 1945.

Eric Clive Brookes was born on the 12th June 1923 in Rotherham, Yorkshire West Riding. He was employed as a Colliery Haulage Engine driver prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 4th July 1941. Eric passed away in March 2002 in Rotherham.

(2) Sgt. Drake suffered wounds to his upper thigh and lower stomach and after he had landed he was given first aid by a local resident of Neuenkirchen. He was taken away by the Wehrmacht and spent a period of time at Stalag 10A and was repatriated from Stalag 357 to England on the Arundel Castle on 6th February 1945.

Above: During the war the family of Sgt. William Green had a German Prisoner of War staying with them at their home. After the war was over the man returned to Germany and he went to Bill's grave and took some pictures and sent them back as a thank you for looking after him. (Travel then was impossible for relatives, photographs were also a luxury, so this gesture was truly tremendous and the relatives wanted us to point this out)

Above The certificate the family received for looking after the German Prisoners of War

Burial Details:

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

Plt Off. James Llewellyn Carrington. Hamburg Cemetery 5A. L.13. Inscription: 'HIS DUTY FEARLESSLY AND NOBLY DONE. EVER REMEMBERED'. Born on the 15th October 1917 in Moree, New South Wales. Son of James and Clara Middleton Carrington, of Quirindi, New South Wales, Australia.

Flt Sgt. Michael Rodney Warr King. Hamburg Cemetery Joint grave 5A.L.10. Inscription: "HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE". Son of Wing Cdr. Dudley Warr King and Yvonne Muriel King, of Careby, Lincolnshire, England.

Sgt. Henry Victor Hawkins. Hamburg Cemetery 5A. L.12. Born on the 4th August 1917 in Islandmagee, Northern Island. Son of William James and Hentrietta (née Kerr) Hawkins of Islandmagee, Northern Island.

Sgt. William Green. Hamburg Cemetery Joint grave 5A.L.10. Inscription: "IN HEAVENLY LOVE ABIDING". Son of Samuel and Jane Green, of Bryn, Lancashire, England.

Sgt. Herbert Bradley. Hamburg Cemetery 5A. L.11. Inscription: 'THE BLOW WAS HARD, THE SHOCK SEVERE, TO PART WITH ONE WE LOVED SO DEAR'. Son of Selina Patton, of Brompton, Yorkshire, England.

With thanks to Joseph Green for the use of the photographs and information on his Uncle, Sgt. William Green. Reviewed and updated with new information by Aircrew Remembered (Jul 2023). Many thanks to Paul Markham for the OTU photograph (Jul 2023). Update to include PoW information for Flt Sgt. Brooks (Feb 2025).

Other Sources listed below:

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