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Operation: Bochum
Date: 13/14th May 1943 (Thursday/Friday)
Unit: No. 149 Squadron
Type: Stirling III
Serial: BF479
Code: OJ-E
Base: RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk.
Location: Kasterlee, Belgium
Pilot: F/O. Leslie Cyril Martin 124513 RAFVR Age? Killed
Pilot 2: Fl/Sgt. Robert Chrysler Ferguson R/115045 RCAF Age 26. Killed
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Jack Eric Butt 961492 RAFVR Age 29. Killed
Nav: Sgt. Norman Harry Frank 1387239 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Air/Bmr: F/O. George Reicher Royde DFC. 118604 RAFVR Age 32. Killed (1)
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Edmund Hazelden-French 1268287 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Harold Arthur James Berry 1578408 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Howard Philip Fudge R/76310 RCAF Age 22. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Taking off at 00:55 hrs to join 441 aircraft made up from 135 Halifaxes, 104 Wellingtons, 95 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes.
29 allied aircraft were lost on this raid with total crew killed; 102. PoW; 54. Just a single Crew member evading capture.
149 Squadron lost another aircraft and crew on this operation: Stirling III BK726 OJ-Z Flown by 20 year old Harold Earl Forsyth J/17672 RCAF from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, killed with all his crew.
This Stirling III BF479 was intercepted and shot down by Lt. Walter Schon (2) of 3./NJGI at 03:07 hrs 4,300 mtrs above Kasterlee, in Belgium.
In 2013 Wings Museum erected a plaque for the crew (courtesy Wings Museum)
(1) F/O. George Reicher Royde DFC survived an earlier incident with Fl/Sgt. Middleton as pilot - read that story here.
(2) This was the 4 kill for Schön who after 9 kills was himself killed on the 20/21st October 1944 in a crash at Gross-Ballerstedt after air combat. (note: some publications place Ofw. Fritz Schellwat as the Luftwaffe pilot)
F/O. Leslie Cyril Martin. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Coll. Grave II. G.69. N.o.k. details not currently available.
Fl/Sgt. Robert Chrysler Ferguson. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Grave II.G.11. Son of William Alexander Ferguson and Mabel Gertrude Ferguson.
Sgt. Jack Eric Butt. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Grave II.G.10. Son of Alfred F. R. Butt, and of Alice E. Butt, of Weybridge, Surrey, England.
Sgt. Norman Harry Frank. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Coll. Grave II. G.69. N.o.k. details not currently available
F/O. George Reicher Royde. D.F.C. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Coll. Grave II. G.69. Son of Henry and Clara Reicher, of Bayswater, London, England. Husband of Wendy Royde. LL.B.
Sgt. Edmund Hazelden-French. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Coll. Grave II. G.69. N.o.k. details not currently available.
Sgt. Harold Arthur James Berry. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Grave IVa. B. 43. Son of Arthur William and Elsie Irena Berry. of Sheldon. Warwickshire, England.
Fl/Sgt. Howard Philip Fudge. Schoonsel Hof Cemetery. Coll. Grave II. G.69. Son of Philip Thomas Fudge, and of Elizabeth Abigail Fudge, of St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Jacques Boone, Wings Museum, Rob Ferguson (nephew of Fl/Sgt. Robert Ferguson), Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses' Vol. 4, 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'.
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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