Operation: Gelsenkirchen Oil Refineries, Scholven-Buer, Germany

Date: 21st/22nd June 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 50 Squadron, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster l

Serial: LL840

Code: VN:M

Base: RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire

Location: Oene, Gelderland, 5 km (3 mls) east of Epe, Holland

Pilot: Sqn Ldr. Thomas Bernard Cole DFC 104459 RAFVR Age 34. PoW No: 6497 * (1)

Flt Eng: Flt Sgt. Kenneth Herschel Callender Ingram MiD 1400819 RAFVR Age 21. Evader/Murdered (2)

Nav: Fg Off. John Craven DFC 127012 RAFVR Age 29. Evader (3)

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Arthur George Beresford 1576595 RAFVR Age 22. PoW No. 291 ** (4)

WOp/Air Gnr: Plt Off. Eric James Blakemore DFM 169156 RAFVR Age 25. Evader (5)

2nd WOp/Air Gnr: WO. John Frederick Lane 1376435 RAFVR Age 22. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Frederick Henry Shorter 1880037 RAFVR Age 24. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Paul Francis Hayes 1875976 RAFVR Age? PoW No. 221 ** (6)

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria)

** Stalag Luft 7 Bankau nr. Kreuzburg O.S." (O.S. standing for Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia). Today called Bąków nr. Kluczbork (Poland).

We would appreciate any relatives or friends to contact us regarding this loss – in order to inform them about this fantastic memorial erected by our Dutch friends.

REASON FOR LOSS:

LL840 took off at 23:17 hrs from Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire to attack the synthetic oil plants at Scholven-Buer. 123 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitoes took part. The target was cloud covered and heavily defended with flak over the target area. Just after leaving the target area, a night fighter attacked and badly damaged the aircraft.

LL840 or 106 Sqn Lancaster LL955 was claimed as a possible by Hptm. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow, his 25th Abschuss and the forth of four claims this night, from 1./NJG1, north of Deelen at 3.000m at 02:01 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten)

Modrow survived the war as a Major with 34 Abschüsse from 259 combat sorties of which 109 were as a night-fighter pilot. He passed away on the 16th September 1990.

LL840 crashed at Oene, Gelderland, 5 km (3 mls) east of Epe. in Holland. WO. Lane and Sgt Shorter were either killed in the fighter attack or perished in the crash. Both are interred at the cemetery at Epe.

(1) Sqn Ldr. Cole was awarded the DFC as a Fg Off. whilst with 50 Sqn. Promulgated in the London Gazette on 12th January 1943.

Sqn Ldr. Cole was captured near Deventer in Holland on the 23rd June. After the statutory interrogation at Dulag Luft Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia arriving there of the 8th July 1944.

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. On the 2nd February he was amongst the PoWs that were sent to Marlag und Milag Nord, at Westertimke in Lower Saxony and arriving there on the 5th 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 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.

It is not known if Sqn Ldr. Cole was one of those rounded up or whether he was amongst those PoWs that hid in the camp or in the surrounding countryside.

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.

Sqn Ldr. Cole was interviewed on the 3rd May 1945

Whilst being a PoW he suffered from Bronchitis over a period of 10 months brought about from exposure.

Thomas Bernard Cole was born on the 8th June 1910 in Ilford, Essex. Prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 15th September 1940 he was employed as a shipping clerk in Newark, Nottinghamshire. Thomas passed away in January 1988 in Kingsbridge, Devon.

(2) Flt Sgt. Ingram evaded capture with the assistance of the Dutch resistance. However, the family who were sheltering him in Apeldoorn was betrayed by a Dutch collaborator which resulted in their home being raided by the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) on the 30th September 1944. Flt Sgt. Ingram, Sgt. Robert W. Zercher, the Ball Turret Gunner from B-17G “Karen B” along with eight members of the Dutch resistance were arrested, two of whom were Mrs. Bitter-van der Noordaa and Narda van Terwisga.

It was reported that on the 2nd October 1944, Flt Sgt. Ingram and Sgt. Zercher along with six of the Dutch resistance members were shot by firing squad, without a trial, upon the orders of SS Hauptsturmführer Karl Fielitz the Commander of the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst (SiPo-SD) garrisoned at the Willem III Kazerne barracks in Apeldoorn. The two women were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp where Mrs. Bitter would lose her life but Narda van Terwisga survived her ordeal.

Photographic evidence has been found that confirms that the bodies of the murdered men were displayed around the village for several days each with a sign inscribed with the word “Terrorist”. Flt Sgt. Ingram and Sgt. Zercher were eventually interred at the general cemetery in Ugchelen-Heidehof.

There is documentary evidence that a case was made to prosecute the prime suspect, Hauptsturmführer Karl Fielitz, and other named killers of the two airmen and six Dutch resistance members, but no records have been found that reports that the perpetrators were brought to trial for this war crime.

Flt Sgt. Ingram was posthumously Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) on the 13th June 1946.

Prior to being posted to 50 Sqn Flt Sgt. Ingram had flown sixteen (16) operations with 106 Sqn. He was not flying with his regular crew, captained by Plt Off. Angus Alan Robertson 145512, when Lancaster III, DV182 was shot down on the night of the 5th/6th September 1943. Of the crew of eight (8) only the Fg Off. Geoffrey Willatt 130435 survived and became a PoW at Stalag Luft 3. Flt Sgt. Ingram left 50 Sqn shortly afterwards.

(3) 1430160 LAC John Craven was granted a commission and promoted to 127012 Plt Off. On the 11th August 1942 and was promoted to Fg Off. on the 11th February 1943.

Fg Off. Craven was awarded the DFC whilst with 61 Sqn. Promulgated in the London Gazette on the 10th September 1943.

He was hidden by residents of Appledoorn, Holland before making his way with a number of other evaders and escapees to a farm at Hoagland near Amersfoort, called "The Falkenhoff" arriving there on the 31st December 1944. He was eventually smuggled across numerous rivers to safely reaching Allied lines during the week of the 12th March 1945. He was interviewed by IS9 on the 18th March 1945.

He was promoted to Flt Lt. with effect the 11th August 1944.

No record has been found for him retiring from the RAF. His grandson informs us that he became a policeman.

(4) Flt Sgt. Beresford was captured at Bocculo in Holland on the 23rd June. After the statutory interrogation at Dulag Luft Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7 Bankau nr. Kreuzburg arriving there of the 3rd July 1944.

Whilst at Stalag Luft 7 he was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO).

On the 19th January 1945, he was one of the 1,500 prisoners who were marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February, and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3Alocated about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army.

Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated.WO. Beresford was interviewed on the 14th May 1945.

Arthur George Beresford was born on the 5th April 1922.

(5) 914262 Sgt. Blakemore was awarded the DFM whilst with 9 Sqn. Promulgated in the London Gazette on the 23rd December 1941. He was commissioned and promoted to Plt Off. with effect 25th November 1943 and to Fg Off. with effect 25th May 1944.

Fg Off. Blackmore was hidden by residents of Appledoorn, Holland and was liberated on the 10th March 1945.

After returning to the UK he was promoted to Flt Lt. with effect 15th November 1945.

(6) It appears that Sgt. Hayes bailed out almost over the target.

Sgt. Hayes wrote a diary and the following is his description of the events from first joining 50 Sqn through to the night of the 21st/22nd June 1944:

"Having been posted to No. 50 Squadron I was allocated to flying with the leader of the flight Squadron Leader Cole (Old King Cole). The crew were all older than me and all had completed a “tour of duty” and must have been apprehensive about having to rely on me as air gunner if the aircraft was attacked. I did manage to allay their fears to some extent when flying over enemy territory when the wireless operator identified an aircraft was coming straight at us from behind closing rapidly and asking me to open fire. I had always been taught to identify your target before opening fire. It was black and I couldn’t see anything and I was still being told to open fire. Just them the pilot lost some altitude as the other aircraft gained some altitude and I was able to see that it was one of our own, a Lancaster. When we returned the skipper said it was a “good show”.

Later in my first tour of duty we were to attack the synthetic oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen, Germany which was still operating. It was heavily defended and we knew it was not going to be “a piece of cake”. Another bad omen was that we had an extra one more airman that night as he needed one more op to finish his tour of duty. Odd bods as they are regarded are “bad luck” but the skipper was duty bound to take him. This was to be our last op. As we flew to the target are all hell broke out with heavy flak over the target area. We managed to drop our bombs on target and on leaving the target area the night fighters were waiting.

We were an easy target due to the glare of the fires, searchlights and all sorts of pyrotechnic displays that night which made it easier for them to attack. The aircraft was badly damaged and on fire. The skipper told us to “bail out” and I crawled out of the turret and made way to where the airmen were, and about to step out of the door.

I landed with my chute over a wall with me on the other side. I’d landed near a reservoir and I started towards the water, but it soon became apparent that people were around; (in fact it was troops who were guarding the reservoir). I hid of course. I did not know this at the time until one shouted “hands hoch” and a rifle being fired. I was escorted to a dug-out a short distance away and later collected by a German policeman."

Paul Francis Hayes passed away on the 31st October 2009.

Burial details:

Flt Sgt. Kenneth Herschel Callender Ingram. Apeldoorn (Ugchelen-Heidehof) General Cemetery, Netherlands. Plot 4. Grave 299. Grave inscription: “IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY OF MY ONLY SON”. Birth registered in 1st Qtr of 1923 in Leicester. Son of Herschell Frank and Elizabeth (née Callender) (deceased in Sep 1928) Ingram of Fratton, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

On the grounds of Heerenloo Midden-Nederland (formerly Groot Schuylenburg, previously the Apeldoornsche Bosch) there is a simple marble plate with eight names which was unveiled on the 2nd October 1969 (Revised on the 2nd September 2006 to correct Sgt. Robert W. Zercher’s details). It is accompanied by a glass plate with the name of Mrs. Bitter-van der Nooraa, which was added on the 3rd October 2011. (Credit: Mr. Jelle Reitsma)

WO. John Frederick Lane. Epe Cemetery, Netherlands. Plot 2. Row 10. Grave 705. Grave inscription: : "BELOVED ONLY SON OF FREDERICK AND GERTRUDE LANE. "SLEEP ON IN PEACE UNTIL WE MEET"". Son of Frederick Manuel and Gertrude Amy Lane, of Battersea, London, England.

Sgt. Frederick Henry Shorter. Epe Cemetery, Netherlands. Plot 2. Row 10. Grave 704. Grave inscription: : "BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES ARE ALL WE HAVE LEFT OF A LOVING SON ONE OF THE BEST". Born on the 23rd January 1920 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. Son of John and Matilda Catherine (née Brooks) Shorter of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England.

Two Dutch researchers – Jan Kiesbrink and Teunis Nooteboom found the crash site and erected a memorial on behalf of the crew relatives. Sadly not all the relatives could be traced and we would like to appeal for the relatives of the following: Sqn Ldr. Cole, Fg Off. Craven, Plt Off. Blakemore, WO. Lane and Sgt. Hayes to contact us in order that they can be informed of the memorial.

Top left: Jan Kiesbrink and Teunis Nooteboom. Right: Michael Allman and his wife who painted the picture for presentation to the two Dutch researcher's shown below. (Courtesy Michael Allman)

The Dutch researchers have also written a book about this loss and memorial with information received from people who lived in the area at the time of the crash. The publication is hard back and 197 pages – in Dutch only, currently out of print.

Michael Allman has played a large part in the tracing of these crew members and should be congratulated on his efforts to date.

Originally researched by Michael Allman, Kate Tame, Linda Ibrom and various other parties in order to trace missing relatives for Aircrew Remembered. Acknowledgments: "Broken Wings" from the Netherlands. Reviewed by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with additional thanks to Traugott for his work on the ‘VitzArchive’. Thanks to Henry Craven, grandson to Fg Off. John Craven for the corrections (Jul 2022). Additional information added for Fg Off. Craven by Aircrew Remembered. (Jul 2022). Thanks to Clive Smith for pointing out an error in the reference numbering and additional information for Flt Sgt. Ingram (Jan 2025). PoW information for Sqn Ldr. Cole and Flt. Sgt. Beresford added by Aircrew Remembered (Jan 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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