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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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156 Squadron Crest
16/17.06.1943 No. 156 Squadron Lancaster III EE122 P/O. Robert B. Miller

Operation: Köln

Date: 16/17th June 1943 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: 156 Squadron

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: EE122

Code: GT-?

Base: RAF Warboys Cambridgeshire

Location: Braunsrath, Germany

Pilot: P/O. Robert Ballantine Miller 147190 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Harold Francis Sheppard 577950 RAF Age 20. Killed

Nav: P/O. James Russell Wright J/17943 RCAF Age 30. Killed (1)

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Hugh Love 1552158 RAFVR Age ? Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. James Tweedie 1067394 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. John Alexander Goad Dawe 1335335 RAFVR Age 31. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Eastman G.G. Fisher 10601018 USAAF Killed

Relatives of Sgt. Jamies Tweedie would very much like to hear from other relatives and in particular anyone who has a photo of him and or the crew. Please contact us in the first instance.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Warboys Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire) at 22:57 hrs on an operation to Cologne (Köln) - 202 Lancasters and 10 Halifaxes taking part.

The bombing was scattered in the area of the target which was covered in cloud. Of this total only 100 aircraft made it to Cologne, the remainder turning back because of the bad weather.


401 Houses were destroyed with a further 13,000 suffering damage. The Kalk Chimical works was hit and burnt out. Casualties on the ground - 147 killed, 213 injured.

The allies lost 14 Lancasters - with 92 aircrew killed, 16 PoW.

The Squadron lost 3 crews during this operation, the other 2:

Lancaster III ED840 - Flown by Sq/Ldr. John Cameron Mackintosh 40727 RAF - Killed with 3 crew, 3 others PoW.
Lancaster III ED863 - Flown by P/O. Desmond Clive Camden Busby CGM. 147211 RAFVR - Killed with all other 6 crew members.
Lancaster ED122 was intercepted and shot down by the Luftwaffe night fighter ace Hptm. Manfred Meurer (2) of 3./NJG1, his 46th abschüsse of the war. 2 km. west of Braunsrath at 01:41 hrs.

(1) Wright Hill east of Crank Lake in Manitoba Canada, was named after P/O. James Russell Wright in 1995.


(2) Hptm. Manfred Meurer was killed on the 22nd January 1944 after his He 219 collided with a Lancaster. Total claims of 65 during WW2.






Burial details:

P/O. Robert Ballantine Miller. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 3.B. 6-14. Son of Peter and Mary Miller, of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sgt. Harold Francis Sheppard. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 3.B. 6-14. Son of William Henry and Beatrice Sheppard, of Roggiett, Monmouthshire, Wales.

P/O. James Russell Wright. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 3.B. 6-14. Son of Robert Hanlan Wright and Annie Lauretta Wright, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (BA - Brandon College, Manitoba).

Fl/Sgt. Hugh Love. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 3.B. 6-14. No further information - are you able to assist?

Sgt. James Tweedie. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 3.B. 6-14. Son of Catherine Alice Tweedie, of Glasgow, Scotland.

Sgt. John Alexander Goad Dawe. Rheinberg War Cemetery. Coll. Grave 3.B. 6-14. Son of Thomas and Elsie Dawe, of Southgate, Middlesex, England.

Sgt. Eastman G.G. Fisher. Ardennes American Cemetery. Plot B. Row 32. Grave 54. No further information - are you able to assist?

Researched for Sandy Plant, relative of Sgt. James Tweedie. With thanks to the 156 Squadron website for details on Sgt. Eastman. Sources as quoted below.

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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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