Operation: Dortmund, Germany

Date: 15th November 1944 (Wednesday)

Unit No: 115 Squadron, 3 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: NN706

Code: KO:B

Base: RAF Witchford, Cambridge.

Location: Leverkusen, Germany.

Pilot: Flt Lt. John William ‘Jack’ Davidson J26633 RCAF Age 21. KiA

Fl Eng: Sgt. Arthur Douglas Ward Gillibrand 572714 RAF Age 23. KiA

Nav: Fg Off. James Henry Powner 153204 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. Charles Douglas Dowse 153656 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Fg Off. Joseph Reginald Dunford J38266 RCAF Age 22. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. Donald Nelson Page R178485 RCAF Age 20. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Kerry Milton Crayston R260479 RCAF Age 20. KiA

Above: Flt Lt. John William ‘Jack’ Davidson and Plt Off. Kerry Milton Crayston from their service records.

Above: Fg Off. Joseph Reginald Dunford on the left courtesy of Mike Harrison and right from his service record

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 12:41 hrs from RAF Witchford near Ely in Cambridgeshire to attack Dortmund. 177 Lancasters took part in this Gee-H attack on the oil plant in Dortmund which had been classed as very accurate even though the raid took place with thick cloud.

NN706 collided with another Lancaster HK595 in a mid air collision, also from the same squadron. These were the only aircraft to be lost on this raid. Sqn Ldr. Hugh Wilfred Castle and his crew aboard HK595 KO:A were also all lost.

Burial details:

Above: The Reichswald Forest War Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC))

Flt Lt. John William Davidson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.7. Grave inscription: ‘MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE AND ETERNAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM ALWAYS’. Born on the 6th November 1923 in Toronto, Ontario. Son of William and Helen (née Smart) Davidson of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Arthur Douglas Ward Gillibrand. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.4. Son of Douglas Edwin and Kathleen Margaret Gillibrand, of Whitley Bay, Northumberland, England.

Fg Off. James Henry Powner. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.2. Grave inscription: ‘BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART: FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD’. Son of William Henry and Florence Daisy Powner, of Stafford, England.

Fg Off. Charles Douglas Dowse. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.3. Grave Inscription: ‘LOVING SON OF CHARLES AND ANNIE DOWSE, LINCOLN. GOD BE WITH YOU TILL WE MEET AGAIN’. Son of Charles William and Annie Laura Dowse, of Lincoln, England.

Fg Off. Joseph Reginald Dunford. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.8. Grave Inscription: ‘FAR AWAY FROM YOUR LOVED ONES YOU'RE SLEEPING. GOD GRANT YOU ETERNAL REST’. Born on the 18th May 1922 in Burin Bay, Newfoundland. Son of Eli Hallot and Eliza (née Hobin) Dunford of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Plt Off. Donald Nelson Page. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.6. Born on the 16th May 1922 in Elnora, Alberta. Son of Nelson Henry and Martha Anne (née Saunders) Page of Elnora, Alberta, Canada.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J95462 Plt Off. effective 14th November 1944.

Plt Off. Kerry Milton Crayston. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.5. Grave Inscription: ‘HE IS NOT DEAD, HE IS JUST AWAY. FOR EVER IN MY HEART. MOTHER’. Born on the 19th May 1924 in Toronto, Ontario. Son of Talbot Rowan and Georgena Mary (née Quinn) Crayston of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Posthumously appointed to a commission and promoted to J95218 Plt Off. effective 14th November 1944.

Researched by Mike Harrison for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to all the members of this crew. Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered (Sep 2024).

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