Operation: Berlin, Germany.

Date: 14/15th January 1945 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit: 692 Squadron PFF

Type: Mosquito B. XVI

Serial: MM128

Location: Near Knocke-Le-Zout (B.83), Belgium

Base: RAF Graveley

Pilot: Fg,Off. George Raymond Peter Chaundy DFM RAFVR 161264 Age 24. Killed

Navigator: Flt.Sgt. George Francis Ayre RAAF 433081 Age 29. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Fourteen aircraft detailed for operations. Mosquito MM128 took-off from Graveley at 21:06 hours, loaded with a single 4,000lb ‘cookie’.

The raid was led by Sqd.Ldr. W. C. Brodie, DSO, DFM (pilot) and Flt.Lt. K. R. Triggs DFC (navigator) in Mosquito Mk.XVI, serial number MM182.

One aircraft cancelled owing to a burst tyre on take-off, one aircraft missing. Of the remainder, nine aircraft bombed Berlin and three bombed secondary targets owing to technical trouble. Only four aircraft dropped their cookies during the first wave on the big city. One aircraft bombed Bonn and another Cologne due to technical failures. Over Berlin the sky was clear and excellent results were observed both on marking the target and bombing. Opposition from the enemy was slight, a few searchlights with slight heavy flak, although a few fighter flares were observed.

The second Mosquito lost by the Squadron was MM128 flown by Fg.off. Chaundy DFM and Flt.Sgt. Ayre.

The reason for the loss is unclear, but sadly both crew members perished. Fg.Off. Chaundy had served in the Middle East with 148 Sqn, details of his DFM having appeared in the London Gazette on the 23rd March 1943.

Fg.Off. George Raymond Peter Chaundy. Schoonselhof Cemetery. Grave V.A.80. Son of Alan E. Denis and Dorothy Kate Chaundy, of Oxford. Husband to Dorothy Joan Chaundy and father to David Richard Chaundy born on the 8th October 1944.

Flt.Sgt. George Francis Ayre. Schoonselhof Cemetery. Grave V.A.81. Son of George Charles and Florence May Ayre, of Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia. AICA. Born 11th October 1915 in Burton-On-Trent, England.

With thanks to Mark Dewar - relative of Flt.Sgt. Are for photograph - submitted October 2016. Researched for relatives of the crew with thanks to sources as quoted below. Thanks also to Ruth Clark, sister to David R. Chaundy from the remarriage of Dorothy J. Chaundy, for Fg.Off. Chaundy's Next of Kin details update.