Operation: Hamburg

Date: 9th/10th November 1942 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: 57 Squadron 5 Group (motto: Corpus non animum muto - 'I change my body not my spirit')

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: W4165

Code: DX:?

Base: RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire

Location: Wadden Sea off Cuxhaven

Pilot: Sqn Ldr. John Noel Graydon Carter 39220 RAF(O) Age 26. Killed

Flt Eng: Sgt. Albert Elvin Mackrill 1167372 RAFVR Age 25. Killed

Nav: Sgt. George Walter Everett 411870 RNZAF Age 26. Killed

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Alan Frederick Badcock 412467 RNZAF Age 23. Killed

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Kenneth Frederick Gardiner 412877 RNZAF Age 21. Killed

Air Gnr: Sgt. Charles Cornelius Hockley 1394852 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Air Gnr: Sgt Sidney Wilson 620236 RAF Age 26. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire at 17:58 hrs - a force of 213 aircraft - with 16 of these lost.

The aircraft was hit by Marine Flak 1-3/schw Flak Abt 615 and 1-3/schw Flak Abt 223. It crashed and exploded on impact near Nordholz (Spieka-Neufeld) at 2025 hours (Nachtjagd Combat Archives The Early Years Part 3 Theo Boiten).

The crew were initially buried in the Brackeswalde district before being reinterred at Becklingen after the end of the war.

The Squadron lost 2 others crew on this operation:

Lancaster I W4307 DX:O Flown by 27 year old, WO2. Bruce Allan Boyd R88736 RCAF killed with all his six other crew.
Lancaster I W4247 DX:X Flown by 28 year old, Plt Off. Maurice Edward Walsh DFC & Bar 126780 RAFVR killed with all his six other crew.

A further 6 other New Zealand aircrew were also lost from various Squadrons on the same raid:

20 year old, Sgt. Ronald O'Neil 411226 RNZAF from 57 Squadron on Lancaster I W4247.
27 year old, Sgt. Ian Ignatius Friend 404350, Sgt. William Wynne Morgan 411088 and Sgt. Adam Haddon Thomson 41612 from 218 Squadron on Stirling I W7475.
24 year old, Plt Off. Herbert Adams Harris 413065 from 7 Squadron on Stirling I R9169.
23 year old, Flt Sgt. Isaac Kennedy 403012 from 142 Squadron Wellington III BJ711.

Burial details:

Sqn Ldr. John Noel Graydon Carter. Becklingen War Cemetery. Collective grave 27. C.1-3. Born on the 17th December 1916 in Surrey. Son of Maj. John Leslie Graydon and Edith Constance (née Browne) Carter. His father predeceased him in April 1932. Husband to Mary G.M. (née Madoc) Carterfrom Wayland, Norfolk, England.

Sgt. Albert Elvin Mackrill. Becklingen War Cemetery. Collective grave 27. C.1-3. Grave inscription reads: "IN LOVING AND EVER GRATEFUL MEMORY. ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS". Son of Wilfred E. Mackrill and of Florence Elizabeth Mackrill (nee Thornton); husband of Doris Jane Mackrill, of Brighton, Sussex, England.

Sgt. George Walter Everett. Becklingen War Cemetery. Collective Grave 27. C1-3. Son of Walter and Ada Everett of Hastings, North Island, New Zealand.

A total of 287 flying hours logged and having completed 4 operational sorties.

Sgt. Alan Frederick Badcock. Becklingen War Cemetery. Collective Grave 27. C1-3. Son of George and Florence Mary Badcock, of Hawera, Taranaki, New Zealand.

A total of 291 flying hours logged and having completed 5 operational sorties.

Note: His brother 27 year old, Flt Sgt. David Herbert William Badcock RNZAF 421312 - was killed flying as the Bomb Aimer on the 5th June 1943 (149 Squadron, Stirling EE872).

Flt Sgt. Kenneth Frederick Gardiner. Becklingen War Cemetery. Collective Grave 27. C1-3. Born on the 29th July 1921 in Pelorus, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand. Son of Frederick and Mary-Ann Selina (née Glastonbury) Gardiner. Husband of Antoinette (née Lupien) Gardiner (born 1922 Canada). Married in Canada. One daughter. His wife later emigrated to Nelson, New Zealand.

Total Hours flown 182:40. 5 operations. Operational hours 23:50.

Sgt. Charles Cornelius Hockley. Becklingen War Cemetery. Grave 27. H.3. Grave inscription reads: "DEAR SON, NOT FORGOTTEN. ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS. MUM, DAD, SISTER AND BROTHERS". Son of William and Edith Hockley, of Poplar, London.

His brother Henry P/JX383344 Royal Navy also died on service on the 25th October 1943.

Sgt Sidney Wilson. Becklingen War Cemetery. Collective Grave 11. E-2. Grave inscription reads:"HIS MEMORY SHALL LIVE FOR EVER". Son of John and Mary Wilson, of Felling-on-Tyne, Co. Durham, England.

Researched by Jenifer Lemaire for Aircrew Remembered - April 2019 and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to further sources as shown below. Thanks to John Jones for the information regarding the loss of the aircraft (Sep 2019). Thanks to David Lucus for the additional NoK detail for Flt Sgt. Gardiner (Jul 2021).

Note:

Sgt. George Walter Everett Image reproduced under licence: Auckland Library Heritage Collectin 27 January 1943 : AWNS19430127-19-8.

Flt Sgt. Kenneth Frederick Gardine Image reproduced under licence: Auckland Library Heritage Collection : 10 February 1943 : AWNS0210-19-30.

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