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Operation: Railway yards, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France
Date: 4th/5th July 1944 (Tuesday/Wednesday)
Unit No: 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF, 6 Group, Bomber Command
Type: Lancaster X
Serial: KB718
Code: VR:J
Base: RAF Middleton St. George, County Durham
Location: Fay, near Chailly-en-Bière, France
Pilot: Fg Off. Lorne W. ‘Red’ Frame J28155 RCAF Age 20. Evader (1)
Flt Eng: Sgt. Philip Paul Barclay 1386435 RAFVR Age 19. Evader (1)
Nav: Fg Off. W.C. Watson J29526 RCAF Age 22. Evader (1)
Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. William Boland Reynolds J161469 RCAF Age? PoW No. 4620 * (2)
WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. David High R93636 RCAF Age 22. Id No. 78422 **, PoW No. 8096 *** (3)
Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. J. Morris R191910 RCAF Age? Evader (1)
Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Harold Bernard Hayes R204430 RCAF Age 19. PoW No. 361 **** (4)
* Stalag Luft 1, Barth-Vogelsang, today situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
** Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimer, Germany in July 1937.
*** Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.
**** Stalag Luft 7, Bankau nr. Kreuzburg O.S." (O.S. standing for Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia). Today called Bąków nr. Kluczbork (Poland).
REASON FOR LOSS:
On the 4th July 1944 15 aircraft from the squadron were tasked on a mission to bomb the railway yards at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. Very heavy opposition was encountered, both from Flak and German night-fighters with the result that KB718 was one of 3 aircraft from the squadron that failed to return.
The other two aircraft that failed to return were:
Lancaster X KB727 VR:H (6 PoW, 1 Evd);
Lancaster X KB723 VR:U (3 KiA, 1 PoW, 3 Evd).
KB718 or 419 Sqn Lancaster KB723 was claimed by Ofw. Heinrich Breitenfelder, his 1st Abschuss, from 5./NJG2, at Fontainebleau at 3.500 m. at 01:23 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten).
KB718 crashed at Fay, 1¾ km (1 ml) NE of Chailly-en-Bière, France, at 01:45 hrs
(1) Fg Off. Frame reported that they had bombed the target and on the return journey were hit by Flak and then by a night fighter. A port engine and gas tank was hit by cannon fire which set the aircraft ablaze.
He gave the order to bale out and then jumped himself. He landed on the outskirts of Fay, near Chailly-en-Bière. He buried his parachute, harness and mae west in some woods and started walking towards the village.
There he met a man who took him to a house in Barbizon, where he met his Navigator, Fg Off. Watson. A few days later his Flight Engineer, Sgt. Barclay was brought in. Towards the end of July Fg Off. Steepe and Fg Off. Murphy were also brought in.
Fg Off. Steepe and Fg Off. Murphy were the Pilot and Navigator respectively from 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF, Lancaster X KB723.
They remained at this house until the 23rd August when US troops liberated the town.
On the 25th August they were taken to the Combat Information Centre (CIC) at Fontainbleau, thence to a Prisoner of War Escort (PWE), 8 km (5 mls) outside of Fontainbleau, and finally to the 3rd US Army PWE at Nemours. From here they were flown out by Dakota to England
Fg Off. Watson also landed on the outskirts of Fay near Chailly-en-Bière. He hid his parachute, and mae west in some bushes and started walking. He met some farmers who took him to a house in Barbizon where he joined up with Fg Off. Frame.
The Escape and Evasion reports for Fg Off. Watson and Flt Sgt. Morris have not survived. However, what is known is that Flt Sgt. Morris along with the other three from his crew, were flown by Dakota back to England on the 25th August 1944.
Above is an article published, courtesy of The Toronto Star on the 23rd November 1944 which describes the 2 months Flt Sgt. Morris spent evading the Germans in Paris.
Above report on safe return of Plt Off. Frame to England (Courtesy of The Ottawa Citizen, dated 1st September 1944).
Whilst Plt Off. Lorne W. Frame was on 24 Operational Training Unit (OTU) he was the pilot of Whitley V Z9488 which ground-looped while taking off from RAF Honeybourne on the 22nd February 1944. All the crew were unhurt.
Above: Reporting on Plt Off. Frame’s earlier missions (Courtesy of The Ottawa Citize,n dated 15th June 1944)
(2) The circumstances leading to the capture of Fg Off. Reynolds are not known. He was eventually transferred to Stalag Luft 1, Barth-Vogelsang.
On the 30th April 1945, the prisoners were ordered to evacuate the camp in the face of the advancing Soviet Red Army, but the Senior American Officer (SAO), Col. Hubert Zemke, refused to give the order. After negotiations between Zemke and Commandant Oberst (Col) Gustav Warnstedt, it was agreed that to avoid useless bloodshed the guards would go, leaving the PoWs behind. The next day, the first Soviet troops arrived.
The Western Allied prisoners took over the camp into self-administration on the 1st May 1945. After protracted negotiations between the Western Allies and the Soviet leadership, the evacuation of the 8,498 inmates of Stalag Luft 1 finally took place on 12th to 14th May 1945, from Barth Air Base using aircraft of the 8th US. Air Force. Hundreds of PoWs had meanwhile made their own way west.
(3) The circumstances leading to the capture of Sgt. High are unknown, other than he was captured in Chartres on the 19th July 1944. He was then transferred to Fresnes prison which was located to the south of Paris and was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 they was amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).
Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.
Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.
Recognition:
For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.
The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.
Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.
American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.
Sgt. High was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 1944. Whilst at Stalag Luft 3 Sgt. High was appointed to a commission and was promoted to J92346 Plt Off.
On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups
After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.
During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages. On the 2nd February Plt Off. High was in the group set to Marlag und Milag Nord at Westertimke.
Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager (naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’.
On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen.
However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men including Plt Off. High and marched them out, heading east. The next day, at around at 10:00 hrs the column was strafed by RAF aircraft, and two PoWs were killed.
Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The Germans agreed.
On the 9th April 1945 the guards at Marlag-Milag moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. Meanwhile, the column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe, north of Hamburg, on the 18th April.
On the 27th April the camps were liberated by elements of the British Guards Armoured Division.
The next day, the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945.
David High born on the 14th April 1922 in Jarrud, Alberta and passed away on the 28th April 2008 in Edmonton, Alberta.
(4) The circumstances leading to the capture of Flt Sgt. Hayes are unknown. He was eventually transferred to Stalag Luft 7.
On the 19th January 1945, he was amongst 1,500 prisoners marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February, and were loaded onto a train.
On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3A located about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia
During January and February 1945 PoWs from numerous other camps arrived and the camp eventually housed 45,942 PoWs, including 24,996 French, 12,517 Soviet, 4,093 Serbian, 1,499 American, 1,433 British, 1,310 Italian, 86 Polish and 8 Romanian.
On the 22nd April 1945 the guards fled the camp in the face of the advancing Russians leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army.
Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated.
Flt Sgt. Hayes was appointed to a commission and promoted to J92345 Plt Off. whilst a PoW.
Burial details:
None - all crew survived
Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Mar 2024).
Other sources listed below:
RS 29.03.2024 - Initial upload
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