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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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99 squadron crest
18/19.09.1940 No. 99 Squadron Wellington IC P9242 LN-B P/O. Linden

Operation: N.W. Germany

Date: 18/19th September 1940 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: No. 99 Squadron

Type: Wellington IC

Serial: P9242

Code: LN-B

Base: RAF Newmarket, Suffolk

Location: Stahlwerkplatz, Osnabrück, Germany.

Pilot: P/O. Michael Cunningham Andrews Linden 42134 RAF Age 20. Killed

Pilot 2: Sgt. Maurice Ernest Langton Wood 754548 RAFVR Age 23. Killed

Obs: Sgt. Harold Edgar Smart 747711 RAFVR Age 26. Killed (1)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Thomas Watson 965301 RAFVR Age ? Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Douglas Thomas Heard 647632 RAF Age 20. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Victor Beverley 651939 RAF Age 22. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

The purpose of this raid was to bomb various targets in the channel ports although some were diverted to bomb German railway targets.

Wellington P9242 was also thought to have been shot down by the heavy flak, crashing at 22:55 hrs at Stahlwerkplatz, Osnabrück, Germany.

174 aircraft were sent and a costly night for Bomber Command with the loss of 9 aircraft and all the crews being killed / missing:
58 Squadron Whitley V P5008 GE-M Shot down by German night fighter - Sgt Albert A. E. Crossland and 4 other crew members killed.
77 Squadron Whitley V N1425 KN-E Shot down by German night fighter - P/O. Peter E. Eldridge and 4 other crew members killed.
77 Squadron Whitley V P4992 KN-T Crashed into the sea off Belgian coast - P/O. Ronald P.Brayne and 4 other crew members killed.
83 Squadron Hampden I P1183 OL-E Shot down by Flak - P/O. James A. Pitcairn Hill DSO. DFC. and 3 other crew members killed.
105 Squadron Blenheim IV L9339 GB-? Lost without trace - P/O. Sgt. Cyril Bowles and 2 other crew members killed.
106 Squadron Hampden I P1259 ZN-? Shot down by Flak - F/O. Eric T. Watkin and 3 other crew members killed.
107 Squadron Blenheim IV T1852 OM-? Lost without trace - F/O. Cyril Preston and 2 other crew members killed.
149 Squadron Wellington IC R3160 OJ-E Lost over channel - P/O. John S. Pay and 2 other crew members killed.

(1) Sgt. Harold Edgar Smart was a former pupil of Moseley Grammar school (Now secondary/grammar school). We are working very closely with the school's historians to remember all the ex pupils who died whilst serving with the RAF and recorded on the school memorial.

Burial details:

P/O. Michael Cunningham Andrews Linden. Rheinberg War Cemetery Coll Grave 9. B. 20-23. Son Of Garnet Harold and Evelyn Mowbray Linden, Of Ealing, Middlesex, England.

Sgt. Maurice Ernest Langton Wood. Rheinberg War Cemetery Grave 9. B. 19. Son of Ernest Richard and Dorothy Mabel Wood, of Sheffield, England.

Sgt. Harold Edgar Smart. Rheinberg War Cemetery Coll Grave 9. B. 20-23. Son of Edgar Standish Smart and Gertrude Avis Smart, of Shirley, Warwickshire, England.

Sgt. Thomas Watson. Rheinberg War Cemetery Coll Grave 9. B. 20-23. Peter Garwood submitted this information in May 2018: "His mother was Agnes Watson (née Barrett) born 1st April 1880. She married Thomas Henry Watson in 1908. In 1938 she lived at 127 Heald Grove, Rushome, Lancashire and was a widowed Charwoman. With her were her two daughters: Kathleen M. O’Malley (née Watson), born, 01st July 1911, working as a Service Gas mask tube maker and married. The other daughter was Shiela Watson, born 07 October 1912, a typist and single woman. At the time of Sergeant Watson’s death he was engaged to a lady called Mary".

Sgt. Douglas Thomas Heard. Rheinberg War Cemetery Coll Grave 9. B. 20-23. Son of Edward and Louisa Heard, of Ewell, Surrey, England.

Sgt. Victor Beverley. Rheinberg War Cemetery Coll Grave 9. B. 20-23. Foster son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Beverley, of Sheffield, England.

Researched for relatives of the crew. With thanks to the following: Keith Townsend historian of Moseley Secondary/Grammar school memorial records, also our thanks to Peter Garwood for details on Sgt. Watson - May 2018.

Pages of Outstanding Interest
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Acknowledgements
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 MWO 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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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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