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Operation: Stuttgart, Germany
Date: 15th/16th March 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)
Unit No: 405 (Vancouver) Squadron, RCAF, 8 Group, Bomber Command
Type: Lancaster III
Serial: ME622
Code: LQ:H
Base: RAF Gransden Lodge
Location: Breitenholz area, Germany
Pilot: Flt Lt. Allan Blake Fyfe J10954 RCAF Age 23. KiA
Flt Eng: Sgt. Bernard Edwin Galbraith R97685 RCAF Age 22. KiA (1)
Nav: Flt Lt. Daniel Branch Quayle J14188 RCAF Age 30. PoW No. 3756 * (2)
Bomb Aimer: WOII. Howard Burton Searles R115322 RCAF Age 24. PoW No. 3055 ** (3)
WOp/Air Gnr: Plt Off. James Henry Dempsey 170294 RAFVR Age 22. KiA
Air Gnr (Mid Upper): Fg Off. Kenneth Arthur Cole J27923 RCAF Age 20. KiA
Air Gnr (Rear): Fg Off. Walter Swelsow Edwards J23984 RCAF Age? PoW No. 3621 * (4)
* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).
** Stalag 357, Thorn (Toruń) in Poland. Moved in September 1944 to Stalag 11b, Fallingbostel, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Above left to right: Flt Lt. Allan Blake Fyfe, Fg Off. Kenneth Arthur Cole from their Service Records
REASON FOR LOSS
On the night of the 15th/16th March 1944 sixteen (16) Lancasters from the Squadron were detailed to join a force of 863 aircraft to bomb Stuttgart. ME622 was designated as a “Blind Marker Illuminator”.
Of the 27 Lancasters lost on this mission only ME622 was the only aircraft from the squadron that failed to return. ME622 was jointly claimed by:
Uffz. Heinz Amsberg, his 3rd Abschuss, from 7./NJG1, 30 km south of the target at 5.500 m. at 23:36 hrs;
Lt. Willi Trabert, his 1st Abschuss, from 9./JG300, south of the target at 5.800 m. at 23:36 hrs.
Both claims were confirmed as full victories by OKL/RLM. Lt. Trabert on the 2nd August 1944 and Uffz. Amsberg on the 19th August 1944. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1 January 1944 - 15 March 1944) Part 1 - Theo Boiten).
Fw. Amsberg and his Funker were KiA on the night of the 7th/8th February 1945 at Ostönnen near Soest when their Bf110 G-4 G9+HR was shot down by 239 Sqn Mosquito NT330 flown by Flt Lt. Anthony J. Holderness 42127 RAFVR and Flt Lt. Walter Rowley DFC 128492 RAFVR. Fw. Amsberg was credited with three (3) Abschüsse with one (1) awaiting confirmation;
Lt. Trabert survived the war with one (1) Abschuss and two (2) awaiting confirmation. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten).
Flt Lt. Quale reported that when they were about 15 to 20 miles SSW of the target they were attacked by a German night fighter. The captain took evasive action but the port wing was hit followed and set ablaze and then gave the order to prepare to bale out. A little later he gave the order to abandon the aircraft as one and possibility both port engines were on fire. He did not see or hear of Fg Off. Cole after he baled out of the aircraft.
Above: Flt Lt. Fyfe reported missing (Courtesy of The Toronto Star, dated 22nd March 1944)
The aircraft crashed in the Breitenholz area, Germany.
(1) Sgt. Galbraith was one of five (5) brothers who served. The family lost a second son on the 27th July 1944. WOII. Thomas Francis Galbraith R172370 and his crew were KiA when his 619 Sqn Lancaster III LM484 was shot down by a German night-fighter on a mission to Givors. The crew were laid to rest at the Pornic War Cemetery in France.
Above: Sgt. Galbraith reported missing (Courtesy of The Province, dated 20th March 1944)
(2) Flt Lt. Quayle baled out and was captured that day. He was transferred to Dulag Luft arriving there on the 20th March. On the 25th March he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia arriving there on the 29th March 1944.
Above: Flt Lt. Quale reported missing (Courtesy of The Vancouver Sun, dated 4th May 1944)
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.
The marching columns passed through Iłowa, Borowe, Gozdnica, Przewóz, Potok, Łęknica, Bad Muskau, Kromlau, Graustein and to Spremberg which was a distance of some 93½ km (58 mls).
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 1945 Flt Lt. Quayle joined the East compound PoWs that were sent to Marlag und Milag Nord at Westertimke arriving there on the 8th February 1945 .
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 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.
It is not known if Flt Lt. Quayle was in the muster of men that marched out of the camp or he was amongst those that hid in the camp in the surrounding area.
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. Flt Lt. Quayle was interviewed on the 3rd May 1945
Daniel Branch Quayle was born on the 25th April 1913 in Whitehaven, Cumberland, England. He and his family emigrated to Canada in 1914.
He was a Fisheries Research Biologist at the Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia prior to enlisting in the RCAF on 17th October 1941. Daniel Branch Quayle passed away in 1990.
(3) WOII. Searles baled out and evaded for two days before being captured on the 17th March 1944. He was transferred to Dulag Luft arriving there on the 19th March.
Above WOII. Searles reported missing (Courtesy of The Toronto Star, Dated 20th April 1944)
On the 25th March he was transferred to Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug arriving there on the 30th March. On the 29th June he was transferred to Stalag 357 Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland, arriving there the next day. Stalag Luft 6 was for enlisted men so it is believed that it was his appointment to a commission and promotion to J88961 Plt Off. that resulted in his transfer.
On or about the 30th July the PoWs were force-marched from Thorn (Toruń) in Poland to the site of the former Stalag 11D, with construction being carried out by the Italian PoW from Stalag 11B. The camp was commonly known as Stalag 357, Fallingbostal but officially the designation was Stalag 357, Oerbke.
On the 2nd April 1945 the PoWs were informed by the Commandant Oberst Hermann Ostmann that 12,000 British PoWs were being evacuated from the camp in the face of the Allied advance. The now Fg Off. Searles was amongst the men marched from the camp in columns of 2,000.
After 10 days they arrived at Gresse, east of the Elbe. There they were issued with Red Cross parcels, but were then unfortunately strafed by British Typhoonfighter-bombers, mistaking them for German troops. Sixty PoW were killed and many wounded.
WO. Dixie Deans, the PoW camp leader, confronted OberstOstmann and bluntly gave him a choice, to be captured to the Russians or the British. Ostman provided WO. Deans with a pass and a German guard, and Deans headed west to contact the advancing British troops.
On the 1st May Deans and his guard were sheltering in a house east of Lauenbergwhen they heard over the radio the news of the death of Adolf Hitler. The next morning the house was overrun by troops of the British 6th Airborne. Deans was taken to the commander of VIII Corpsand explained the situation. He was given a captured Mercedes car and drove back to Gresse. Two days later on the 3rd May 1945 the PoW column marched back across the British lines. Fg Off. Seales was interviewed on the 12th June 1945
Howard Burton Searles was born on the 11th June 1919 in Toronto, Ontario. He was employed as a clerk prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 21st July 1941. No further biographical details have been found.
(4) The Prisoner of War Questionnaire for Fg Off. Edwards has not been found, however, records show that he was at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia in the East Compound and then at Stalag 3A at Luckenwalde.
So it is probable that he was amongst those that on the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, evacuated the camp. 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.
The marching columns passed through Iłowa, Borowe, Gozdnica, Przewóz, Potok, Łęknica, Bad Muskau, Kromlau, Graustein and to Spremberg which was a distance of some 93½ km (58 mls).
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.
He was probably amongst the remaining PoWs from the West Compound who on the 2nd February 1945 were sent to Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde.
On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled 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.
Walter Swelsow Edwards hailed from Melfort, Saskatchewan. No further biographical details have been found.
Burial details:
The Missing Research & Enquiry Service (MRES) located the grave for Sgt. Galbraith in the Breitenholz cemetery whilst those of Flt Lt. Fyfe, Plt Off. Dempsey and Fg Off. Cole were located in the Mönchberg Cemetery about one (1) mile NW of Kayh with Breitenholz about two (2) miles east of Kayh.
Sgt. Galbraith was relocated to the Mönchberg Cemetery and all four were concentrated to the Durnbach War Cemetery on the 30th July 1948.
Above: Durnbach War Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC))
Above: Grave marker for Flt Lt. Allan Blake Fyfe (Courtesy of BobB – FindAGrave)
Flt Lt. Allan Blake Fyfe. Durnbach War Cemetery 11.H.24. Grave Inscription: “BELOVED SON OF LOUISE AND ALLAN FYFE, BROTHER OF BRUCE, TORONTO, CANADA”. Born on the 5th January 1921 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Son of John Allan and Margaret Louise (née Finlay) Fyfe of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Above: Grave marker for Plt Off. Bernard Edwin Galbraith. (Courtesy of BobB – FindAGrave)
Plt Off. Bernard Edwin Galbraith. Durnbach War Cemetery 11.H.26. Grave Inscription: “ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HIM, O LORD”. Born on the 5th December 1921 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Son of James Harold and Mary Ann (née Fitzpatrick) Galbraith of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Sgt. Galbraith was posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to C85188 Plt Off. with effect 12th March 1944.
Plt Off. James Henry Dempsey. Durnbach War Cemetery 11.H.25. Grave Inscription: “MEMORY KEEPS YOU IN OUR HEARTS, DEARER AS THE YEARS DEPART. MUM, DAD, ENA, ERIC”. Born in January 1922 in West Derby, Lancashire. Son of James Henry and Amelia (née Kirkham) Dempsey of Orrell, Bootle, Lancashire, England.
Above: Grave marker for Fg Off. Kenneth Arthur Cole. (Courtesy of BobB – FindAGrave)
Fg Off. Kenneth Arthur Cole. Durnbach War Cemetery 11.H.23. Grave Inscription: “ALWAYS REMEMBERED”. Born on the 5th September 1923 in Bowmanville, Ontario. Son of Arthur and Edith (née Bell) Cole of Bowmanville, Ontario. Canada.
Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their families (Dec 2024).
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RS 08.12.2024 - Initial upload
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