Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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28/29.06.1943 419 Squadron Halifax II JD215 VR-B Fg.Off. Harry W. Fowler AFM

Operation: Cologne, Germany

Date: 28/29th June 1943

Unit: 419 Squadron

Type: Halifax Mk II

Serial: JD215

Code: VR-B

Base: RAF Middleton St.George

Location: Aalst-Waalre, just south of Eindhoven, Holland

Pilot: F/O Harry Wilfred Fowler AFM C/14078 RCAF Age 21. Killed (1)

Flt.Eng: Sgt. John Edwin Dickson 1368890 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Nav: F/O Warren Bretall Mayes J/14770 RCAF Age 22. Killed

Air/Bmr: F/O David Renwick Agnew J/21038 RCAF Age 20. Killed (2)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Flt.Lt. Almer Clement Raine J/5901 RCAF Age 24. Killed

Air/Gnr: Flt.Sgt. William George Otterholm R/113091 RCAF Age 28. Killed

Air/Gnr: Flt.Sgt. William Andrew Hood R/104231 RCAF Age 20. Killed

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We would like to place an appeal on behalf of Raimondo Bogaars for further information and or photographs. Raimondo is hoping to place a memorial at the crash site in the future. Please contact us and your information will be forwarded.

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REASON FOR LOSS:


This raid on Cologne was carried out by the largest force of Allied aircraft since the 1000 bomber raid one year earlier in May of 1942. In total 608 aircraft participated comprised of 267 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes, 85 Wellingtons, 75 Stirlings and 12 Mosquitos.

Despite cloud over the target and only six of the seven Pathfinder Mosquitos reaching Cologne dropping skymarkers, the raid was determined as a success. 25 aircraft failed to return from this mission.

Right: Oberst Günther Radusch

Among those lost was Halifax JD215 flown by Fg.Off. Harry Fowler. At 02:15 hours, June 29, the Halifax was intercepted and shot down by Luftwaffe night fighter ace Oberst Günther Radusch near Eindhoven.

Obst. Radusch was a formidable opponent who claimed three other Halifaxes that night and finished the war with a total of 65 victories, 57 of them being four engined bombers.

Fg.Off. Fowler was awarded the Air Force Medal in recognition of his services as an instructor at No.2 Bombing and Gunnery School, Mossbank, Saskatchewan.

Above newspaper articles: Fg.Off. Harry Wilfred Fowler AFM. (courtesy St.Thomas Times Journal / Elgin Military Museum Collection via Colin Bamford) Also to Nancy Rose.

His citation reads:

"Sergeant Fowler is employed as a Staff Pilot in Bombing Flight. This pilot has flown 600 hours in Battle aircraft. Since joining the Air Force he has flown 1,300 hours in the air. He has shown himself to be a hard working, reliable and conscientious pilot, and has displayed exceptional keenness and devotion to duty."

The award, effective January 1, 1943, was presented to Fg.Off. Fowler at Buckingham Palace on 23rd February 1943.

Flt.Lt. Raine RCAF was the Squadron Signals Leader and was on his second tour of bomber operations. (He was not with his usual crew)

(1) Fowler Lake in Muskoka, Ontario was named after F/O Fowler in 1958

(2) Agnew Bay in Hanson Lake, Saskatchewan was named after F/O Agnew in 1951

Text accompanying newspaper image/clipping of Flt.Sgt. Hood:

REPORTED MISSING: According to word received by the parents Sergeant Air Gunner William A Hood, R.C.A.F., well known local young man "is missing after air operations overseas." Sergt Hood, who is a son of Mr and Mrs Wilson Hood, graduated from the R.C.A.F. Gunnery school at Mont Joli, Quebec, in December of last year, and had been serving overseas since February. (Courtesy: Linda Hood Jobe)

Text from comment made by Donald A. Snow & NBSP; Sydney Post Record 9th July 1943 p. 8)

BRAS D’OR FLYER IS OFFICIALLY REPORTED DEAD Flt.-Sgt. William Hood With R.C.A.F. Reported Missing In June While On Duty Overseas Bras d’Or - Word has been received by his parents here from RCAF headquarters, Ottawa, that Flt.Sgt. William Hood, well known local young man and who had previously been listed as “missing” is “now, for official purposes, presumed dead.” Flt.Sgt. Hood, who had been serving overseas since February of this year, was reported formerly as having been “missing following aerial operations overseas” on June 29. Well know and popular in the district, Flt.-Sgt. Hood was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Hood, one of this community’s best known and most esteemed residents. He graduated from the RCAF gunnery school at Mont Joli, Que., last December. Flt.Sgt. Hood, who was 21 years of age, has three sisters, Adeline, Mary and Arise, and four brothers, Mullins, John and Joe, here, and Gnr. Robert Hood, serving overseas with the Canadian Army. Sincere sympathy of a host of friends is offered the family in their hour of sorrow. (Courtesy: Linda Hood Jobe)

Burial Details:

Fg.Off. Harry Wilfred Fowler. Mierlo War Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. Grave VII.B.1. Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. P. Fowler, of St.Thomas, Ontario, Canada

Sgt. John Edwin Dickson. Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Eindhoven, Netherlands. Grave Plot EE Joint Grave 74-75. N.o.K details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Fg.Off. Warren Bretall Mayes. Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Grave XV.F.2. Son of Arthur H. and Vera H. Mayes, of Maywood, Illinois, USA. Grave inscription reads: "You Will Live For Ever In Our Memory"

Fg.Off. David Renwick Agnew. Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Grave XV.F.3. Son of John Howard Agnew and Gertrude Lucy Agnew, of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Grave inscription reads: "The Lord Knoweth Them That Trust Him".

Flt.Lt. Almer Clement Raine. Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Eindhoven, Netherlands. Grave Plot EE Joint Grave 74-75. Son of Ralph T. and Edith E. Raine, of Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Grave inscription reads: "We Who Loved Him Never Forget".

Flt.Sgt. William George Otterholm. Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Grave XVI.B.15. Son of C. and Frances A. Otterholm, of Dixonville, Alberta, Canada.

Flt.Sgt. William Andrew Hood. Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Eindhoven, Netherlands. Grave Plot EE Grave 36. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Hood, Bras d’Or, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and RCAF specialist Colin Bamford for relatives of this crew. With thanks to The Elgin Military Museum, St. Thomas, Ontario for their assistance in the preparation of this article. Also thanks to Nancy Rose and family - relative of Flt.Lt. Raine who contacted us in November 2017 sending various photographs and newspaper cuttings. Thanks to Linda Hood Jobe for the information regarding Flt.Sgt. Hood.

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