Operation: Flensburg, Germany

Date: 1st/2nd October 1942 (Thursday/Friday)

Unit No: 78 Sqn, 4 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax II

Serial: W1036

Code: EY:?

Base: RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire

Location: Sehestedt, SE of the Wittensee

Pilot: Sgt. John Kenneth Gregory 1066775 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Flight Engineer: Sgt. Joe H. Hunt 567609 RAFVR Age? PoW (1)

Navigator: Sgt. Robert William Johnson 1331196 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Sidney Soloman Waldman 1255786 RAFVR Age 26. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Thomas Edward Turpin R55384 RCAF Age 22. KiA (2)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Kenneth Markillie 1458550 RAFVR Age 24. PoW No. 27213 * (3)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Gerald Edwin ‘Pic’ Morrison R82440 RCAF Age 21. PoW No. 27240 * (4)

* Stalag 8B, Lamsdorf, now called Łambinowice in Silesia

Above: Flt Sgt. Thomas E. Turpin as an Aircraftman (Courtesy of Operation:PictureMe)

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 1st/2nd October 1942 eight (8) aircraft from the squadron took-off from RAF Linton-on-Ouse detailed to attack Flensburg in Germany. Only five (5) attacked the primary target. One (1) aircraft returned early owing to a rear turret failure and two (2) failed to return.

W1036 was coned by 6. Scheinwerfer battery of Marine Flak Abt. 211 and 1. Scheinwerfer battery of Marine Flak Abt. 221, hit by Marine Flak Abt. 211 and 221 and light Flak of Marine Flak Abt. 251. The aircraft crashed at Sehestedt, SE of the Wittensee at 22:14 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (30 May - 31 December 1942) The Early Years Part 3 - Theo Boiten).

The second aircraft was Halifax II BB236 flown by Sgt. Edwin Walter Farr 1375633 RAFVR who along with two (2) others of his crew became PoWs and four (4) were KiA.

(1) Sgt. Hunt was reported to have suffered a severe injury that required the amputation of a leg. No further details have been found.

(2) Flt Sgt. Turpin had two brothers who also served, both of whom survived the war.

Cpl. Richard W. Turpin E21839 serving with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals overseas;

John Alfred Turpin R177060 RCAF served at RCAF Station Fingel in Ontario. This was a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) station.

(3) Sgt. Markillie suffered bad burns and other wounds whilst baling out of the aircraft. He was apprehended that night near Flensburg.

He was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 3rd October where he was held in solitary confinement interspaced with interrogation for the next eight (8) days. After which he was transferred to Stalag 8B at Lamsdorf.

At Stalag 8B on the 9th October 1942 he was amongst some 1500 British and Canadians, irrespective it would seem of whether or not they had been captured at Dieppe, had their wrists tied with string from Red Cross parcels.

After the failed raid at Dieppe on the 19th August 1942, the Germans claimed to have found evidence of the ill-treatment of German prisoners, and also of atrocities committed during a Commando raid on Sark on 4th October 1942.

German propaganda made much of the capture and the killing of the German soldiers and claimed that they still had their hands bound when they were found. This together with a copy of an operational order, illegally carried and dropped by a Canadian senior officer, discovered on the beach after the Dieppe Raid on the 19th August 1942 formed the rationale for Hitler’s Kommandobefehl.

It should be noted that the operational order concerning the 'binding' of prisoners was directed at Canadian forces participating in the raid and not the British commandos.

Four days later a further 800 were similarly bound so tightly was the string drawn in some cases that the circulation of blood to the hands was cut off, causing some harm. After strong protests the string was replaced by shackles and handcuffs, but so expert were some of the prisoners at lockpicking (the key from sardine tins was a favourite tool) that within seconds the restraints had been removed. Thereafter the shackling became a nuisance rather than a punishment, and it officially ended on the 22nd November 1943.

In 1943, the Lamsdorf camp was split up, and many of the PoWs (and Arbeitskommando) were transferred to two new base camps Stalag 8C Sagan (modern Żagań and Stalag 8D Teschen (modern Český Těšín). The base camp at Lamsdorf was renumbered Stalag 344.

Whilst at the camp he made a successful escape through the wire with the intention of heading for the port at Stettin but he was captured the next day and held in a civilian prison for a day before being returned to Stalag 344.

On the 22nd January 1945 ahead of the resumed Soviet offensive into Germany he was amongst many of the PoWs who were force-marched westward in groups of 200 to 300. He got far enough to the west and was liberated by the American army. The then Warrant Officer (WO) Markillie was interviewed on the 18th April 1945.

Kenneth Markillie was born on the 27th August 1918 in Long Sutton, Wisbeach, Lincolnshire. Prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 3rd September 1940 he was a farmer in Lincolnshire. Kenneth passed away on the 3rd November 2015 in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England.

(4) Sgt. Morrison baled out and was uninjured. He was apprehended that night and transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 4th October. On the 17th October he was transferred to Stalag 8B at Lamsdorf.

His experiences at Stalag 8B were the same as for Sgt. Markillie except that he was detailed on Arbeitskommando (Working party) E312 at a Stromberg stone quarry from the 15th July 1943 until the 10th September 1943 when he escaped. He was recaptured on the 19th September and returned to Stalag 344.

He escaped with a J.M. Gilmour RCAF, believed to be WO2. John Mitchell Gilmour R79078 RCAF, PoW No. 27198. Note: he was amongst the some 1000 PoWs who were transferred from Stalag Luft 3, Sagan in 1943.

On the 22nd January 1945 ahead of the resumed Soviet offensive into Germany he was amongst many of the PoWs who were force-marched westward in groups of 200 to 300. On the 10th April 1945 he escaped the columns and crossed into the American lines on the 17th April. The then Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Morrison was interviewed on the 24th April 1945.

Gerald Edwin Morrison was born on the 5th July 1921 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Ontario. Prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 3rd January 1941 he was employed as a Salesman. Gerald passed away on the 2nd November 2002 in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.

Burial details:

Above: Kiel War Cemetery (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Sgt. John Kenneth Gregory. Kiel War Cemetery, 2.J.16. Grave Inscription: “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS”. Born on the 21st March 1922 in Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham. Son of Norman Hall and Dorothy Eleanor (née Snowdon) Gregory of Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham, England.

Sgt. Robert William Johnson. Kiel War Cemetery, 2.J.18. Grave Inscription: “"GOD IS LOVE"”. Born in April 1922 in Dorking, Surrey. Son of William and Milly (née Beecham) Johnson of Westcott, Surrey, England.

Sgt. Sidney Soloman Waldman. Kiel War Cemetery, 2.J.19. Grave Inscription: “DEEPLY MOURNED BY HIS WIFE AND DAUGHTER, MOTHER, SISTER, BROTHER AND RELATIVES”. Born on the 20th November 1916 in Brighton, east Sussex. Son of Jonah and Lena (née Klein) Waldman of Maida Vale, London. Husband of Cecilia Maragaret ‘Peggy’ (née Goodman) Waldman, of Lambeth, London, England.

Flt Sgt. Thomas Edward Turpin. Kiel War Cemetery, 2.J.17. Grave Inscription: “DEARLY LOVED SON OF CAPT. WILLIAM AND OLIVE TURPIN OF QUEBEC CITY REMEMBERED ALWAYS BY HIS FAMILY”. Born on the 7th July 1920 in Quebec. Son of Captain William and Olive (née McOwen) Turpin of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

Researched by Ralph Snape from Aircrew Remembered as dedicated to this crew and their families (Jun 2026).

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