Operation: Gardening Daffodils (1)

Date: 17/18th May 1942 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit: No. 15 Squadron (motto: 'Aim Sure') 3 Group

Type: Stirling I (5)

Serial: W7531

Code: LS-F 'Macroberts Reply' (2)

Base: RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire

Location: Middelfart, Denmark

Pilot: Sq/Ldr. John Charles Hall MiD. DFC. 41693 RAF Age 24. Killed

Obs: ('passenge'): Fl/Lt. Neville George Richardson Booth 81661 RAFVR Age 25. Killed (see notes)

Obs: F/O. John Patrick Ryan J/4758 (R/69927) RCAF Age 30. Killed
(note: many online websites incorrectly list him as second pilot)

Obs: Sgt. Ronald Maycock 1384147 RAFVR Age 21. Initially listed as missing - believed killed (3)

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Anthony Spriggs 568054 RAF Age 22. Killed

W/Op: Sgt. Donald John Jeffs 1194379 RAFVR Age 21. PoW No. 24967 Camp: Stalag Teschen/Stalag Lamsdorf (4)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. John Bernard Butterworth 1307679 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frank Leslie Sharp 910003 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Robert Nicholson 954208 RAFVR Age 23. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

32 Stirlings and 28 Wellingtons laid magnetic mines in the Frisians and the Heligoland bight between 00.20 and 02.27 hrs. Seven aircraft failed to return, four of which were destroyed by Flak, the others:

149 squadron Stirling N3752: hit and damaged by Flak in target area, later crash-landed near Rise, NW of Aabenraa at 01.15 hrs. Flown by Sgt. James August Jerman 1381298 PoW No. 61 held at Stalag Kopernicus, all eight crew survived as PoW..

149 squadron Stirling R9310: hit by Sperrfeuer Battr. 299, 300 and 301 and 4./M.A.A. 508, crashed into the Northern entrance of the Great Belt near Kalundborg at 01.42 hrs. P/O. Arthur John Frost 106066 - all seven crew killed.

149 squadron Stirling R9320: hit by Flak of Wache Rödby, Kappel and S-Hafen Rödby, crashed in Baltic south of Lolland Island at 01.57 hrs. Fl/Sgt. Graham Howard Roy Woodhouse 1250028 PoW No: 107 held at Stalag Kopernikus - two crew killed, remainder PoW.

Ground-controlled fighters operating over the Netherlands and north west Germany flew an estimated 34 sorties, including some 20 NJG3, but only few pursuits were made. Two Gardeners fell foul of 4./NJG2. The Staffelkapitän Hptm.Hans Georg Schütze and his BF F Wiedenbach and BS Sfw. Reinartz (who had replaced Fw. Hagmeier after 23-24 April) in Bf110 F-4 R4+HM engaged a 115 Squadron Wellington over Pellworm Island. Both aircraft went down in flames in the ensuing combat; there were no survivors from either crew. Oblt. Rudolf Schoenert and his regular Funker Fw. Johannes Richter, who were scrambled in Bf110 F-4 R4+BM from Westerl airfield on Sylt Island at 00.05 hrs, attacked 218 Squadron Stirling N6071 over their home base. The stricken bomber crashed near Lyne at 00.57 hrs after its crew of seven had baled out, the Australian navigator, F/O. Eliot Ralph Barnfathe Aus/400393 falling to his death.

115 squadron Wellington III X3644, shot down by Hptm. Hans-Georg Schütze at 00:45hrs. flown by Sgt. Francis Norman Butterworth 1112329 - all five crew killed.

218 squadron Stirling I shot down by ObIt. Rudolf Schoenert at 00:54 hrs, flown by Fl/Lt. Arthur George Lee Humphreys DFC 36241 Hospitalised and repatriated on the 06th February 1945 aboard the 'Arundel Castle') - six other crew taken PoW, one killed.

Stirling I W7531 took off at 21:40 hrs. captained by Sq/Ldr.Hall, DFC MiD, RAF, to mine Danish waters and was hit twice by flak of 3./lei. Flak Abt. 844 (II. and IV. 1250028 Zug) a171n, crashing at 02:10 hrs. at Galsklint, 2km west of Middelfart. Only an RAF Sgt survived severely injured and was taken prisoner. His eight comrades died.

At 07:00 hours on the 21st May 1942 the crew members were laid to rest in a common grave in the Assistens cemetery in Odense. The ceremony was performed by the German army chaplain with full military honours. Also participating in the ceremony were several Danish and German officers. All crew members, apart from Sgt. Ronald Maycock, were identified after the war by a British team. His name was thus not put on a cross as was his comrades.

A local boy, Niels Ebbe Lundholt, visited the crash site a short time later and described what he saw: - "I heard rumors that an English bomber was crashed in the Hindsgavl forest, and I took my bicycle and went to the area, in order to see if I could find some weapons, I could use against the Germans. I brought a Kodak box camera, in case that I could retrieve any useful information. At the crash site, a big part of the forest was cut, it almost looked like a huge razor had cut through the trees. It looked like there had been a huge explosion, since there were only small parts left from the bomber and there was a big hole in the ground. Since there were only small parts left, I could not recognise the bomber".

The other crews on this operation:

W7523 LS-C Flown by Sgt. Albert Douglass - killed flying this same aircraft the following day on the 19th May with all his crew during an air test..

W7504 LS-A Flown by Fl/Sgt. William Ernest Lucas - survived the war completing 86 operational sorties. Retired as a squadronder DFC, Represented Britain in the 1948 Olympics at the 5,000 metres. Born on the 16th January 1917 from Cowfold, West Sussex. He died on 24 March 2018 at the age of 101

W7525 LS-E Flown by P/O. Kenneth Arnott - killed on the 16th July 1942 with 5 other crew, 2 PoW Stirling I W7524 LA-D on an operation to Lübecker.

W7513 LS-G Flown by Fl/Lt. Dennis Arthur Parkins DFC - killed with all his crew on the 28th July 1942 Stirling I N6102 BS-B with 1651 HCU on an operation to Hamburg.

W7515 LS-Q Flown by P/O. Francis Kingsly Doyle - killed on the 30th May 1942 with all his crew on a 'Gardening' Operation..

W7518 LS-U Flown by P/O. Phillips - no further details on the pilot or crew but this aircraft was lost on the 01st March 1943 with all crew on an operation to Berlin.

R9315 LS-O Flown by W/O. Andrew Jack Cowlrick - killed with all his crew on the 03ed June 1942. Stirling I N3728 LS-T on an operation to Essen.

Above: A memorial to the crews of 'McRobert's Reply' is on display at Douneside House and Health Club, Tarland, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire

A memorial was also placed in 1949 by the Danish people at Galsklint Camping, Fyn Islands Provincer
Inscription (Translate) This stone was raised on the place where 8 allied airmen were shot down for freedom and right 18/5/42. Stirling W7531 of 15 Sqn

(1) Gardening Operation: During the Second World War 'Gardening' was the RAF term given to the dropping of mines from bomber aircraft into the sea. The mines were "sown' near ports and harbours, inland waterways, estuaries (as in the Gironde in western France) and in busy shipping lanes. Throughout Europe the coastline was split into various targets and also given distinct code names; the majority (but not all) were given names of trees and plants.

(2) Lady Rachel Workman Macrobert: Born in America in 1884 to avid travelers Fanny Bullock Workman (a trailblazing mountaineer who trekked and cycled across Eurasia in skirts) and William Hunter Workman, Rachel Workman followed in her parents’ adventurous footsteps by studying glacial geomorphology in Scotland and Sweden.

Active within the geology research community, Rachel attended the International Geological Congress in 1910 and 1913. At her attendance in 1913 at the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Geological Society an attempt was made to eject her; it did not succeed. As one of the many women to make great academic and social strides in the field of geology, Rachel played a key role in the formal integration of women as Fellows of the Geological Society of London in 1919. In 1938 she was elected as a life fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Though now she is best known as the founder of the MacRobert Trust and as a staunch supporter of the RAF after the death of her three pilot sons in civil and wartime service, funding the purchase of a bomber named “MacRobert’s Reply”, her contributions to geology-and her participation in the academic research networks of the time-should not be overlooked. Rachel passed away on the 01st. September 1954

Above L-R: Sir Alasdair MacRobert, Sir Roderick MacRobert, Lady Rachel Workman Macrobert and Sir Iain MacRobert

Sir Alasdair Workman MacRobert (Percival Vega Gull - born on the 11th June 1912 in Tarland, Scotland) - was killed in an flying accident on the 01st June 1938, age 25. Luton, Bedfordshire, England.

Sir Roderick Alan MacRobert (Fl/Lt. 40731 - Hurricane N2498, born on the 08th May 1914 in Tarland, Scotland.) - killed on the 21st May 1941. Flying a Hurricane serving with 274 squadron at Mosul, Iraq. Age 26. Buried at Mosul War Cemete, grave 1.B.10.

Sir Iain Workman MacRobert (P/O. 87425 - Blenheim IV Z5982 - born on the 19th April 1917 in Tarland, Scotland) - serving with 608 squadron, missing - believed killed on the 30th June 1941, age 24. Remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 33.

There have been four aircraft given the nam:

The first was a 15 squadron Stirling I N6086, during take off it slid off the runway at Peterhead and collided with a damaged spitfire. Both aircraft written off. The crew of the Stirling were not injured. The other two named were Buccaneer S.2B XT287 and Panavia Tornado GR.4(T) ZA602. All operated by 15 squadron RAF.

(3) Sgt. Ronald Maycock was initially listed as missing, however in 1999 a group of people from Odense had worked their way through reports and testimonies dating back from May 1943 and had collected enough evidence to be able to convince the CWGC that Sgt. Maycock actually had been buried with his comrades on 21 May 1942. On the 10th May 1999 a ceremony was held at the cemetery and a headstone with Sgt. Maycocks name on it was unveiled with his sister Irene Davison being invited to see her brothers grave for the first time.

(4) Sgt. Donald John Jeffs was the sole survivor from egis crew, usually known as 'Duncan'. Ttaken PoW shortly after the crash, after initially being helped by the Danish Resistance. His injuries needed treatment so they gave him to the German army who treated him well and put him into a hospital in Rensburg before transporting him to to Stalag VIIIB (Lamsdorf) in the autumn of 1942.

Right: Donald John Jeffs

He was in Lamsdorf until the Long March which he was on ending up at Stalag XII in Fallingbostal in 1945. On 16th April 1945 the 8th Hussars Recce troop reached Fallingbostal. Sadly we have no further details of what happened to him.

Burial Details:

Sq/Ldr. John Charles Hall MiD. DFC. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD. 382. Son of William Salkeld Hall and Dorothy Mary Hall, of 'Red Thorns',, Norwich RoWymondham, Norfolk. Epitaph: '"I Bare You On Eagles' Wings, And Brought You Unto Myself" Exodus Xix.4'.

Left: A memorial plaque is we understand on display at Wymond Abbey in Norfolk, England.
It reads:
In proud and loving memory of Squadron Leader John Charles Hall DFC. MiD / killed in operations on the night of the 17th - 18th May 1942. For in their passing they have conquered death, and and through the years shall shine their undimmed youth whose dauntless courage was the living breath of freedom And Of Chivalry And Truth

F/O. John Patrick Ryan. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD. 383. Born on the 29th March at Timaru. Educated at Waimate College. After leaving school he proceeded to Canada and finding himself here on the outbreak of hostilities applied for war service in the Royal Canadian Air Force. enlisted for aircrew training on the 26th July 1940 at No.1 Manning Depot, Toronto, Ontario, and after completing his preliminary training with No.1 Air Observer School, Malton, Ontario, was posted on the 5th January 1941 to No.1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Jarvis, Ontario. Here on the 15th February 1941 he was awarded his Air Observer Badge and received his promotion to sergeant. The following month on the 16th March he was commissioned as a pilot officer and on the 16th March 1942 when he was subsequently serving in England, his promotion to flying officer was gazetted. Meanwhile, on the 15th February 1941 he had been posted to No. 1 Air Navigation School, Rivers, Manitoba. His course here completed, he proceeded on the 26th March 1941 to No.1 "M" Depot, Debert, Nova Scotia, to await embarkation for the United Kingdom.
Son of John Joseph (died 12th August 1947) and Mary Ryam (née Ardaghd, died in 1965, age 78), husband of Wilhelmina Ryan, of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand

Sgt. Ronald Maycock. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Special memorial. Originally listed on Runnymede Memoria,l Panel 89. Son of Charles Stephenson Maycock and Elizabeth Ann Maycock, of Sunderland, County Durham, England.

Sgt. Anthony Spriggs. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD.356. Son of William Frank and Edith Ellen Spriggs, of Bristol, England. Epitaph: 'He Has Outsoared The Shadow Of Our Night'.

Sgt. John Bernard Butterworth. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD.354. Son of David and Annie Butterworth, of Greenfieid, Yorkshire, England. Son of David and Annie Butterworth, of Greenfieid, Yorkshire.

Sgt. Frank Leslie Sharp . Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD.353. Son of Frank Leslie Sharp and Fanny Josephine (née Danner) OfT'he Rosery,' 165 Ashford Road, Maidstone, Kent, England. Retired Outfitter. 13-th February 1958.

Sgt. Robert Nicholson. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD.355. Son of Walter and Stella Nicholson, of Walkington, Yorkshire, England. Epitaph: 'In Loving Memory Of Our Dear Son. Mother, Father And Brother Jack'.

Fl/Lt. Neville George Richardson Booth. Odense Cemetery (Assistens). Grave BD.38. Also commemorated on the war memorial at St Martin's Church, Egwysbach in Wales. Born on the 13th June 1916 in Bucklow, Cheshire. Educated at Lancing College where he was in Heads House from September 1929 to July 1933. Commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 30th of June 1940. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 30th of June 1941 and to Flight Lieutenant in 1942.

Note:
Neville Booth was serving with No. 20 Operational Training Unit at Lossiemouth in Scotland when he was attached to a crew of 15 Squadron Royal Air Force as an official observer of the new GEE radar system in operational conditions. The crew was forbidden to mention to anyone that they were carrying an extra passenger that night. It appears that there was some resentment at having an official observer along on the trip as the crews usual Observer, New Zealander, John Ryan (Royal Canadian Air Force) had been appointed due to his radar and navigational skills. Also on board that night, was trainee Navigator Ronald Maycock, bringing the crew up to nine.
Son of Joseph Vincent Lane Booth and Josephine Lyndall Booth (née Richardson), of Denshaw, Yorkshire, England. later of 'Blentarn', Cadnant Park, Conway in Caernarvonshire. Epitaph: Always Ready'.

(5) The Short Stirling was designed during the late 1930s by Short Brothers to conform with the requirements laid out in Air Ministry Specification B.12/36. Prior to this, the RAF had been primarily interested in developing increasingly capable twin-engined bombers, but had been persuaded to investigate a prospective four-engined bomber as a result of promising foreign developments in the field. Out of the submissions made to the specification, Supermarine proposed the Type 317, which was viewed as the favourite, whereas Short's submission, named the S.29, was selected as an alternative. When the preferred Type 317 had to be abandoned, the S.29, which later received the name Stirling, proceeded to production. The manipulation of the Stirling bomber required much care. Their maximum bomb payload was 8,000lb so movement at take off and landing was, at best, cumbersome.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, New Zealand Cenotaph, Weekly News of New Zealand, Air Museum of New Zealand, Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland, National Archive Kew AIR-27-203-33/34. Lancing War Memorial, Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part two. Kracker Luftwaffe Ar chives. Canadian WW2 Service Records.

Other sources as quoted below:

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