Operation: Oberhausen, Germany

Date: 1st/2nd November 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: 431 (Iroquois) Squadron, RCAF

Type: Lancaster X

Serial: KB817

Code: SE:P

Base: RAF Croft, Yorkshire, England

Location: Between Heel and Linne, Netherlands

Pilot: Fg Off. Donald Daubney ‘Dinghy’ Connor DFC J86186 RCAF Age 22. Killed

Flt Eng: Plt Off. Raymond Conserdine Joiner C98437 RCAF Age 37. Killed

Nav: Plt Off. John Bruce Ogg J89480 RCAF Age? PoW No. 8877 *

Bomb Aimer: WO2. James Taylor Patterson R162269 RCAF Age? PoW No. 1207 ** & *** (1)

WOp/Air Gnr: WO1. Gordon William Leppington R144385 RCAF Age 22. PoW No. 1200 ** & *** (2)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. J.M. Campbell R188133 RCAF Age? Evaded (3)

Air Gnr (Rear): WO2. Ray Bruce Page R188830 RCAF Age 23. PoW No. 12 ** (4)

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

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

*** Stalag 3a and work camps (Also Oflag 3-6) Luckenwalde (was originally interrogation centre) Brandenburg, Prussia.

Above: Fg Off. Conner DFC and Plt Off. Joiner from their Service files

REASON FOR LOSS:

KB817 took off from RAF Croft at 17:01 hrs and joined a mixed force of 288 aircraft, 202 Halifaxes, 74 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitoes to bomb targets in Oberhausen in Germany.

The target area was cloud-covered and the bombing was not concentrated although 36 houses were destroyed in Oberhausen and 4 people were killed. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster, KB817, were lost.

KB817 was claimed by an unknown crew from Stab IV./NJG1 as a 4-motor over the Weert-Helmond area at 2.300 m at 20:47 hrs. The aircraft crashed at Linne on the east bank of the river Maas. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (16 October 1944 - 31 December 1944) Part 5 - Theo Boiten).

It was established by a visit of No 2 Missing Research and Enquiry Unit (MREU) to the town hall of Heel that the aircraft crashed between Heel and Linne in the Netherlands.

Heel is about 4 km NW of Linne.

(1) WO2. Patterson was commissioned and promoted to Plt Off. J90166 whilst a PoW.

(2) This was WO1. Leppington’s 29th sortie. He was commissioned and promoted to Plt Off. J91189 whilst a PoW. He described the following in his interrogation on the 17th May 1945:

"Took off about 1800 hours. Perfect trip to target. Bright moon light. Flying above cloud. At target good run. Bombs gone and about a couple of minutes after opened up on by a four engine aircraft, dead astern. Rear gunner gave corkscrew which was very violent and opened up on other aircraft which broke away, down starboard. Resumed course and in about one minute, port inner caught fire. Pilot said he would put it out but didn’t succeed. After the fire had a good hold the order was given - Emergency, emergency, jump, jump. After pressing IFF destruct button and grabbing my chute, I stumbled and crawled to the rear escape hatch. At first the rear door wouldn’t open but I found that the M/U was lying against it. However he got up and put his chute on and I did likewise. After hesitating he decided to jump and was seen disappearing under tail plane. Then after that I abandoned the aircraft which was last seen burn.”

(3) Sgt. Campbell’s debrief described:

"Target bombed to good effect and everything OK until on the way home. At 21:13 attacked by fighter. Landed about 21:30. Full moon, cloud 10/10 below at 6,000 feet. Height about 18,000 feet. "Fighter came in dead astern and below. Mid Upper could not fire at him. Seen at 600 yards. Warned Rear Gunner of it and Rear Gunner said OK, Mid Upper Gunner continued with own search. Then saw port wing with tremendous hole in it and it was on fire. Said “corkscrew starboard” and pilot dived to starboard and fighter broke away port down underneath. Pilot continued to dive in order to put out fire and next thing Mid Upper Gunner heard was order to abandon aircraft. Did not know whether Rear Gunner fired. Port wing on fire. Petrol tank hit between engines and pilot feathered engines, not known but pressed switch. But it did not go out. Should have reduced height rapidly to gain cloud cover after bombing but had stayed above 12,000 feet. Intercom OK. Came out of turret and put on chute. Went to back of Lanc but could not get door open (locked). Wireless Operator came along and opened door easily. Mid Upper Gunner went out over the steps and baled out. No trouble in getting out. Chute opened but he was cut in groin by harness. Landed in field. Leg stiff for couple of days owing to fall and badly shaken generally. First trip in Lanc X and not well acquainted with opening rear door. Enough time given for baling out. Identified fighter as Me410 - no trace seen. Flaps damaged, hole in about six feet long. Landed near Heel in Holland and aircraft landed in Linne. Pilot’s body found in aircraft. Flight Engineer chute did not open and body found near aircraft. Both buried in Linne. Ground sources reported Navigator tried to make getaway but was captured by Germans after trying to evade in civilian clothes and is PoW. Aircraft was reported to be completely destroyed as Germans did not bother to take it away. Helmet taken off before baling out. Lost one boot in getting out of turret. Aircraft in dive when Mid Upper Gunner left. Believed to be out of control Window being dropped at time of incident. No flames. No searchlights”.

(4) This was WO2. Page’s 30th Sortie. He was commissioned and promoted to Plt Off. J90895 whilst a PoW. He described the following in his interrogation report on the 27th May 1945:

"After take-off from Croft we climbed to the height briefed, set course and flew down England to cross the south coast slightly west of Brighton. Altering course and climbing to bombing height, headed for the target, Oberhausen. It was a bright moonlight night, November 1, 1944. We reached the target without any difficulty at a height of about 20,000 feet. There was intense flak which was fairly accurate. We bombed the target and altered course, beginning to lose height with an air speed of approximately 240. The visibility became poor with haze. I could see several other four engine aircraft, one of which was almost dead astern. We then took evasive action, at the same time the aircraft behind fired, hitting our port inner. I opened fire and the aircraft dived almost straight down out of sight in the cloud. Over the intercom came “Skipper, we’re on fire”. The skipper replied, “It’s okay, I’ll put it out.” The next thing I saw was flames licking past the rear turret, then came over the intercom from the skipper, “Emergency, jump, jump”. I immediately jumped from the turret, waited for a few seconds, then pulled the cord. I landed in a clear field near a wood. Injured right foot on landing. Window was used. Time of event approximately 20:40”.

The Ottawa Citizen, dated Thursday February 5th 1998 carried a piece by Dave Brown entitled:

"War Hero Deserves Recognition at Home".

There is no Connor Street in Ottawa and that's a shame, because there is a street by that name in the small town of Linne, in Holland, and it's a story that should be known and commemorated in the capital. If the street-naming committee fears it would conflict with O'Connor Street, then make it Connor Avenue, or Boulevard, or Private.

His name was Donald Daubney Connor, and his name in full, identifying him as an officer of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with a Distinguished Flying Cross, is carved onto the marker of a well-kept grave in the Roman Catholic cemetery in that Dutch town.

How Flying Officer "Dinghy" Connor came to occupy that grave is a story of bravery and self-sacrifice. Ottawa lawyer and former member of Parliament, David Daubney, is a cousin, and among relatives who keep the story alive.

On the night of Nov. 1, 1944, FO Connor, the only son of William Connor, of the Connor Washer Co. of Le-Breton Flats, was at the controls of a spanking new Lancaster bomber returning from a raid into Germany.

The machine was fitted with the latest radar, and its operator, Gordon Leppington, thought there was something suspicious moving in astern, but was assured by gunners there was nothing. Then came a yell: "That sonofabitch opened up on us!" It was a German night fighter. A storm of heavy bullets ripped the floor out of the aircraft and set two engines ablaze.

There were yells from mid upper gunner Jim Campbell, but the rest of the crew were used to that. He was a nervous sort, made that way earlier in the war when the propeller of another bomber tore his Perspex dome off in a collision.

The skipper over the intercom ordered everybody to be calm, they had been through this before and made it home on two working engines. He ordered engineer Ray Joiner to cut off the fuel supply to the burning engines. Then came the unexpected order from the skipper: "Emergency! Jump! Jump!"

The aircraft commander was a stickler for emergency training, making his crew work through the procedures over and over. For training in escape in water he yelled, "Dinghy! Dinghy!” hence his nickname.

Radio operator Leppington would later tell how, in an emergency training session while parked on an airfield, when the order "dinghy" was yelled, the whole crew jumped onto bicycles and repaired to a pub. But he admitted the training saved his life. He had to fight an urge to jump through a gaping hole in the floor. Wind forced would have pushed him into the jagged edges. He had a drilled-in escape route and followed it. The skipper fought to keep the aircraft under control long enough for his crew to get out.

On the ground, residents of Linne saw the burning aircraft in a shallow dive heading for their village. At the last moment the plane pulled up and over the community, and crashed a few metres clear of buildings.

Even then, residents realized the pilot had sacrificed his life for theirs, and asked their German occupiers for permission to bury him. This was granted, but with a provision: No flowers.

Retired economics teacher Frans Ververs was 14 when he watched the crash. In a story published in Holland, he clearly remembered the funeral. Mainly, he remembered the great quantity of flowers.

He also remembered people pick up the body of another member of the crew just outside the town. The man's parachute failed to open and he landed feet first. The impact left him much shortened. There is also a Joiner Street in Linne, and the grave is beside Mr. Connor's.

Another Connor cousin, Doug Williams of Mississauga, visited Linne a few years ago, and was introduced to Jan Putts, an aged market gardener who also witnessed the crash. Mr Putts showed him how two brass oxygen cylinders were used in his garden to mark each end of a row of vegetables. They were the last remains of the Lancaster. His daughter, Tania Putts, still tends the graves of the two men killed in the crash.

The nervous upper gunner, Jim Campbell, was hidden by the Dutch underground for 15 days, and then turned over to the British as the town was liberated. The rest of the surviving crew members spent the rest of the war in prison camp.

There's something else carved into the Connor marker that's worth remembering. He was 21.

Burial details:

Above: Joint grave marker for Fg Off. Conner DFC and Plt Off. Joiner

Fg Off. Donald Daubney Connor DFC. Linne Roman Catholic Churchyard Grave 1. Born on the 29th October 1922 in Carteleton County, Ottawa, Ontario. Son of William M. and Effie (née Daubney) Conner (his mother predeceased him) of Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Step-son to Marion H. Conner.

Fg Off. Connor was awarded DFC whilst with 431 Squadron. London Gazette 12th February 1946. Citation reads "Flying Officer Connor as pilot has completed numerous operations against the enemy in the course of which he has invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty".

Plt Off. Raymond Conserdine Joiner. Linne Roman Catholic Churchyard Grave 2. Born on the 18th November 1906 in Leicester, England. Son to Joseph Joiner (deceased) and Henrietta Lucy (née Fox) Joiner of Toronto, Ontario. Husband to Elizabeth May (née Guest) Joiner of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Researched by Ralph Snape and John Jones for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their relatives.

Other sources as quoted below:

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