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Operation: Cannes, France
Date: 11th/12th November 1943 (Thursday/Friday)
Unit No: 35 Squadron, 8 Group, Bomber Command
Type: Halifax II
Serial: HR985
Code: TL:A
Base: RAF Graveley, Cambridgeshire.
Location: Orbec some 18 km (11 mls) SE of Lisieux, France
Pilot: Plt Off. Ronald William Daniel 413833 RAAF Age 22. Evaded (1)
2nd Pilot: Flt Lt. John Muir Candlish J4894 RCAF Age 25. KiA
Flt Eng: Sgt. W. Phipps 622605 RAFVR Age? KiA
Nav: Plt Off. John Wilfred Harrison J18220 RCAF Age 28. KiA
Bomb Aimer: Flt Lt. Leslie Dennis Hosking 136064 RAFVR Age 22. KiA
WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Albert John Thomson 1077841 RAFVR Age 20. KiA (2)
Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Fg Off. Donald Wood 151237 RAFVR Age 25. KiA
Air Gnr (Rear): WO2. Frank George Bell R62147 RCAF Age 24. KiA
Above left to right: Flt Lt. John Muir Candlish, Plt Off. John Wilfred Harrison, WO2. Frank George Bell from their service records.
Relatives would very much like further information and photographs of this loss - please contact us and your details will be forwarded.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Taking off at 18:33 hrs from RAF Graveley in Cambridgeshire to attack the railway and marshalling yards at Cannes.
Above: 35 Sqn Halifax II HR985 (Courtesy of Paul Ruben via John Hughes)
The outward trip uneventful despite a clear night for the 134 bombers taking part. The bombing was not a success with most of the target escaping damage. The main bombing hit the suburbs with 39 people killed on the ground. The French press, (under German control) reported that ‘the RAF were pure savages and created nothing but murder’.
Having bombed the area the bomber stream made their way home the very tired crews were then subject to an onslaught from the Luftwaffe night fighters, claiming 4 aircraft.
HR985 was claimed by Uffz. Herbert Treff, his 1st Abschuss, from 2./JG2 over Lisieux at 4.500 m. at 00:58 (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (23 September - 31 December) 1943 Part 3 - Theo Boiten)
This was his only victory and he was killed in a crash at Horbach on the 18th March 1945 (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten)
The aircraft crashed in flames near Orbec some 18 km (11 mls) SE of Lisieux, France
The squadron lost two other aircraft on this operation:
Halifax II HR798 TL:R Flown by Flt Lt. W.C. Dallas. Shot down by Uffz. Werner Edelman his 1st Abschuss also from 2./NJG2 crashing at 01:30 hrs near Lisieux, France. 4 of the crew were made PoW, 2 others evaded with 20 year old Sgt. Dennis George Button 1516920 RAFVR losing his life and buried at the same cemetery as the crew of HR985.
Uffz. Werner Edelmann - this was also his final claim, killed on the 4th February 1944 in a crash at Tavaux during a transit flight.
Halifax II HR929 TL:E Flown by Fg Off. J.R. Petrie-Anderson DFC, DFM. Ditched off the island of Sardinia where all the crew rescued.
(1) In his Escape and Evasion report Plt Off. Daniel described that they had bombed the target successfully but were attacked by a night-fighter at about 01:00 hrs. Their controls had been shot away and the aircraft went into a spin and caught fire. He then gave the order to abandon the aircraft but as the intercom had failed he did not know what happened to the rest of the crew.
He landed in a field between Le Sar and La Ferté-Frênel, hid his parachute and Mae West in a pond and started walking South by his compass.
At daybreak he took off his tunic, removed all badges which he retained for identification purposes and hid the tunic in a hedge. He was wearing an inconspicuous navy blue pullover. At about 03:00 hrs he approached an isolated house and asked for some food but was turned away. He then continued walking over the fields until midday and decided to approach another house on the outskirts of Gacé.
The woman gave him something to drink but would not provide him with an civilian clothes which he asked with the aid of his phrases card. She said some about ‘les Boches’ in Gacé which at the time he did not understand this was referring to the Germans.
He continued on into Gacé but rapidly retraced his steps when he saw a couple of German soldiers and was able to get away before they saw him. He then detoured around the town and walked in a south-easterly direct keeping to the fields. Then took to the road hoping toe reach Alençon and catch a train going South.
Some way out of Gacé he approached a house and to ask for a drink. He was given some wine and was just about to ask for further assistance, when he saw a German Officer sitting inside with a girl and made off as quickly as he could, as he knew that he had been seen, but the German did not attempt to follow him.
He continued on to Échauffour and went to the railway station to inquire about trains going South. He was told that no trains ran South from there so he returned to the village and went into a baker's shop to ask for some food.
The woman could not understand him so he pulled out his phrases card. She immediately called her husband who told him to wait in the shop while he fetched a woman who could speak English.
The baker and his wife were very suspicious of him at first as his hair was cropped short like a German's, but when the baker returned with the woman he managed to convince her that he was British. She went off and returned shortly afterwards with a young man and from then on his journey was arranged for him.
Plt Off. Daniel was one of 26 evaders (5 RAF and 21 USAAF) on the fifth and last operation from Bonaparte beach. ‘Bonaparte V’ was on the night of 23rd/24th March 1944 during which the evaders were collected by the Motor Gun Boat-503 (MGB-503) from the beach off Kéruzeau some 25 km (11½ mls) NNW of Saint-Brieuc.
Operation ‘Bonaparte’ was a series of British naval undertakings between ports of England and Saint-Brieuc on the northern coast of Brittany and in the northern part of German-occupied France by Motor Gun Boats (MGB) of the 15th MGB Flotilla between the 18th January and the 24th March 1944.
He was Mentioned in Despatches (MiD) which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 1st January 1945
He remained in the RAAF and was granted a permanent commission with the Service No. of O22020 and went on to serve in Japan from the 29th September 1950 to the 19th July 1951. He served in Korea from the 13th October to the 22nd July 1953.
He was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC).
Citation: “Flight Lieutenant DANIEL commenced his second tour with a transport squadron in Japan during October, 1952. During this tour he has been employed as a Transport Captain and because of his proficiency in that capacity he has been given the responsibility of Captain of the Squadron's most important aircraft. He has completed two hundred and fifty missions to Korea many of which have been flown in extremely adverse weather conditions and his complete reliability and excellent airmanship has contributed to his fine reputation as a pilot and the good name of the squadron.
Flight Lieutenant DANIEL has completed two thousand eight hundred and fifty hours flying of which five hundred and eight have been flown during the last six months”.
He resigned from the RAAF on the 31st May 1957 as a Flt Lt. to pursue a career in aviation.
Ronald William Daniel was born on the 4th July 1921 in Trundle, New South Wales. He enlisted in the RAAF on the 13th September 1941 in Sydney New South Wales. Ronald passed away on the 26th February 2005 in Maddington Perth, Western Australia.
(2) Information from John Gow Hughes - February 2016
Albert John Thomson’s mother moved to Scotland between 1922 and 1924 met and married Joseph Thomson (no details as yet what happened to Samuel Nelson) Albert was never formally adopted but he used the Thomson name. Albert enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry (HLI) a famous old Scottish fighting unit, they specifically recruited from Glasgow. He enlisted on the 22nd June 1939 but was discharged on the 6th October 1939 as Medically unfit, a total of 107 days. He must have enlisted into the RAFVR sometime between 1940 - 1942, I do know he was at Honeybourne and Marston Moor but no further details on this.
Burial details:
The crew were recovered by the Germans and initially buried in the cemetery in Lisieux, Department of Calvados.
Crew graves at St. Desir War Cemetery.
Flt Lt. John Muir Candlish. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.2. Grave inscription: ‘THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE.’ Born on the 4th July 1918 in Huntingdon, Quebec. Son of Robert Fairlie (deceased in Feb 1935) and of Eva Ethel (née Higgins) Candlish of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada.
His brother Fairlie Candlish (C10838) also served in the RCAF overseas
Sgt. W. Phipps. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.6. No further details found.
Plt Off. John Wilfred Harrison. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.5. Grave inscription: ‘THY WILL BE DONE.’ Born on the 2nd June 1915 in Virden, Manitoba. Son of John Vivian and Anna Stella (née Agnew)Harrison of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Two of his brothers also served overseas. One was Capt. William E. Harrison served in France and Germany with the Fort Garry Horse, 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment. William determined, whilst passing through Lisieux, the crash site of his brothers aircraft.
Flt Lt. Leslie Dennis Hosking. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.7. Grave inscription: ‘AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.’ Son of William Charles and Alice Maud Hosking, of Battersea, London, England.
Grave photographs very kindly supplied by John Hughes - February 2016. Should any relative like to receive a higher resolution copy, John has agreed that I can pass it on. Also shown is the grave of Sgt. Dennis George Button, see below.
Flt Sgt. Albert John Thomson. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.3. Born on the 20th October 1921 in Blackpool the son of Samuel and Agnes (née McGarvie) Nelson they married in Southport 1917.
Fg Off. Donald Wood. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.1. Grave inscription: ‘GOD GIVE ME WORK TILL MY LIFE SHALL END, AND LIFE TILL MY WORK IS DONE.’ Son of Arthur Francis and Edith Wood, of Harborne, Birmingham, England.
WO2. Frank George Bell. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VII.E.4. Grave inscription: ‘GIVEN YOU LIFE FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT LIVE.’ Born on the 26th May 1918 in Lake Valley, Saskatchewan. Son of Joseph and Florence Louise (née Rodger) Bell. Brother to Ilene Louise. Husband of Dorothy (née Martin) Bell, of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
Other:
Sgt. Dennis George Button. St. Desir War Cemetery. Grave VIII.C.9. Grave inscription: ‘THE LORD SAID BLESSED HE WHO LAYETH DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.’ Son of Thomas and Annie Button, of Lenton Abbey, Nottingham, England.
Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) and dedicated to the crew and their families (Sept 2015). Thanks to John Hughes, relative of Flt Sgt. Thomson, for his information (Feb 2016). Thanks to Paul Ruben, relative of Plt Off. Harrison, via John Hughes, for the image of HR985 (Nov 2024). Other updates, photographs and narrative by Aircrew Remembered (Nov 2024)
Other sources listed below:
RS 03.11.2024 - Addition of image for the aircraft and updated narrative.
KTY 21.09.2015
KTY 18.02.2015 - updated details for Sgt. Thomson added
RS 03.11.2024 - Addition of image for the aircraft and updated narrative.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 03 November 2024, 14:31