Operation: Stuttgart

Date: 28/29th January 1945 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit: No. 428 Squadron (RCAS) (motto: sque ad finem - 'To the very end') 6 Group

Type: Lancaster X

Serial: KB770

Code: NA-D

Base: RAF Middleton St. George, County Durham

Location: Waldenbuch, Germany

Pilot: Sq/Ldr. Harold Leslie Kay C/8881 RCAF Age 32. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Reginald William Gullick 1895420 RAFVR Age 31. Killed

Nav: F/O. Robert Laird Stapleford J/38170 RCAF Age 32. Survived, injure - PoW Dulag Luft West

Air/Bmr: F/O. Gerald Jospeh Liney J/40040 rcaf Age 28. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O. John Wilfred Blades J/35935 RCAF Age 36. Killed

Air/Gnr: P/O. Fernand Leo Jolicouer J/95345 RCAF Age 19. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Edward Frederick Ossington R/273430 RCAF Age 33. Survived, injured PoW Dulag Luft West

REASON FOR LOSS:

602 aircraft - 316 Halifaxes, 258 Lancasters, 28 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to 2 targets in the Stuttgart area. 11 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes, 1 Mosquito - lost. This raid was split into 2 parts, with a 3-hour interval.

The first force - 226 aircraft - was directed against the important railway yards at Kornwestheim, a town to the north of Stuttgart, and the second was against the north-western Stuttgart suburb of Zuffenhausen, where the target is believed to have been the Hirth aero-engine factory. The target area was mostly cloud-covered for both raids and the bombing, on skymarkers, was scattered. Bombs fell in many parts of Stuttgart's northern and western suburbs.

The important Bosch works, in the suburb of Feuerbach, was hit. A large number of bombs fell outside Stuttgart, particularly in the east around a decoy fire site which was also firing dummy target-indicator rockets into the air. The village of Weilimdorf, situated not far away, complained bitterly about its damage and casualties! This was the last large RAF raid on Stuttgart. Stuttgart's experience was not as severe as other German cities. Its location, spread out in a series of deep valleys, had consistently frustrated the Pathfinders and the shelters dug into the sides of the

KB770 took off at 16:28 hrs with 13 others from the squadron. Nothing further was heard from the crew and were listed as missing.

6 Allied aircraft were lost on this operation, all from the second attack. No flak batteries claimed any aircraft. All six were claimed by night fighters.

AboveL Lancaster X KB770 crew L-R Rear: P/O. John Blades, Sgt. Reginald Gullick, P/O. Fernand Jolicouer and Fl/Sgt. Edward Frederick Ossington. Front: Sq/Ldr. Harold Kay, F/O. Robert Stapleford and F/O. Gerald Liney.

The closest to the area of KB770 crash site we have found was that of Ofw. Heinrich Schmidt of 2./NJG2 who claimed a Lancaster WSW Stuttgart at 23:36 hrs. Records for these late months of the war are not well documented, so we remain open for further evidence.

A memorial plaque was placed close to the crash site. The local German people of the Waldenbuch community organised and placed this in 2022. They kindly sent us a copy of the plaque which was taken by Herr Wolfgang Härtel and provided us permission for its use and provided us with the translation:

Plane crash near Waldenbuch

The last double attack by the Royal Air Force on the greater Stuttgart area took place on January 28, 1945 - shortly before the end of the Second World War.Not far from this location, a Lancaster bomber shot down by German flak crashed in the Lindhalde area. Five of the seven crew members were killed:``
Harry Leslie Kay, Canadian, 32 years old
Gerald Joseph Liney, Canadian, age unknown
John Wilfred “Wilf” Blades, Canadian, 35 years old
Fernand Leo Jolicoeur, Canadian, 19 years old
Reginald William Gullick, British, 31 years old

The remains were initially buried in a common grave in the old cemetery in Waldenbuch. In 1948, the bodies were exhumed and laid to rest in the Durnbach War Cemetery near Bad Tölz/ Germany. (see links below)

Burial details:

Sq/Ldr. Harold Leslie Kay. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective grave 1. K. 19-21.Son of Dr. Amos Frank Kay, M.D (died 08th May 1952, age 72), and Carolyn Kay (née Dougan - died 11th October 1973, age 91); husband of Ruth Norma Kay, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Epitaph: 'Labour And Sorrows Cease, Life's Long Warfare Closed, Thy Soul Is Found In Peace'.

Sgt. Reginald William Gullick. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective grave 1. K. 19-21. Son of William Gullick, and of Ellen Gullick, of Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales.

F/O. Gerald Jospeh Liney. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective grave 1. K. 19-21. Born on the 23rd March 1917 in Toronto. Enlisted on the 13th April 1942. Son of John (died 23rd June 1935, age 45) and Isabels Liney (née Dillon - died 15th April 1955, age 65) of 42 Monarch Park Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. Brother of John, Jim, Louis, Desmond and sister Ethnic.

P/O. John Wilfred Blades. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective grave 1. K. 19-21. Born on the 28th November 1909. Enlisted 12th August 1942. Son of William and Ethel Blades (née Jackson), of Milton, Ontario, Canada. Husband of Christina Blades, of Fort William, Ontario, Canada.

P/O. Fernand Leo Jolicouer. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective grave 1. K. 19-21. Born on the 10th December, 1925 in Eastview, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Son of Arthur and Eugenie Jolicoeur, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Epitaph: 'Il Voulait Servir Sa Patrie Ceci Est Preuve Qu'il L'a Fait (translation; 'He Wanted to Serve His Country This Is Proof He Did It')

Survivors:

F/O. Robert Laird Stapleford - Born on the 16th June 1913 in Canada. Passed away in 1990, age 77. Son of MAJ Richard Homer Staplefor (died 1963, age 74) and Lily May Stapleford (née Williamson - died 27th January 1980, age 89).

Fl/Sgt. Edward Frederick Ossington - Born on the 13th November 1917 in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, Wales. Passed away on the 29th March 1978, age 61 in Windsor, Essex, Ontario, Canada. Husband of Mary Belinda Ossington (née Morgan - died 2015, age 93).

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the , National Kew AIR-27-1850-25/26, Paradie RCAF Archives, Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Government of Canada WW2 Service records. The Waldenbuch Community. Theo Boiten Luftwaffe Combat Archives.

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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