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Operation: Lorient
Date: 13/14th February 1943 (Saturday/Sunday)
Unit: No. 50 Squadron
Type: lancaster III
Serial: ED484
Code: VN-Q
Base: RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Location: Not known - Bay Of Biscay
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Evan Arthur Davies 101537 RAFVR Age 32. Killed
Pilot 2: Sgt. Donald Robert Bishop 574641 RAF Age 20. Missing - believed killed
Fl/Eng: F/O. Maurice James Steward 120646 RAFVR Age 34. Missing - believed killed
Nav: W/O. John Howard Bailey 746977 RAFVR Age 31. Missing - believed killed
Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. William James Hogg R/97033 RCAF Age ? Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. John Herbert McCarthy AUS/401388 RAAF Age 24. Missing - believed killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Lloyd Harvey Peterson R/114943 RCAF Age 22. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Keith Jonathan Hodgson R/108386 RCAF Age 21. Missing - believed killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Taking of from RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire with a Bomber Command force of some 466 aircraft from various squadrons to bomb Lorient - a German base for submarines. This was the heaviest attack of this target of the war with 1000 tons of bombs dropped on the already heavily damaged town.
The allies lost 11 aircraft with 48 aircrew killed or missing, 6 taken PoW and 6 others evading capture back to England. No details on how ed484 was lost, but crashed into the sea, probably Bay Of Biscay as 1 of the crew was buried at Concarneau, 2 others at Gavres.
Burial details:
Fl/Lt. Evan Arthur Davies. Gavres Communal Cemetery. South West plot. Row 3. Grave 4. Son of Evan Jenkin and Catherine Davies, husband of Elizabeth Lilian Davies, of Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Sgt. Donald Robert Bishop. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 142. Son of Albert and Annie Bishop, of Kingsteignton, Devon, England.
F/O. Maurice James Steward. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 129. Son of Arthur and Annie Steward, husband of Jessie Hastings Steward, of Sanderstead, Surrey, England.
W/O. John Howard Bailey. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 134. Son of Arthur Howard Bailey and Jessie Bailey.
Fl/Sgt. William James Hogg. Gavres Communal Cemetery. South West plot. Row 3. Grave 5.
Fl/Sgt. John Herbert McCarthy. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 193. Born on the 16th December 1918 in Melbourne the son of Herbert Joseph and Gertrude Agnes McCarthy, of Middle Park, Victoria, Australia.
Fl/Sgt. Lloyd Harvey Peterson. Concarneau Communal Cemetery. Grave 1. Son of Chris and Dore Peterson, of Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Fl/Sgt. Keith Jonathan Hodgson. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 182. Son of Bruce Jonathan and Elsie Miller Hodgson, of Westmount, Province of Quebec, Canada.
Researched for John Davies, son of the pilot who contacted us November 2016 and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to sources as quoted.
KTY - 15.11.2016
RW - 01.03.2017 Cutting re F/Sgt. Hogg added
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 23 March 2021, 16:46