Operation: Prouville, France

Date: 24th/25th June 1944 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit No: 463 Squadron RAAF, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: LM571

Code: JO:E

Base: RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire

Location: Bussus-Bussue, 12 km (7½ mls) east of Abbeville

Pilot: Plt Off. John Francis Martin 16203 RAAF Age 23. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Peter Donald Taylor 1324017 RAFVR Age 24. KiA

Nav: WO. Bernard Edward Kelly 415430 RAAF Age 23. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Thomas Alexander Malcolm 418755 RAAF Age 22. Id No: 78379 *, PoW No. 8929 ** (1)

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. George William Bateman 417327 RAAF Age 32. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. Lionel Gregory Leslie Hunter 424761 RAAF Age 20. KiA

Air Gnr: (Rear): Flt Sgt. Bramwell Rockliff Barber 408433 RAAF Age 20. KiA

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimer, Germany in July 1937.

** Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

Above: Left to right: Plt Off. John F. Martin, Flt Sgt. Thomas A. Malcolm (From their Service Records)

Above Left to right: Flt Sgt. George W. Bateman, Flt Sgt. Lionel G.L. Hunter (From their Service Records), Flt Sgt. Bramwell R. Barber (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 24/25th June 1944 LM571 took off from RAF Waddington at 22:49 hrs to join a force of 739 aircraft on a mission to bomb the seven flying-bomb site in France. 463 Squadron RAAF, was detailed to bomb the site at Prouville.

The force lost 22 Lancasters of which 3 were from 463 squadron.

Lancaster III LM574 JO:J. Shot down by a German night-fighter whose fire caused an explosion throwing Fg Off. A Syddall clear and was the only survivor. (6 KiA, 1 PoW);

Lancaster III LM597 JO:W. Shot down by a German night-fighter. The pilot Wg Cdr. D.R. Donaldson was amongst the most senior officers to evade capture in 1944. (3 PoW, 4 Evd).

LM571 was claimed by Lt. Erich Jung, his 5th Abschuss and 2nd of the night, from 6./NJG2, 1-12 km east of Abbeville at 2.000m at 00:34. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten).

Oblt. Jung survived the war and was credited with 12 confirmed Abschüsse and 15 unconfirmed. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten)

The aircraft crashed at Bussus-Bussuel (Somme), 12 km (7½ mls) east of Abbeville.

(1) Flt Sgt. Malcolm’s recollections of the circumstances of the loss of the aircraft was that they had been picked up by searchlights just after they had released their bombs. The aircraft was hit by Flak bursts and then again by fire from a fighter.

Plt Off. Martin order the crew to stand by to abandon the aircraft and told him to open the front hatch. He opened the hatch and then continued to fight a fire in the nose. As far as he knew all of the crew were still aboard the aircraft and were uninjured. The next thing he remembered was that he was falling in the air. The aircraft was at about 8000 ft at that time.

He described that after he landed he had wandered about France for about a month before being picked up on the 19th July 1944 with Sgt. Jordin and S/Sgt. Pelletier. They were loaded up into a truck with 15 other airmen and taken to 84 Avenue Foch, the Gestapo Headquarters in Paris.

Sgt. Douglas Foster Jordin 2210100 RAFVR was the Rear Gunner from Lancaster III ND424 PH:G;

S/Sgt. Arthur Joseph Pelletier 31031017 USAAF was the Flight Engineer on B-24H 41-29468 'Peg-O-My-Heart’.

They were then transferred to Fresnes prison which was located to the south of Paris and was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 they were amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

His transfer to Stalag Luft 3 was delayed until the 28th November 1944 because he was too sick to travel suffering from malnutrition, scabies and dysentery. He was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) whilst he was at Stalag Luft 3.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

Flt Sgt. Malcolm joined PoWs from the North, East and remaining West compound PoWs and sent to the Marlag und Milag Nord PoW camp at Westertimke in Lower Saxony.

Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager (naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’.

On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen.

However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, WO. Malcolm was amongst the over 3,000 men mustered and marched out, heading east.

The next day, at around at 10:00 hrs the column was strafed by RAF aircraft, and two PoWs were killed. Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The Germans agreed.

On the 9th April 1945 the guards at Marlag und Milag Nord camp moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. Meanwhile, the column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe north of Hamburg, on the 18th April.

On the 27th April the camp was liberated by elements of the British Guards Armoured Division.

The next day, the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945. WO. Malcolm and a number of Allied ex-PoWs started their journey back to England on their own. One by one they dropped out leaving WO. Malcom and two Australian companions, named Hockey and Burcher.

Fg Off. Gordon Brian Hockey 422183 RAAF who was the Pilot of 155 Sqn Lancaster III ND927 KO:B which was shot down on a mission to Braunschweig on the night of the 12th/13th August 1944. He was the sole survivor from the crew;

Flt Lt. Anthony Fisher Burcher DFM 403182 RAAF was the Tail Gunner from 617 Sqn, Lancaster ED925 AJ:M which was hit by Flak approaching the Möhne Dam on Operation ‘Chastise’ on the night of the 16th/17th May 1943. He was one of two survivors.

The three hitch-hiked their way to Ostend where they shipped out on a vessel taking Dutch children to Britain. WO. Malcolm was interviewed in the 5th May 1945.

Thomas Alexander Malcolm was born on the 13th July 1921 in Morwell, Victoria. He was Civil Servant in Victoria prior to enlisting in the RAAF on the 19th June 1942.

Burial details:

Above: Bussus Bussuel Communal Cemetery (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Above: Grave marker for Plt Off. John F. Martin (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Plt Off. John Francis Martin. Bussus-Bussuel Communal Cemetery Row 1. Grave 4. Grave inscription: ‘AFFECTION AND MEMORIES KNOW NO DISTANCE’. Born on the 14th December 1920 in Freemantle, Western Australia. Son of Francis William and Veronica Rechinda Martin; husband of Doreen Madge Martin, of Subiaco, Western Australia.

Above: Grave marker for Sgt. Peter D. Taylor (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Sgt. Peter Donald Taylor. Bussus-Bussuel Communal Cemetery Row 1. Grave 2. Grave inscription: ‘"I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE; AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH" ST. JOHN X.28’. Son of John Ernest and Elizabeth Taylor, of Slough, Buckinghamshire, England.

WO. Bernard Edward Kelly. Bussus-Bussuel Communal Cemetery Row 1. Coll. Grave 1. Grave inscription: ‘HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE’. Born on the 2nd March 1921 in Perth, Western Australia. Son of Edward Joseph and Bridget Kelly, of Perth, Western Australia.

Above: Grave marker for Flt Sgt. George W. Bateman (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Flt Sgt. George William Bateman. Bussus-Bussuel Communal Cemetery Row 1. Grave 3. Grave inscription: ‘HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR THOSE HE LOVED’. Born on the 28th April 1912 in Unley, South Australia. Son of Sidney Davies Bateman and Florence Christina Ethel Bateman; husband of Marjorie Jean Bateman, of Magill, South Australia.

Above: Collective Grave marker for Flt Sgt. Lionel G.L. Hunter and WO. Bernard E. Kelly (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Flt Sgt. Lionel Gregory Leslie Hunter. Bussus-Bussuel Communal Cemetery Row 1. Coll. Grave 1. Grave inscription: ‘"IN GRAND COMPANY"’. Born on the 23rd August 1923 in Canowindra, New South Wales. Son of Arthur and Agnes Grace Hunter, of Balgowlah, New South Wales, Australia.

Above: Grave marker for Flt Sgt. Bramwell R. Barber (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Flt Sgt. Bramwell Rockliff Barber. Bussus-Bussuel Communal Cemetery Row 1. Coll. Grave 1. Grave inscription: ‘HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE. EVER REMEMBERED’. Born on the 28th February 1924 in Ulverstone, Tasmania. Son of Fletcher Bramwell Barber and Florence Myrtle Barber, of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their families (Jul 2024). Thanks to The War Graves Photographic Project (TWGPP) for their great work.

Other sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2025 Last Modified: 18 August 2024, 20:57