Operation: Ladbergen

Date: Date: 23/24th September 1944 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit: No. 61 Squadron (motto: Per puram tonantes-'Thundering through the clear air') 5 Group

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: LM718

Code: QR-K

Base: RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire

Location: Deurne, Netherlands

Pilot: Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilkinson Horsley AFC 68786 RAFVR Age 28. Evaded (1)

Fl/Eng: P/O. Charles Alfred Cawthorne DFM 5987 RAFVR Age 27. Evaded (2)

Nav: F/O. John Charles Webber 154082 RAFVR PoW No. 5987 Camp L1 Barth Vogelsang (13)

Air/Bmr: F/O. John Parkin Wheeler 154229 RAFVR Age 20. PoW Camp L1 Barth Vogelsang (4)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. George Twyneham 991577 RAFVR Age 24. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Herbert William Jennings 411560 RAF Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Thomas Hoskisson 961858 RAF Evaded (5)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 19:17 hrs to breach the Dortmund-Ems canal north of Munster, Germany.

Shortly after crossing the Dutch coast they were attacked by a Bf 110, both gunners engaged and the enemy aircraft broke away. They were then concentrated on by flak batteries and found themselves coned by searchlights.

The Skipper dived the aircraft down from 20,000 feet, and by 10,000 feet they had lost the searchlights.

The aircraft was not responding to the controls. They continued to lose control and it was deemed prudent to jettison the bombs and return to base. However, when the load went the aircraft became even more difficult to control and despite the combined efforts of the Skipper and the Flight Engineer, backwards pressure on the control column was having no effect and they continued down alarmingly.

They were shot down by Hptm. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow (image shown below)of 29.1./NJG1 40-50 km WNW Düsseldorf at 22.40 hrs.
The four-engined bomber fell along the Helmondseweg road at Deurne.

Also lost from the squadron on this operation:

Lancaster I ME732 QR-P Flown by Fl/Kt. Donald Edward Stone 152068 RAFVR - Killed with 4 other crew, 1 PoW, 1 Evaded capture - claimed by Hptm. Georg Hermann Greiner of 11/NJG-1 .
LancasterIII ED470 QR-W Flown by F/O. Albert Keith Hornibrook 426346 RAAF - 6 Crew killed, 1 Evaded - claimed by Lt. Otto Teschne of Stab IV./NJG1.
Lancaster III ND988 QR-E Flown by F/O. Ian Melville Campbell NZ/426213 RNZAF - Hit by anti aircraft fire from 3.-8 .Flak shw. Abt .273 (o) at 23:15 hrs. Killed with 5 other crew, the rear gunner was taken PoW.

A plaque with the names of all the crew was placed on a building close to the crash site by the local Dutch villagers.

Burial details:

Fl/Sgt. George Twyneham. Venray War Cemetery Grave VIII. C. 12. Son of Lilyan Twyneham, of Gateshead, Co. Durham, England. Epitaph: 'Sheltered By The Rock Of Ages, Anchored On The Golden Shore'.

Sgt. Herbert William Jennings. Venray War Cemetery. Grave VIII. C. 11. Also served in the of the 1st battalion Royal West kent as a private with service number 411560. Regiment. No further details, are you able to assist?

Photographs and cemeterey details here his story here.

(1) Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilkinson Horsley AFC. Killed on the 02nd February 1945 along with all his crew, shortly after take off. His tragic story here.

(2) P/O. Charles Alfred Cawthorne DFM. - Born in 1924. Retired as a W/Cmdr. Husband of Hazel and father of Stuart and Cherie. Passed away on the 14th February 2017, age 92. Read his story here.

(3) F/O. John Charles Webber Commissioned on the 19th October 1943. Survived the war, left the RAF on the 29th October 1945 as a Fl/Lt.

(4) F/O. John Parkin Wheeler - (nco-154229). Commissioned on the 12th November 1943. Survived the war, left RAF as a Fl/Lt on 29th October 1945. The son of Thomas J. Wheeler, and Ethel Wheeler (née Parkin). Born on the 15th June 1924 in Warwickshire, England.

(5) Sgt. Reginald Thomas Hoskisson - survived the war. His amazing story here.

His amazing story here.Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the National Archive, Kew, AIR-27-579-17/18. Anthem Auctions. Theo Boiten Nachtjagd Combat Archives. Kracker Luftwaffe Archives. Friends Of Raf Skellingthorpehome. The Swinton Advertiser.

Other sources as quoted below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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