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Operation: Gelsenkirchen
Date: 25/26th June 1943 (Friday/Saturday)
Unit: 90 Squadron
Type: Stirling III
Serial: EH900
Code: WP-Y
Base: RAF West Wickham, Cambridgeshire.
Location: Legden, Germany
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Frederick Charles McKenzie 415087 RAAF Age 27. Killed
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Ernest Wilson 995196 RAFVR Age 30. Killed
Nav: F/O. Alec Victor Ibbetson Cook 130588 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
Air/Bmr: Sgt. William Edward Walter 1385752 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Colin Desmond Harry Campbell 1333017 RAFVR Age 21. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frederick William Ealden 1397129 RAFVR Age 21. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. John Charles Davidson 984107 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
At 23:59 hrs. Stirling EH900 took off from RAF West Wickham on an operation to bomb Gelsenkirchen with 217 Lancasters, 190 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes.
The bombing as a result of this, made the Germans think that the raid was actually on Bochum. However some industrial targets were hit in the town.
Delivered to 90 Squadron, Royal Air Force on 9th June 1943 by the constructor, Austin Motors Ltd, Stirling bomber EH900 WP-Y was virtually a brand new aircraft when it was lost.
Left: Sgt. Frederick William Ealden (courtesy Ron Ealden)
Burial Details:
Crew initially buried at Legden where they crashed, subsequently after war end re-interred in Reichswald Cemetery.
Fl/Lt. Frederick Charles McKenzie. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 23.E.18. Son of Nathaniel and Hilda Muriel McKenzie, of Three Springs, Western Australia. Grave inscription: "A Life So Nobly Given. Far From His Home He Is Sleeping, Our Son".
Sgt. Ernest Wilson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 23.E.10. Son of Thomas and Elizabeth Wilson, of Wigan, Lancashire and husband of Beatrice Elizabeth Wilson, of Scale Hall, Lancaster, England. Grave inscription: "He That Loseth His Life... Shall Find It".
F/O. Alec Victor Ibbetson Cook. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 23.E.5. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Victor Cook, of New Malden, England.
Sgt. William Edward Walter. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 23.E.6-8. Son of Edward George Walter, and of Caroline Emma Walter, of Bexleyheath, Kent, England. Grave inscription: "Nobleness Walks In Our Ways Again; And We Have Come Into Our Heritage".
Sgt. Colin Desmond Harry Campbell. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 23.E.6-8. Son of Leslie Norman Thomas Stuart Campbell and Helen May Campbell, of Tulse Hill, London, England. Grave inscription: "At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning We Will Remember Them".
Sgt. Frederick William Ealden. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 23.E.6-8. Son of William and Selina Ealden of 10 Widred Rd. Dover, husband of Jean Marion Ealden (née Hibbert), of 6 Bushy Ruff, Kearsney, Dover, Kent, England. Grave inscription: "Age Shall Not Weary Them, Nor The Years Condemn".
Sgt. John Charles Davidson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Grave 23.E.9. Son of Joseph and Martha Davidson; husband of J. C. Davidson, of Edgware, Middlesex, England. Grave inscription: "May His Sacrifice Not Be In Vain. I Will Always Remember Him Smiling".
Researched for relatives of the crew. With thanks to the following, 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.
KTY 06.09.2019 Map added
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 25 March 2021, 15:11