Operation: Stuttgart, Germany

Date: 28th/29th July 1944 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit No: 550 Squadron, 1 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster III

Serial No: NE164

Code: BQ:O

Base: RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire, England

Location: Mont Sainte-Odile some 3¼ km (2 mls) SW from Ottrott, France

Pilot: Fg Off. Harry Jones 176650 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. James Roy Drury 1817357 RAFVR Age 24. PoW No. 513 * (1)

Nav: Fg Off. William Dinney J22061 RCAF Age 23. Evaded (2)

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Frederic Harold Habgood 1602535 RAFVR Age 21. Murdered (3)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Donald Hunter 1479639 RAFVR Age 22. PoW No. 518 * (4)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Idwal Williams 1652120 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Roy Barton Cumberlidge 633728 RAF Age 23. PoW No. 509 * (5)

* Stalag Luft 7, Bankau near Kreuzberg, Silesia, Germany. (Now Bąków, Opole Voivodeship, Poland).

Above Sgt. Frederic Harold Habgood (Source File: WO 235/172a)

REASON FOR LOSS:

NE164 took off from RAF North Killingholme at 21:36 hrs on the 28th July 1944 on a mission to bomb the Bosch factory in Stuttgart, Germany. The route to the target took them over Rouen, Orleans, St. Dizier, Strasbourg and Karlsruhe. It was over Strasbourg at about 01:32 hrs that NE164 came under attack from a German night fighter. The aircraft was reported to have caught fire and at about 01:50 hrs crashed in the Alsatian forest near to Mont Sainte-Odile some 3¼ km (2 mls) SW of Ottrott in France.

The aircraft was claimed by Oberleutnant (1st Lt) Gottfried Hanneck, his 6th Abschuss of Stab 6./NJG 1 (Echelon 6/Nachtgeschwader 1 (Night Fighter Wing No.1)), flying a Bf-110G at Ottrott, near Strasbourg at 4.800 m at 01:37 hrs. Note: Claim listed in OKL/RLM confirmed Abschussübersicht. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten).

NE164 was one of two Lancasters lost by 550 Sqn and one of 53 losses, with 17 of the losses over France, sustained by Bomber Command on this day from flak and night fighter action.

Six of the crew managed to bale out of the aircraft. However, Sgt. Williams tragically lost his life during his parachute jump in unusual circumstances. Fg Off. Jones perished in the aircraft crash. Sgts. Drury, Hunter and Cumberlidge were captured and spent the remainder of the war as PoWs.

(1) Sgt. Drury was captured that day. After the statutory interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7, Bankau near Kreuzberg, Silesia, Germany arriving there on the 11th August.

On the 19th January 1945, he was amongst the 1,500 prisoners who were marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3Alocated about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Sgt. Drury was interviewed on the 15th May 1945.

James Roy Drury was born on the 21st November 1920 in Bullwell, Nottinghamshire. He was a Police Constable/Fireman in Nottinghamshire prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 22nd November 1942. James died on the 29th October 1981 in Nottingham, England.

(2) Fg Off. Dinney had been the acting Sqn Navigation Leader for a number of weeks.

His IS9 (Intelligence School 9) report (Provided by Keith Janes of the WWII escape and evasion information Exchange) reported that he had baled out of the aircraft when ordered to do so and landed near Barr, some 12 km (7½ mls) SSE of the crash site, at about 01:30 hrs. He believed that all of the crew had bailed out of the aircraft but he did not see any of them after he had landed.

He decided to head for Spain and on the 4th August crossed the German-French frontier. That evening he meet with a French farmer who handed him over to the French Résistance. For security purposes he was moved in rotation between two locations until the 7th November. On this day he was moved to Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and remained there until the 19th November. By this time the occupying German forces had evacuated the town. That evening two of his helpers took him to a forest to the west of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges where they contacted a US Army patrol. He was taken to Epinal and from there flown to Paris. He was returned to England where he was interviewed on the 23rd November.

(3) The fate of Sgt. Habgood was unknown until a British Military Court was convened in the main building of the Zoological Garden at Wuppertal on the 4th and 5th June 1946. Six German nationals were charged with committing a War Crime in that they at the Natzweiler/Struthof concentration camp, France on or about the 30th July 1944, in violation of the laws and usages of war were concerned in the killing of No. 1602535 Serjeant (Sgt) J.F. Habgood, RAFVR, a British PoW.

All six of the charged were based at the Natzweiler/Struthof concentration camp. They were:

Josef Muth was a former Lagerwachtmeister (Camp Guard);

Paul Kurt Giegling, was a former Lagerwachtmeister (Camp Guard);

Peter Straub who was a former SS-Hauptscharführer (M/Sgt) and the NCO in charge of the crematorium;

Franz Berg who was a former inmate of the camp and a stoker at the crematorium;

Fritz Hartjenstein who was a former SS-Sturmbannführer (Schutzstaffel=Protection squad-Major), a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (Death Head Unit) and the commandant of the concentration camp;

The sixth individual on the charge sheet was Magnus Wochner, who was a former Gestapo Kriminalsekretär (Equivalent to an SS-Sturmscharführer which notionally equates to the rank of RSM) and the head of the Politische Abteilung (Political Dept.) in the camp administration. The prosecution offered no evidence against Wochner and he was found not guilty of the charge

The court heard that Sgt. Habgood hid in vicinity of where he landed but early on the 30th July he was discovered by a woman in a wood near Lutzelhouse. She tried to keep him at her house until she could summon help to take him to the local Gestapo headquarters located in the Chateau Schiedeck in Lutzelhouse. However, Sgt Habgood realized what was afoot and managed to escape. Unfortunately the Gestapo had been warned and he was discovered that evening hiding in a barn and taken to Gestapo headquarters.

After being there for a few hours, on the evening of the 31st July 1944, Giegling and Straub came from the Natzweiler camp in small French delivery van and collected Sgt. Habgood, who was handed over to them by Muth.

Muth was responsible for checking in and out all prisoners from Schirmeck. Muth knew that Straub was the hangman at the Natzweiler camp and by his own admission knew what Sgt. Habgood’s fate was going to be.

When Giegling and Straub arrived at the Natzweiler camp Sgt. Habgood was removed to the crematorium and was hanged there in a particularly brutal fashion in the presence of Giegling, Straub and Berg.

No grave has been found for Sgt. Habgood so it was assumed that his body was cremated and his ashes scattered on the field behind the crematorium where the ashes of other inmates were deposited.

A claim by the accused that the airman was already dead or that he was fatally injured when he arrived at Natzweiler was rejected by the court and all five were found guilty of the charge.

Muth was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. The final disposition of his sentence is not known;

Giegling was sentenced to death but his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on the 16th September 1948, which was then commuted to 21 years on the 22nd February 1950. He was given full remission of a third of the sentence and was discharged from Werl prison on the 7th May 1959;

Straub and Berg were sentenced to death by hanging. They were hanged at Hameln jail on the 11th October 1946 by Albert Pierrepoint, assisted by RSM Richard A. O'Neill and Alexander Hurry;

Hartjenstein was sentenced to death by firing squad but this was commuted to life imprisonment on the 16th September 1948. This was then commuted to 10 years imprisonment on the 26th July 1949. He was extradited to France and was tried at Metz for other crimes at the Natzweiler/Struthof concentration camp and sentenced to death. He died of a heart attack on the 20th October 1954 whilst awaiting execution.

On the 21st August 2018 a second-year sports student by the name of Anna Bernard was working on a summer job at the European Centre for the Deported Resistance Fighters (CERD) situated on the site of the former Natzweiler/Struthof concentration camp. Whilst watering some flowers, she discovered a silver bracelet, showing on one side the RAF wings, Habgood's name and service number, and on the reverse side, the name “Jean” who was Habgood's cousin.

In October 2018, Paul Habgood, the son of Frederic's brother Ronald, and his sister Marilyn, visited Struthof and were presented with the bracelet. They had known that their uncle had possessed such a bracelet which was given to him by relatives as a graduation gift after he had completed his RAF training in Canada.

The discovered bracelet showed signs of being partially molten. Almost certainly it had accompanied Habgood's body into the furnace and was then deposited with his ashes that had been scattered in the field.

(4) Sgt. Donald Hunter was captured on the 30th July. After the statutory interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7, Bankau near Kreuzberg, Silesia, Germany arriving there on the 8th August.

On the 19th January 1945, he was amongst the 1,500 prisoners who were marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3Alocated about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Sgt Hunter was interviewed on the 7th May 1945.

Donald Hunter was born on the 9th June 1922. He was a Civil Servant in Blackpool, Lancashire prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 8th June 1941. No further information found.

(5) Sgt. Cumberlidge was captured that day. After the statutory interrogation at Dulag Luft, Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7, Bankau near Kreuzberg, Silesia, Germany arriving there on the 8th August.

On the 19th January 1945, he was amongst the 1,500 prisoners who were marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3Alocated about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Sgt. Cumberlidge was interviewed on the 15th May 1945.

Roy Barton Cumberlidge was born on the 17th September 1920 in South Shields, Country Durham. He enlisted in the RAF on the 7th February 1939. No further information found.

Burial Details

Above Fg Off. Jones, (Credit: Michel Schreiber FindAGrave)

Fg Off. Harry Jones. Ottrott Communal Cemetery. Grave inscription: "AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER HIM". Born in 3rd Quarter 1922. Son of William and Mary Jane (née Thomas) Jones of Risca, Monmouthshire, Wales.

Above: Sgt. Habgood, (Credit: Andrea Ruddick)

Sgt. Frederic Harold Habgood. Runnymede Memorial Panel 230. Born in 4th Quarter of 1922. Son of Harold Herbert and Gwynne Elizabeth (née Wilton) Habgood of Wandsworth, London.

Above: Sgt. Williams, (Credit: Michel Schreiber FindAGrave)

Sgt. Idwal Williams. Ottrott Communal Cemetery. Grave inscription: “IN PROUD AND LOVING MEMORY OF OUR DEARLY BELOVED SON AND BROTHER”. Born on the 13th May 1923. Son of Henry Morgan Williams and Alice (née Hamer) Williams of Blaina, Monmouthshire, Wales.

Researched by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with additional thanks to Traugott for his work on the ‘VitzArchive’ . (Apr 2019). Reviewed and updated with PoW information (Jul 2025).

Other sources listed below:

Reference:

“Sgt Frederic H. Habgood, RAF, and the four SOE Women“ from Chapter 6 of "Hangmen at War" by Richard Clark and Traugott Vitz.

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