Operation: Fighter sweep, Germany

Date: 19th April 1945 (Thursday)

Unit No: 222 (Natal) Squadron, 2nd Tactical Air Force

Type: Tempest V (Series 2)

Serial: EJ883

Code: ZD:Y

Base: ALG B.91 Kluis, Netherlands

Location: Neumünster airfield, Germany

Pilot: Flt Lt. Charles George Frederick Deck 131032 RAFVR Age 26. MiA

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 19th April 1945 at 18:05 hrs eight Tempests from 222 (Natal) Sqn took off from the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B.91 at Kluis in the Netherlands on a fighter sweep over Germany.

Flt Lt. Harry E. Turney DFC, who was leading the Sqn, in Tempest NV757, had to turn back 10 mins later with engine trouble. Fg Off. Joseph G. Wilson in Tempest NV940 also returned early for an unspecified reason, landing back at base at 18:25 hrs.

Fg Off. Robert H. Reid took over the operation and led the remaining six Typhoons on an attack against the Neumünster airfield in Germany.

Neumünster airfield is some 29 km (18 mls) SSW of Kiel and 3 km (1¾ mls) west of Neumünster itself.

The attack destroyed two aircraft, a Heinkel He111 and a Messerschmitt Me410, and damaged two Junkers Ju188s. Flt Lt. Deck failed to to return to base, last being seen making his attack on the airfield.

The next day the Sqn moved to ALG 109 at Quakenbrück in Germany.

On the 12th May 1945, 6 days after hostilities ceased, two of Flt Lt. Deck’s fellow Argentinian pilots, Flt Lt. Ronald P. Dashwood and Fg Off. Frederick A. Greene requisitioned a Jeep and drove to Neumünster airfield for news of Flt Lt. Deck. They found the wreckage of the Tempest which had crashed in a bay and had completely disintegrated. The exact cause of the crash could not determined but it appeared that he was killed instantly and any remains were buried in the Neumünster Cemetery.

On the 18th May 1945, Flt Lt. Ronald P. Dashwood and Fg Off. Frederick A. Greene again visited Neumünster airfield, this time flying there in the Squadron Auster Ser No. NJ729. They obtained a statement from a Wg Cdr. Godfrey, the Commanding Officer (CO) of the airfield, concerning the circumstances of Flt Lt. Deck’s death. It appears that his aircraft had been hit by flak over the airfield.

They then visited his grave in the Neumünster Cemetery and arranged for a cross in a suitable form to be made by RAF personnel stationed at the airfield. No records have been found that explains why Flt Lt. Deck’s name is listed on the Runnymede Memorial as MiA. It is possible that the Graves Registration Service (GRS) could not positively identify the remains in the grave as being those of Flt Lt. Deck and as policy dictated he was posted as MiA with no known grave.

Burial details:

Above: Flt Lt. Charles George Frederick Deck (Courtesy of Claudio Meunier)

Flt Lt. Charles George Frederick Deck. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 265. Born on the 24th May 1918 in Argentina. Son of Frederick James and Violet Mabel (née MacFarlane) Deck, of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Husband of Pauline Anne (née Foggo) Deck, of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

He joined the RAF at Uxbridge as an airman on the 20th August 1941. 1395263 LAC Charles George Frederick Deck was granted a commissioned and promoted to 131032 Plt Off. on the 9th October 1942. He was promoted to Fg Off. on the 9th April 1942 and to Flt Lt. on the 9th October 1944.

There is a Window dedicated to him, his brothers and their father at the Church of St. Peters at Westleton. The window is dedicated to a father who died in February 1939 in Uruguay and his three sons who were killed in WW2 in the RAF. The window is in the south wall of the chancel, facing the WW2 Victory window in the north wall.

(courtesy of War Memorials on Line)

His brothers Plt Off. James Frederick Deck and Plt Off. Harold Frederick Deck were KiA on the 1st November 1941 and 27th July 1942 respectively.

Researched by Ralph Snape, Kelvin Youngs and Stefen Youngs and dedicated to this Pilot and his family. Special thanks to Claudio Meunier for his contributions.

Other sources as quoted below:

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