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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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228 Squadron Crest
10/11.06.1944 228 Squadron Sunderland III ML762 UE-U Flt.Lt Hewitt DFC

Operation: Anti U-Boat Patrol

Date: 10/11th June 1944 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit: 228 Squadron, Coastal Command, 19 Group

Type: Sunderland III

Serial: ML762

Code: UE-U

Base: RAF Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire

Location: Believed to be within the Bay of Biscay

Pilot: Flt.Lt. Dudley Hewitt DFC. 63798 RAFVR Age 26. Missing - believed killed

Pilot: Flt.Sgt. Charles Raymond Ellis 422379 RNZAF Age 21. Missing - believed killed (1)

Flt.Eng: Flt.Sgt. Norman Alexander Wilson 525904 RAF Age 27. Missing - believed killed

Flt.Eng: Sgt. William Stephen Oliver Pearce 1570015 RAFVR Age 20. Missing - believed killed

Nav: Flt.Sgt. James Gilray 1077432 RAFVR Age 31. Missing - believed killed

WOp: Flt.Lt. John Jamieson Emery 86603 RAFVR Age 33. Missing - believed killed

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt.Sgt. Harold Albert Sydney Filmer 1811558 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt.Lt. Ronald Tetlow Forgan 76459 RAFVR Age 25. Missing - believed killed

WOp/Air Gnr: WO. Duncan Black McFarlane 1116899 RAFVR Age 29. Missing - believed killed

Mech/Air Gnr: Flt.Sgt. Charles Hubert Abram 1312711 RAFVR Age 22. Missing - believed killed

Air Gnr: Flt.Sgt. Alfred Davison 1078132 RAFVR Age 23. Missing - believed killed

(note: we are not sure of crew positions - are you able to confirm?)

Flt.Lt. Dudley Hewitt was awarded his DFC on the 9th July 1943 whilst with 201 Sqn. Gazetted 6th July 1943.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 20:10 hrs from RAF Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire on an anti-submarine patrol.

Failing to return with a broadcast from Germany claiming that two Sunderlands were shot down in the bay. It is thought that ML762 was one of the two lost. ML762 UE-U was claimed by U-228 ( Kapitän Erwin Christophersen).


The Giant Plane That Wrecked U-boats (Courtesy DarkSkies via YouTube)

Neither the aircraft or the crew were recovered and are commemorated on the Runnymede memorial.

(1) His brother, Flt.Lt. George Ivan Ellis 414269 RNZAF was also killed the previous year. With 149 Squadron flying Stirling III BK698 OJ-O - lost over the North Sea on the 21st April 1943.

Burial details:

Flt.Sgt. Charles Hubert Abram. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 215. Son of James and Mabel Gertrude Abram and husband of Barbara Joyce Abram, of Bosham, Sussex, England.

Flt.Sgt. James Gilray. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 217. Son of George Hardie Gilray and of Diana Elizabeth Gilray (née Simpson), of Edinburgh and husband of Mary Brunton Gilray, of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Flt.Sgt. Norman Alexander Wilson. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 223. Husband of Betty Roberta Wilson, of Horley, Surrey, England.

Sgt. William Stephen Oliver Pearce. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 236. Son of William and Isobel Pearce, of Irmerleithen, Peeblesshire, Scotland.

Flt.Sgt. Charles Raymond Ellis. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 263. Son of Charles Robert and Jane Ellis, of Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand. A total of 513 flying hours logged and on his 3rd operation.

Flt.Lt. John Jamieson Emery. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 202. Son of Edward John and Margaret Emery and husband of Doreen Emery, of Biggin Hill, Kent, England. First Officer of S.S. Athenia when sunk on 3rd September, 1939.

Flt.Sgt. Harold Albert Sydney Filmer. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 217. Son of Albert Stephen and Hilda May Filmer, of Canterbury, England.

Flt.Lt. Ronald Tetlow Forgan. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 202. Son of Peter Lawrence and Jane Smithett Forgan, of St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland.

WO. Duncan Black McFarlane. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 214. Son of Walter McFarlane, and of Isabella McFarlane, of Glasgow, Scotland and husband of Ann McFarlane.

Flt.Lt. Dudley Hewitt. DFC. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 202. Son of Cecil Bruce Hewitt and Norna Amy Hewitt, of Purley, Surrey, England. Husband of Jenifer Margaret Hewitt. (Chartered Accountant)

Flt.Sgt. Alfred Davison. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 217. Son of Henry and Frances Norah Davison and husband of Natalie Davison, of Murton, Co. Durham, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Olwyn who contacted us in February 2017. Also to sources as shown.

RS 23.05.2020 - Editorial update and correction to aircraft serial no.

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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