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.
Check our Research databases: Database List
.

---

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

---

16.07.1942 15 Squadron Stirling I W7524 LS:D Plt Off. Robert L. Melville

Date: 16th July 1942 (Thursday)

Unit No: 15 Squadron, 3 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Stirling I

Serial: W7524

Code: LS:D

Base: RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire.

Location: River Sneum, South East Esbjerg, Denmark

Pilot: Plt Off. Robert Lorraine Melville 400637 RAAF Age 25. KiA (1)

Pilot 2: Sgt. Dennis Robert Barrett 1254392 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Robinson Nicholls 525236 RAF Age 25. KiA

Nav: Plt Off. Kenneth Arnott 126850 RAFVR Age 22. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Henry James Ian Lockhart 991121 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. George Alfred Donovan 1284610 RAFVR Age 22. PoW No: 25041 * (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. John Evan Francis Waylan 963167 RAFVR Age 31. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Lancelot Charles Masfen 798462 RAFVR Age 24. PoW No: 25671 * (2)

* Stalag 8B, in 1943 renamed Stalag 344, Lamsdorf (now called Łambinowice) in Silesia, Lamsdorf (now called Łambinowice) in Silesia

REASON FOR LOSS:

21 Stirlings trying a daylight operation using the cover of cloud and dusk. The submarine works at the Lübecker Flenderwerke AG the chosen target. 6 Stirlings were sent from 15 Squadron, 3 from 7, 3 from 149, 3 from 214 and 6 from 218 Squadron. Only 7 of the force reported bombing the target.

Above: Pilot, Plt Off. Robert Lorraine Melville (courtesy Roger Leivers). He is pictured with who is believed to be Lois Evelyn Herford to whom he was engaged to be married in 1940 (Information provided by Carol Horne).

Reported to have been hit by flak between 21:20 - 21:27 hrs, whilst flying very low at about 300 mts. crashing in the estuary of the River Sneum. The two surviving crew members were picked up and treated for burns prior dispatch to Stalag Lamsdorf. The following is taken from Airwar Over Denmark:

At 21:15 hrs the Stirling was seen flying at 200 meters over the Skallingen heading for Femhøje and the 10.5cm and 2cm flak of 1./204 opened fire. The Stirling turned south and passed the harbour of Esbjerg. The 2cm flak from 1./204 and 6./204 as well as 4cm flak of 6./204 and II/Zuges 1/Lei Flakabteilung 836 and the 88cm batterie Fanø now joined in as did machine guns of the 4./204, Esbjerg Hafenschützflotille, various boats and the steamer "Heinrich Peters" resulting in the Stirling being hit several times.

The Stirling started smoking and dived to about 5 meters above the water. The IV. Zuges 2/lei. Flak abt 844 started firing and the Stirling dropped two bombs while trying to gain height. She now came under fire from 2cm flak from 1./204 based at Halen on Fanø and from 4cm flak of I/Zuges 1/lei. Flak abt 836. Fire broke out in one of the left left hand engines while the aircraft climbed away to the south.

At 2131 hrs the aircraft left the flak area while the fire in the left hand engine and wing enlarged. The Stirling turned east and crashed at 2131 hrs into the sea. A fire started and kept going for 2½ hrs. On Fanø, the crash had been observed and four members of the lifeboat crew of Sonderho set out a flat-bottomed dinghy, since the life boat could not be used due to low tide. Due to the low tide they did not manage to get to the Stirling, and when the tide came back in they had to return to Fanø.

At 0800 hrs the next morning the Receiver of Wrecks Jens Johannes Jensen tried once more, and this time he managed to get across to the Stirling. Here he found Air Gunner Sgt Donovan and Air Gunner Sgt Masfen both suffering from burns. He got them into the dinghy and rowed them to Esbjerg where they were taken over by the Wehrmacht. They were treated for their burns at the German lazarett and later on shipped off for Dulag Luft and eventually POW camp Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf. and later on shipped off for Dulag Luft and eventually POW camp Stalag VIIIB/344 Lamsdorf.

Another aircraft also lost on the same operation. 149 Squadron Stirling I BF312 OJ:A. Piloted by Plt Off. J.M.F. Forward who was taken PoW, along with 4 other crew. 2 others were killed.

Above and below as described (courtesy - Michel Beckers)

Above: damage to the Lübecker Flenderwerke after the operation

An excellent extensive research paper, compiled by Carsten from the 12 o’clock High Forum is available here, or emailed to you.

(1) Plt Off. Melville had escaped an incident just a few months earlier on Stirling I N6067 LS-E.

(2) Sgt. Donovan was captured near Ebjsberg on the 16th July 1942 and Sgt. Masfen on the next day on the 17th July 1942.

Sgt. Donovan was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel where he was interrogated for 8 days. Sgt. Masfen was transferred to the Reserve Lazarett (hospital) at Dulag Luft, Hohemark when he remained until some time in early August 1942.

They were then both transferred to Stalag 8B, Lamsdorf. In 1943 the camp at Lamsdorf was split up and the base camp was renamed Stalag 344.

Sgt. Donovan reported that whilst at Stalag 8B approximately 1000 RAF personnel were tied with string and then in chains for a period of 6 to 12 months.

Note: On the 9th October 1942 some 1500 British and Canadians, irrespective it would seem of whether or not they had been captured at Dieppe, had their wrists tied with string from Red Cross parcels.

After the failed raid at Dieppe on the 19th August 1942, the Germans claimed to have found evidence of the ill-treatment of German prisoners, and also of atrocities committed during a Commando raid on Sark on 4th October 1942.

German propaganda made much of the capture and the killing of the German soldiers and claimed that they still had their hands bound when they were found. This together with a copy of an operational order, illegally carried and dropped by a Canadian senior officer, discovered on the beach after the Dieppe Raid on the 19th August 1942 formed the rationale for Hitler’s Kommandobefehl.

It should be noted that the operational order concerning the 'binding' of prisoners was directed at Canadian forces participating in the raid and not the British commandos.

Four days later a further 800 were similarly bound so tightly that in some cases the circulation of blood to the hands was cut off, causing some harm. After strong protests the string was replaced by shackles and handcuffs, but so expert were some of the prisoners at lockpicking (the key from sardine tins was a favourite tool) that within seconds the restraints had been removed. Thereafter the shackling became a nuisance rather than a punishment, and it officially ended on the 22nd November 1943.

Both Sgt. Donovan and Sgt. Masfen were promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) during this time.

In the face of the westward advance of the Soviet offensive into Germany, on the 14th February 1945 the Americans and British were marched out of the camp. The evacuation took place on foot with all means of transport driving in front of the prisoners for military purposes.

WO. Donovan was amongst the PoWs who arrived at Stalag 7A, Moosburg in southern Bavaria. Stalag 7A was liberated on the 29th April 1945 by elements of the US Army 14th Armoured Division.WO. Donovan was interviewed on the 11th May 1945.

The columns that WO. Masfen was part of was liberated by the American 1st Army, 3rd Division at Duderstadt on 9th April 1945. He was interviewed on the 14th April 1945.

George Alfred Donovan born on the 10th January 1922. He was employed as a clerk in London prior to enlisting in August 1940.

Lancelot Charles Masfen born on the 17th April 1918. He was a farmer in Rhodesia prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 3rd January 1941

List of aircraft sent on this operation:

7 Squadron
Stirling Mk. I N3764 MG:J Flt Sgt. Bishop 19:03 - 02:02 - Lost on an operation to Hamburg, 15 Squadron, 09.11.1942 - all crew KiA;
Stirling Mk. I W7535 MG:G WO. Black 18:59 - 02:12 - Lost on an operation to Gennevilliers, 218 Squadron, 12.07.1943 - all crew KIA;
Stirling Mk. I W7529 MG:H Plt Off. Gwillian 19:02 - 02:03.

15 Squadron
Stirling Mk. I N3758 LS:V Wg Cdr. Lay 18:40 - 02:05;
Stirling Mk. I R9351 LS:R Flt Lt. Barr 18:45 - 02:45 - Lost on a Gardening operation, 15 Squadron, 19.09.1942 - 6 KiA, 1 PoW;
Stirling Mk. I W7504 LS:A Fg Off. Bennitt 18:35 - 02:35 - Badly damaged by flak on an operation to Hamburg, 15 Squadron - all crew safe;
Stirling Mk. I W7525 LS:E Plt Off. Shoemaker 18:45 - 02:25; Lost on a training operation, 15 Squadron, 22.08.1942 - 4 injured, 1 KiA;
Stirling Mk. I W7518 LS:U Fg Off. King 18:45 - 00:45 - Lost on an operation to Berlin, 15 Squadron, 02.03.1943 - 6 KiA, 1 PoW;
Stirling Mk. I W7524 LS:D Flt Sgt. Melville 18:40 - FTR.

149 Squadron
Stirling Mk. I BF312 OJ:A Plt Off. Forward 19:02 - FTR;
Stirling Mk. I BF320 OJ:H Sqn Ldr. Watt 19:07 - 00:45 - Lost on an operation to Saarbrucken, 149 Squadron, 30.07.1942 - 8 KiA;
Stirling Mk. I R9143 OJ:O Flt Sgt. Hockley 19:04 - 01:39.

214 Squadron
Stirling Mk. I BF318 BU:H Sgt. Fleming 18:55 - 01:40;
Stirling Mk. I R9141 BU-G Flt Lt. Simich 18:55 - 00:55;
Stirling Mk. I R9358 BU:A Plt Off. Massey 18:50 - 00:35.

218 Squadron
Stirling Mk. I N3763 HA:Q Wg Cdr. Holder 18:55 - 01:45 - Lost on an operation to Lubeck, 218 Squadron, 02.10.1942 - 7 KiA;
Stirling Mk. I W7562 HA:R Plt Off. Sanderson 19:00 - 01:30 - Lost on an operation to Frankfurt, 218 Squadron, 24.08.1942 - 8 KiA;
Stirling Mk. I N6072 HA:P Plt Off. Farquharson 19:00 - 01:05 - Lost on an operation to Duisburg, 218 Squadron, 07.08.1942 - 4 KiA, 3 PoW;
Stirling Mk. I BF319 HA:C Sqn Ldr. Oldroyd 19:05 - 01:10 - Lost on a Gardening operation, 218 Squadron, 21.08.1942 - 7 KiA;
Stirling Mk. I BF315 HA:F Plt Off. Abberton 19:07 - 02:10 - Lost on an operation to Kassel, 218 Squadron, 28.08.1942 - 5 KiA, 2 PoW;
Stirling Mk. I W7475 HA:H Plt Off. Bullock 19:10 - 01:10 - Lost on an operation to Hamburg, 218 Squadron, 09.11.1942 - 7 KiA.

Burial details:

Plt Off. Robert Lorraine Melville. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery. Grave AIII.11.20. Grave Inscription: ‘DUTY NOBLY DONE’. Born on the 14th May 1917 in Orange, New South Wales. Son of William Charles and Mabel Maud Melville, of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia.

Sgt. Dennis Robert Barrett. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery. Grave AIII.10.3. Grave Inscription: ‘AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER’. Son of William Robert and Edith Emma Barrett, of Pitsea, Essex, England.

Sgt. Robinson Nicholls. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery. Grave AIII.10.2. Born in September 1917. Burnley, Lancashire, England. The son of William Joseph and Jane Elizabeth (née Robinson) Nicholls of Burnley, Lancashire, England.

Plt Off. Kenneth Arnott. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery. Grave AIII.10.1. Son of Elsie Arnott, of Monkseaton, Northumberland, England.

Sgt. Henry James Ian Lockhart. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery. Grave AIII.10.4. Grave Inscription: ‘"FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH"’. Son of John and Ethel Agnes Lockhart, of Wavertree, Liverpool, England.

Sgt. John Evan Francis Waylan. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery. Grave AIII.10.5. Son of Augustus Francis and Edith Frances Waylan, of West Ewell, Surrey, England.

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Roger Leivers for his assistance, Carsten on the 12 o’clock High forum for operation details, Michel Beckers for crash photographs, Dave Ingham (Burnley and District at War) for photograph of Sgt. Nicholls. Grave photographs taken by the webmaster during a visit in 2013 with the relatives of a 75 Squadron, Stirling III BF506 AA-P. Thanks Dave Champion for additional details (May 2019). Thanks to John Jones for the account from Airwar Over Denmark (Jun 2019). Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered (Jul 2024).

Other sources as quoted.

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 - 2024 Last Modified: 08 July 2024, 06:50

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor