Operation: Luxembourg (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)

Date: 10th May 1940 (Friday)

Unit No: 103 Squadron, 1 Group, Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF)

Type: Battle Mk I

Serial: K9270

Code: PM:O

Base: RAF Bétheniville, France

Location: Near Hotton, 9 km (5½ mls) NE of Marche-en-Famenne in Belgium

Pilot: Sgt. Charles Henry Lowne 580167 RAF Age 26. PoW No. 222 * (1)

Navigator: Sgt. Christopher John Stafford Poole 580416 RAF Age 20. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: LAC. Olaf Arthur Hutchinson 524532 RAF Age 23. KiA

* Stalag 357 Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 13:05 hrs to attack enemy columns near Luxembourg.

After the engine was hit by small arms ground fire, which also hit the coolant tank, the aircraft crashed in flames near Hotton, 9 km (5½ mls) NE of Marche-en-Famenne in Belgium killing two (2) of the crew.

K9264 PM:L - Flt Lt. Maurice C. Wells and his crew became PoWs;
K9372 PM:K - Plt Off. Kenneth J. Drabble and his crew were KiA.

(1) Sgt. Lowne suffered burns in abandoning the aircraft and was immediately captured.

After the statutory visit, interrogation and treatment for his burns at Dulag Luft, Oberursel/ Hohemark he was transferred to Stalag Luft 1, Barth-Vogelsang in September.

Stalag Luft 1 was first permanent prisoner of war camp for members of the Royal Air Force was established in Barth. The first group of officers and non-commissioned officers of the RAF arrived at the camp on the 7th July 1940.

In September 1941 he was transferred to Stalag 8B, (renamed Stalag 344 in 1943) Lamsdorf in Silesia. In May 1942 he was transferred to the newly opened Stalag Luft 3, Sagan in Lower Silesia where he remained until June 1943.

During June 1943 he was transferred to Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug in Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania).

In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was being made. PoWs from Stalag Luft 6, the camp closest to the Russian advance, were in the "northern route" of the force-marches, and were transported to Stalag 20A by train in July 1944, and from there took part in the forced-march.

He was amongst the estimated that 100,000 PoWs took the northern route. It went to Stalag Luft 4 at Groß-Tychow, Pomerania then via Stettin to Stalag 9B and Stalag 357, Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland.

In early April 1945 the PoWs were informed by the Commandant Oberst Hermann Ostmann that 12,000 British PoWs were being evacuated from the camp in the face of the Allied advance. The men marched from the camp in columns of 2,000.

It is not known if the then Warrant Officer (WO) Lowne was amongst the PoWs were on the forced march or he remained at the camp.

After 10 days they columns arrived at Gresse, east of the Elbe. There they were issued with Red Cross parcels, but were then unfortunately strafed by British Typhoonfighter-bombers, mistaking them for German troops. Sixty (60) PoWs were killed and many wounded.

Sgt. ‘Dixie’ Deans confronted OberstOstmann and bluntly gave him a choice, to be captured to the Russians or the British. Ostman provided Sgt. Deans with a pass and a German guard, and he headed west to contact the advancing British troops. On the 1st May Sgt. Deans and his guard were sheltering in a house east of Lauenbergwhen they heard over the radio the news of the death of Adolf Hitler. The next morning the house was overrun by troops of the British 6th Airborne. Sgt. Deans was taken to the commander of VIII Corpsand explained the situation. He was given a captured Mercedes car and drove back to Gresse. Two days later the PoW column marched back across the British lines.

Meanwhile Stalag 357, was liberated on the 16th April 1945 by British troops from B Squadron 11th Hussars and the Reconnaissance Troop of the 8th Hussars. They were met at the main gate of Stalag 357 by a guard of Airborne troops, impeccably attired and led by RSM Lord.

Warrant Officer (WO) Lowne was interviewed on the 9th May 1945.

Charles Henry Lowne was born on the 23rd October 1913 in St. Pancras, London. He joined the RAF on the 9th March 1936. Charles passed away in June 1985 in Lambeth, Greater London.

Burial details:

The two members of the crew that perished were initially buried at the crash site and then were reinterred at the Mont St. Jean German Cemetery. They were finally laid to rest at the Hotton War Cemetery on the 19th June 1947.

Above the Hotton War Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Sgt. Christopher John Stafford Poole. Hotton War Cemetery III.E.10. Grave Inscription: “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS”. Born during January 1920 in Peterborough, Northampton. Son of Stafford George and Lilias Helen Poole, of Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England.

Sgt. Olaf Arthur Hutchinson. Hotton War Cemetery III.E.11. Grave Inscription: “AT REST”. Born on the 7th August 1916 in Gateshead, Durham. Son of William Arthur and Elisabeth Hutchinson, of Gateshead, Co. Durham, England.

Research by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to this crew and their families. (Feb 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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