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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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460 crest

Operation: Aschaffenburg

Date: 21/22nd November 1944 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit: No. 460 Squadron (motto: 'Strike and Return')

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: NE141

Code: AR-P

Base: RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire

Location: Damm, a suburb of Aschaffenburg

Pilot: P/O. Ross Faulkner McMaster Aus/434470 RAAF Age 20. Missing - believed killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Harold Henry Day 1420668 RAFVR Age 29. Missing - believed killed

Nav: F/O. Frederick John Pettiford Aus/436274 RAAF Age 27. Missing - believed killed

Air/Bmr: F/O. Keith Robert Stewart Aus/424101 RAAF Age 20. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. William Herbertson Aus/424555 RAAF Age 37. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Morris Albert Jones Aus/433334 RAAF Age 28. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Roger Staniforth Chandler Aus/435535 RAAF Age 25. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 15:27 hrs joining 22 Lancasters of the squadron flew in a force of 283 to bomb marshalling yards at Aschaffenburg, but heavy low cloud foiled the master bomber who instructed crews to bomb on navigational or radar fixes.

Bomb load 1 x 4000 lb. and 16 x 500 lb bombs.

Most aircraft bombed on a large red glow which H2S radar confirmed as being in the general target area but which some crews thought was a decoy. Photographs taken after the attack showed some damage to station buildings, the goods depot and rolling-stock as well as to scattered industrial and residential buildings north of the marshalling yards, but it was a disappointing result for the expenditure of 1,350 tons of bombs.

The squadron lost another crew:

Lancaster III PB469 AR-H flown by 24 year old, F/O. Winton Greer Ottaway Aus/38181 RAAF of Mount Lawley, Western Australia (shown right) - missing with 5 other crew, 1 taken PoW.

NE141 ws shot down at 19:26 hrs. by Fw. Emil Weinmann of II./NJG6 flying a Bf110. The Lancaster crashed at Damm, a suburb of Aschaffenburg.

Burial details:

P/O. Ross Faulkner McMaster. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 258. Born on the 04th July 1924 at Brisbane. Enlisted on the 04 July 1924. Son of Sir Fergus McMaster (died 08th August 1950, age 71) and Lady Edna McMaster (née Faulkner - died 11th May 1960, age 66), of Clayfield, Queensland, Australia.

Sgt. Harold Henry Day. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 226. Son of Harry Christmas Day and Hilda Polly Day, of Birmingham; husband of Marjorie Constance Day, of Perry Barr, Birmingham, England.

F/O. Frederick John Pettiford. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 257. Born on the 05th August 1917 at Coonamble. Enlisted on the 02nd December 1942. Son of Albert Richard (died 1929, age 68)and Mabel Gertrude Jane Pettiford (née Peck - died 1926); husband of Greta Alice Pettiford, of Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia.

F/O. Keith Robert Stewart. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 258. Born on the 16th June 1924 at Kogarah Bay. Enlisted on the 09th November 1942. Son of Arthur Oswald (died 07th September 1972, age 79) and Elsie May Stewart (née Drewett - died 04th January 1965, age 68), of Kogarah Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. William Herbertson. Durnbach War Cemetery. I.B.19. Born on the 29th September 1911 at Brisbane. Enlisted on the 12th September 1942. Son of William Catsells Herbertson and Irene Herbertson, of Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Carol Francis Mary Herbertson, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Fl/Sgt. Morris Albert Jones. Durnbach War Cemetery. I.B.21. Born on the 10th February 1916 at Lockhart. Enlisted on the 16th March 1943. Son of Evan Moses and Hilda Jones, of Holbrook, New South Wales, Australia; husband of Olga Jones, of Lakemba, New South Wales, Australia. Epitaph: 'Dearly Beloved By Barry, Dennis And Olga'.

Fl/Sgt. Roger Staniforth Chandler. Durnbach War Cemetery. I.B.20. Born on the 11th May 1919 at Brisbane. Enlisted on the 04th June 1943. Son of John Beals Chandler and Lydia Isabel Chandler, of Taringa, Queensland, Australia. His brother 21 year old, Keith John Chandler Aus/405296 RAAF of 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit died on the 20th August 1942. Hudson V AE6461942, collided with Hudson T9273 during practice formation flying and crashed into the sea 2.5 miles north west of Grune Point, Solway Firth, Cumberland. All four crew members were killed.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Katie Spencer - relative of the pilot, Dr. Theo Boiten - Nachtjagd Combat Diaries, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 25-05-2022

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Acknowledgements
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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