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Operation: Wuppertal
Date: 24/25th June 1943 (Thursday/Friday)
Unit: No. 419 RCAF Squadron (Moose) (motto: Moosa aswayita - 'Beware the moose'). 6 Group
Type: Halifax II
Serial: JD147
Code: VR-C
Base: RAF Middleton St.George, County Durham
Location: Roermond, Netherlands
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Burton Norris Jost DFC. J/7433 RCAF Age 31. Killed (1)
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Julius Bjorn Johnson R/71026 RCAF Age 27. Killed (2)
Nav: Sgt. Ernest Bailey Pope 1069568 RAF Prisoner of War (PoW) No: 346 Camp: Stalag Kopernikus
Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Ashley William Alfred Bruce NZ/412786 RNZAF PoW No: 647 Camp: Stalag Luft Heydekrug
W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/O. Robert Oscar Evans Goodwin J/15706 RCAF Age 24. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Lesley Barker 1379386 RAF Pow No: 11027 Camp: Stalag Luft Heydekrug
Air/Gnr: F/O. Robert Edward Austin 545864 RAF PoW No: Camp: Stalag Kopernikus
REASON FOR LOSS:
After taking off from its base at 20:40 hours, Halifax JD147 was intercepted en route to the target over the Netherlands by a night fighter flown by Obw. Reinhard Kollak of 7/NJG-4. Kollak’s first attack missed its mark and he narrowly avoided being hit by return fire from the tail gunner Austin.
Bringing his Me110 back around behind and further below the Halifax he made sure of his aim. Canon shells ripped into the starboard wing and outer engine starting a fire which soon spread to the fuselage despite all efforts by Fl/Lt. Jost and his crew to extinguish the blaze.
Left to right, top row: Fl/Lt. Jost DFC (courtesy Gordon Drysdale), Sgt. Johnson (courtesy Johann Johnson), Sgt. Pope (courtesy Betty Pope) - Left to right, lower row: Fl/Sgt. Bruce (courtesy Mavis Bruce), Fl/Sgt. Barker (courtesy Margery Barker), F/O. Austin (courtesy Robert Austin) All photo's graciously supplied via Roerstreek Museum, Netherlands
Seeing that their aircraft was doomed, the crew jettisoned the bomb load and prepared to bale out. Fl/Lt. Jost and the Flight Engineer Sgt. Julius Johnson wrestled with the controls trying to maintain height and a level flight path for the others to jump. Witnesses on the ground saw flares being fired from the crippled Halifax as Jost tried desperately to find open ground in an apparent attempt to make a crash landing.Above: Sgt. Julius Bjorn Johnson(Courtesy Barney Stevens)
Large pieces of the aircraft and incendiary bombs were scattered over a wide area causing several fires to be started. Finally, the cockpit and a large section of the fuselage crashed onto the Hammer Feld between the village of Herten and Roermond.
After the local firemen had arrived and extinguished the blazing wreckage, the bodies of Jost and Johnson were found in the remains of the cockpit. The body of F/O. Goodwin was not found by the German military until fourteen days later having succumbed to the injuries he sustained after his parachute failed to open.
Sq/Ldr. Jost (promoted posthumously) was a natural leader and pilot who, only one year after gaining his wings, had completed his first tour of 31 operations against the enemy. In the London Gazette Supplement published on November 6, 1942, it was announced that he had been awarded a DFC.
After leaving school Jost graduated in engineering from Dalhousie University and afterward, when his family moved to Dover, Delaware, he attended Penn State University. On his return to Canada, he went to work in the gold mines of northern Ontario. When war broke out he tried to enlist in the RCAF as a pilot but was rejected several times due to his age. His persistence, however, paid off in the end as he graduated and gained his commission as a pilot officer from No.6 SFTS, Dunnville, Ontario, on September 14, 1941.
Not far from where the burning cockpit came to rest with Jost’s body still at the controls is a quiet street named Burton Jostweg in his honour.
Johnson like Jost worked in the mines prior to enlisting in the RCAF in 1940 and was sent to England to train as a flight engineer in 1942. He had completed twenty sorties against the enemy before he was killed.
F/O. Goodwin the radio operator was married shortly before he was posted to England in June of 1941. He was not reinterred after hostilities ended at the request of his wife and still lies in a quiet cemetery at Roermond.
Ashley Bruce, who bailed out, hid in a cornfield until the next day. After walking a short distance he was spotted by a farmer who gave him a change of clothes and some food. That night the farmer contacted the underground who helped him to cross into Belgium and then into France. However, upon reaching Bordeaux, he, along with twelve others, was captured and interrogated by the Gestapo before spending the rest of the war in a PoW camp. While at the camp, Bruce contracted a virus which tragically led to him becoming blind two years after his release. Born on the 30th January 1921 in Rowsham, Aylesbury, England. He died in New Zealand at the age of 50 on the 12th June 1971.
Fl/Sgt. Les Barker broke his back upon landing and was captured soon after. Due to the seriousness of his injuries, he spent the next five months in the hospital at Roermond before being transported to Germany. After his release, he underwent several more operations for his injuries and was able to return to the hospital in Roermond in 1952 to thank the doctors and nurses who had taken care of him. Barker though, continued to be in poor health as a result of his ordeal and never fully recovered. He died in 1964.
Ernie Pope, who was studying to be an accountant before the war, was captured the next day after he bailed out and sent to a PoW camp. While at the camp he had his wife send him his accounting textbooks so that he could continue his studies. Shortly after his release and return to England in 1945 he got a job as an accountant with the Shell Oil Company in London. Ernest Pope died of a heart attack in 1978.
Robert Austin, born on the 30th September 1918, after his release and return to England, continued to serve in the RAF until 1957 after which he emigrated to New Zealand and transferred to the RNZAF. Husband of Margaret Fisher Austin who passed away on the 15th January 2015, age 94. Robert away on the 23rd September 1986, age 67.
Reinhard Kollak was the highest-scoring non-commissioned nachtjagd pilot who, together with his Bordfunker Hans Herman, was credited with 49 victories. After the war, Reinhard found it difficult to adjust to civilian life working at a number of administrative jobs for several years before he rejoined the newly founded Bundeswehr and his beloved Luftwaffe in 1956. On 6 February 1980, he died at age 65 and was given full military honours with his Ritterkreuz adorning his pillow.
Hans Herman joined the Luftwaffe in 1938 at the age of 19 and served as Kollak’s Bordfunker until war's end. Upon his release after the German surrender, he got a job in September of 1945 with the German Federal Railroad, a position he held until his retirement.
(2) Johnson River in Manitoba is named after Sgt. Johnson
Burial details:
Sq/Ldr. (posth) Burton Norris Jost. Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Netherlands, Grave 8 G 6. Born on the 02nd August 1911 in Guysborough,Nova Scotia, Son of Dr. Arthur Cranswick (died 24th March 1958, age 83). and Carrie Victoria Louise Jost, (née Martin - died 23rd March 1923, age 43) .Sc. (University Penn State, Pennsylvania, USA)
Sgt. Julius Bjorn Johnson. Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Netherlands, Grave 8 G 7. Born on the 04th January 1916 in Gimli, Manitoba, Canada Son of Jon B. (died 06th August 1975, age 89) and Josephine Johnson (died 04th June 1981, age 90), of Gimli, Manitoba, Canada. Epitaph: 'Dearly Remembered'.
F/O. Robert Oscar Evans Goodwin. Roermond (Kapel in ‘t Zand) Roman Catholic Cemetery, Netherlands, Plot 23 Grave 1. Born on the 25th January 1919 in Ontario, Canada. Son of William Evans Goodwin and of Lulu Goodwin (nee Young - Married Tuesday, 10th December, 1912 in Peterborough, Ontario) of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, husband of Vera May Goodwin Epitaph: 'Greater Love Hath No Man Than This, That He Lay Down His Life For Those Oppressed'.
Aircrew Remembered would like to thank Mr. Theo Van der Steen, The Roerstreek Historical Society and The Air Force Museum of New Zealand for generously providing information for this article. Plus others who have preferred not to nr named.
We would also like to thank Mr Barney Stevens for sending us the comprehensive report on this loss. Barney is the nephew of the flight engineer, Sgt. Julius Johnson. His 90-page report may be available from us via Barney if you contact us. (permission will have to first be obtained)
CHB 07.05.2011
CHB 08.10.2019 Links to place names added.
KTY 11.05.2024 Narrative added
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Last Modified: 25 May 2024, 14:37