Operation: Chemnitz, Germany

Date: 5th/6th March 1945 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit No: 625 Sqn, 1 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: PD375

Code: CF:R

Base: RAF Kelstern, Lincolnshire

Location: In the region of Rittersgrün

Pilot: Flt Lt. Arthur Doane Cook 149369 RAFVR Age 25. PoW (1)

Flt Eng: Sgt. S.L. Lowe 3040341 RAFVR Age? PoW (2)

Nav: Sgt. Thomas Howard Scowcroft R215687 RCAF Age 21. PoW (3)

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. F. W. Brooks 1399751 RAFVR Age? PoW (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. William Allen 1331874 RAFVR Age 23. PoW (4)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Charles Henry Bartlett 3050089 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. James Henry Porter 1103269 RAFVR Age 24. KiA

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of 5th/6th March 1945 Lancaster PD375 and twenty (20) bombers from the Squadron were detailed to join a force of seven-hundred and sixty (760) aircraft to continue Operation Thunderclap with the target being Chemnitz in Germany.

Operation Thunderclap at this time was a modified version of the original plan to bomb Berlin. The modified plan was to destroy Eastern German cities and infrastructure with the USAAF destroying railroads during the day and the RAF bombing other vital targets by night.

The operation started badly with nine (9) aircraft crashing near their bases soon after taking off in icy conditions. Of the fourteen (14) Lancasters that were lost on this night PD375 and a second bomber from 625 Squadron failed to return.

The other aircraft was Lancaster I NG240 CF:F2 (7 PoWs)

Two of the PoWs including the pilot were captured at or near Rittersgrün which is some 40 km (25 mls) SSW of Chemnitz and about 5½ km (2½ mls) SSE of Bermsgrün where Sgt. Bartlett and Sgt. Porter were initially buried.

It appears that PD375 had dropped it bombs on the target and was heading home-bound when it was lost. The aircraft probably crashed between Bermsgrün and Rittersgrün about 5 km (3 mls) north of the Czechoslovakian border with Germany.

German fighter controllers plotted the combined bomber stream to the Halle area, which is some 100 km (62 mls) NW of Chemnitz, where it split, one heading for Böhlen and the other for Chemnitz which they determined was the target. The first crews of NJG5 successfully infiltrated the Chemnitz bomber stream in the Halle area and then in force over Chemnitz from around 21:52 hrs and some fifteen (15) minutes after the first bombs were dropped. There were nineteen (19) attacks and combats which resulted in the loss of at least six (6) bombers within a radius of 50 km (31 mls) around Chemnitz between 21:50 and 22:10 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1 January 1945 - 3 May 1945) Part 6 - Theo Boiten)

The majority of German records for the claims on this night are incomplete and most do not provide any location, time or bomber identification. However, and coincidently there is one complete record for Hptm. Ernst-Georg Drünkler from 1./NJG5 who claimed his 32 Abschuss, a 4-motor, 35-45 km ESE of Zwickau at 22:05 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1 January 1945 - 3 May 1945) Part 6 - Theo Boiten)

Note: 35-45 km ESE of Zwickau is centred in the region of the loss of PD375.

At the time of writing this report associating and confirming the claim by Hptm. Drünkler with the loss of PD375 has not been possible with the records currently available.

(1) Flt Lt. Cook was captured at Rittersgrün on the 6th March. He was then transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 10th March. Four (4) days later he was moved to the transit camp at Wetzlar.

On the 19th March he was transferred to join the PoWs from Stalag Luft 3 at Nürnberg arriving there on the 24th March. On the 4th April he was transferred to Stalag 7A, Moosburg in Bavaria arriving there on the 20th April. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by elements of the US 14th Armoured Division. Flt Lt. Cook was interviewed on the 11th May 1945.

Arthur Doane Cook was born on the 22nd February 1920. He was a student prior to enlisting in the RAFVR in March 1942.

(2) No information other than the Service Numbers for Sgt. S.L. Lowe and Flt Sgt. F.W. Brooks has been found on-line.

(3) Flt Sgt. Scowcroft was captured at Rittersgrün on the 6th March. He was then transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 10th March. Four (4) days later he was moved to the transit camp at Wetzlar.

On the 26th March he was transferred to Stalag 7A, Moosburg in Bavaria arriving there on the 12th April. The camp was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by elements of the US 14th Armoured Division. Flt Sgt. Scowcroft was interviewed on the 12th May 1945.

His brother, Lt. Gordon Caverly Scowcroft was posted missing whilst serving with the Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE) on the 13th November 1944. In December it was confirmed that he was a PoW.

Thomas Howard Scowcroft was born on the 27th January 1924 in Bowsman, Manitoba. He was a student prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 13th January 1943. Thomas passed away on the 27th May 1974 in Cleveland Ohio, USA.

(4) Sgt. Allen was seriously injured and captured immediately.

He was admitted to 13A Bayreuth Lazarett (hospital) on the 11th March until the 16th April 1945. It appears that he liberated from the hospital on or before the 25th April 1945 on which day he was interviewed.

William Allen was born on the 21st March 1921 in Lambeth, London. He was a Bricklayer prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 16th January 1941. William passed away in 2002.

Burial details:

Sgt. Bartlet and Sgt. Porter were initially buried in a collective grave at the Bermsgrün Community Cemetery and finally laid to rest at the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery on the 4th October 1947.

Above: Joint Grave markers for Sgt. Charles Henry Bartlett and Sgt. James Henry Porter (Courtesy of Jim Hocking)

Above: Grave marker for Sgt. Charles Henry Bartlett (Courtesy of Jim Hocking)

Sgt. Charles Henry Bartlett. Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Joint Grave 2.C.13-14. Grave Inscription: “ALWAYS IN OUR MEMORY ALWAYS VERY NEAR MISSING EVERY MOMENT ONE WE LOVED SO DEAR”. Born on the 19th August 1925 in Worle, Somerset. Son of Alfred George and Dorothy Lucy Allison (née Gillett) Bartlett of Worle, Somerset, England.

Above: Grave marker for Sgt. James Henry Porter (Courtesy of Jim Hocking)

Sgt. James Henry Porter. Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Joint Grave 2.C.13-14. Born on the 16th March 1920 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Son of Mansfield and Hannah Melena (née Middleton) Porter of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape from Aircrew Remembered as dedicated to this crew and their families (May 2025). Thanks to Jim Hocking for the images of the grave markers for Sgt. Bartlett and Sgt. Porter (May 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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