Archive Report: Allied Forces

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09/10.10.1944 No. 462 Squadron Halifax III MZ400 Z5-J F/O. Coleman

Operation: Bochum

Date: 09/10th October 1944 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: No. 462 Squadron (RAAF)

Type: Halifax III

Serial: MZ400

Code: Z5-J

Base: RAF Driffield, Yorkshire.

Location: Bredenscheid area

Pilot: F/O. Gerald Coleman 178780 RAF Age 24. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Ronald Charles Stopp 1892044 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. Philip Hedley Malcolm Levey AUS/429588 RAAF Age 20. Killed

Air/Bmr: Sgt. Alan James Ward 1581798 RAFVR Age 21. Killed (1)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. John Newton Tresidder AUS/424477 RAAF Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Archibald James Mouat 1378208 RAFVR Age 33. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Denis Roy Muxlow 1590607 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 17:30 hrs as part of a group of 435 aircraft – 375 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, and 20 Mosquitoes to bomb Bochum. The raid was not successful. The target area was covered by cloud and the bombing was scattered. The local report says that there was some damage in the southern districts of Bochum, with 140 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and approximately 150 people killed.

According to the MRES report the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire between 20.00 hrs - 21.00 hrs, over the target area of Bochum. The aircraft caught fire and disintegrated with the main wreckage falling on Bredenscheid. All the crew’s bodies were recovered from the badly burned wreckage and taken to the cemetery at Niederstüter cemetery.

Another Halifax from 462 Squadron was also lost on this raid. LL604 Z5-D flown by F/O. W.S. Black who was made a PoW as were 3 others of his crew, the remainder managed to evade captivity when their aircraft crashed at Giesbeek in Holland.

MZ400 crew : Rear L-R: Fl/Sgt. Tresidder, Sgt. Muxlow, Sgt. Mouat, Sgt. Stopp. Front: Sgt. Ward, F/O. Coleman, Fl/Sgt. Levey (courtesy Catherine Sutton via Keith Townsend)

Moseley Grammar school and Memorial

(1) Sgt. Alan James Ward was a former pupil of Moseley Grammar school (Now secondary/grammar school). We are working very closely with the school's historians to remember all the ex pupils who died whilst serving with the RAF and recorded on the school memorial.

Reichswald Forest War Cemetery (courtesy MitchB, Hans van der Veen)

Burial details:

F/O. Gerald Coleman. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 28.G.7. Son of Alfred and Elizabeth Coleman, of Tooting, Surrey, England.

Sgt. Ronald Charles Stopp. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 28.G.8-13. Son of William Charles and Susan Hart Stopp, of Ponders End, Enfield, Middlesex, England. Grave inscription reads: "He Will Always Live In The Hearts Of Those Who Loved Him".

Fl/Sgt. Philip Hedley Malcolm Levey. Reichswald Forest War. Cemetery Coll. Grave 28.G.8-13. Son of Francis Barnet Philip and Ruth Levey, of Eagle Junction, Queensland, Australia. Grave inscription reads: " Underneath Are The Everlasting Arms".

Sgt. Alan James Ward. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 28.G.8-13. Son of Mr and Mrs A.J. Ward, 27 Sherwood Avenue, Hall Green, Birmingham, England.

Fl/Sgt. John Newton Tresidder. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 28.G.8-13. Son of Frederic Harry and Vera Constance Tresidder, of Kanwal, New South Wales, Australia. Grave inscription reads: "Ever Remembered. Duty Nobly Done".

Sgt. Archibald James Mouat. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Coll. Grave 28.G.8-13. Of Wimbledon, London, England.

Sgt. Denis Roy Muxlow. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 28.G.8-13. Son of Maurice Stanley Muxlow and Edith Mary Muxlow, of Deeping High Bank, Lincolnshire, England. Grave inscription reads: "Deep In Our Hearts A Memory Of You Is Kept; We Smile With The World But Never Forget".

Acknowledgments: With thanks to the following: Keith Townsend historian of Moseley Secondary/Grammar school memorial records, Catherine Sutton (relative of the flight engineer Sgt. Ronald Charles Stopp), other sources as quoted below.

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