Archive Report: Allied Forces

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04.11.1944 No. 195 Squadron Lancaster I HK689 A4-B Fl/Sgt. Walter K. Loughnan

Operation: Solingen

Date: 04th November 1944 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 195 Squadron

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: HK689

Code: A4-B

Base: RAF Witchford, Cambridgeshire

Location: Wermelskirchen, near Solingen, Germany

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Walter Keith Loughnan AUS/429465 RAAF Age 20. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Frank Thomas Harold Rookwood 1809843 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Nav: Sgt. Frank Kenneth Derby 1514432 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Virgil Gilbert Bambrick AUS/426292 RAAF Age 30. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Reginald Frederick Holland 2210768 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. W.M. James 1827311 PoW No: 1196 Camp L7 - Stalag Luft Bankau-Kreuzburg (Klucsbork, Poland)

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frederick Percival John Smith 1899710 RAFVR Age 27. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

176 Lancasters from 3 Group were sent to bomb various steel works at Solingen in the northern Rhine of Germany on a daylight operation. The results reported were poor, with bombing scattered.

Taking off from RAF Witchford in Cambridgeshire at 11.29hrs nothing further was heard from the aircraft which crashed at Wermelskirchen, near Solingen, Germany.

4 aircraft were lost during this operation. A Lancaster III ND917 AA-O - flown by 29 year old F/O. John Harold Scott NZ/428797 RNZAF of Merton, Otago, New Zealand. Killed with all six other crew.

Also lost from 195 Squadron:

Lancaster I HK658 A4-C - flown by 21 year old Fl/Sgt Harry George Newbery 1586987 RAFVR of Shottery, Stratford-on-Avon, England. Killed with all 6 other crew when aircraft exploded over the target area.

Lancaster I NG219 JE-T - flown by P/O. Eric Meudway Morris 185979 RAFVR of Bedford,England. Killed with all 6 other crew when aircraft exploded over the target area.

Bill Chorley advises that the code for this aircraft differs from others from 195 squadron as used on C Flight - A4 code was used for A and B Flights (Had previously been used by 115 Squadron.

Burial details:

Left: Pilot, Fl/Sgt. Walter Keith Loughnan (Australian Archives)

Fl/Sgt. Walter Keith Loughnan. Rheineberg War Cemetery. Grave 5B.20. Son of Walter William and Arlie Colleen Loughnan, of Mitchell, Queensland, Australia. Born 7th March 1924 at Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Enlisted at Brisbane on the 18th June 1942 aged just 18. Prior to this he worked as a Station Overseer.

Sgt. Frank Thomas Harold Rookwood. Rheineberg War Cemetery. Grave 5B.21. Son of Valentine and Daisy Ethel Bambrick, husband of Margaret Irene Bambrick, of Monto, Queensland, Australia

Sgt. Frank Kenneth Derby. Rheineberg War Cemetery. Grave 5B.23. Next of kin details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Fl/Sgt. Virgil Gilbert Bambrick. Rheineberg War Cemetery. Grave 5B.19. Son of Valentine Bambrick and Daisy Ethel (née Pennington), husband of Margaret Irene (née Sheppard) of Queensland, Australia.

Sgt. Reginald Frederick Holland. Rheineberg War Cemetery. Grave 5B.24. Next of kin details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Sgt. Frederick Percival John Smith. Rheineberg War Cemetery. Grave 5B.22. Son of Frederick Thomas Smith and Gertrude Smith, of Wainfelin, Pontypool, Monmouthshire, Wales.

Researched for Robin Connolly - relative of the pilot. Researched for Robin Connolly - relative of the pilot. With thanks to Clare Stirling for additional information on Fl/Sgt. Bambrick - October 2016.For further details our thanks to the following, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vol's. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', ‘Bomber Command Database’, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries (Updated 2014 version), Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Further information from these titles/organisations are available from us, just use the 'help' button on the main page above or 'add info' button also shown on this page.

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