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Operation: Ramrod 17
Date: 26th March 1942 (Thursday)
Unit: No. 485 Squadron (11 Group)
Type: Spitfire Vb
Serial: W3577
Code: OU-P
Base: RAF Kenley, Surrey
Location: (probably) English Channel off Le Havre, France
Pilot: Fl/Sgt. William Max Krebs NZ/402194 RNZAF Age 24. Missing - believed killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
We continue to record aircrew lost from this small nation of New Zealand - who gave so much in the hours that we needed them.
Taking off at 15:10 hrs with 12 others from the squadron escorting 24 Boston bombers on an operation to bomb Le Havre in France. Engaged with enemy fighters and during such was observed as missing. On the same operation, 29 year old, F/O. Brian Joseph Halse AUS/402236 flying Spitfire AB495 of 457 Squadron was also classed as missing - believed killed.
Burial details:
Fl/Sgt. William Max Krebs. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 117. Son of William Ernest and Ruby Krebs, of Gisborne, Auckland, New Zealand.
Others mentioned within this report:
F/O. Brian Joseph Halse. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 110. Born on the 10th March 1913 at Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Neville and Margaret Ann Halse, of Bondi, New South Wales, Australia.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:
KTY 08.10.2018
History Airborne Forces • Soviet Night Witches • Bomber Command Memories • Abbreviations • Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained • USA Flygirls • Axis Awards Descriptions • 'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination • Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis • SOE Heroine Nancy Wake • Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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