Operation: Laon, France

Date: 22nd/23rd June 1944 (Thursday/Friday)

Unit No: 78 Squadron, 4 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax III

Serial: MZ692

Code: EY:P

Base: RAF Breighton, East Riding of Yorkshire

Location:South of Montdidier in France

Pilot: Plt Off. Robert Neil Mills 417883 RAAF Age 20. Id No: 78356 *, PoW No: 8058 ** (1)

Flt Eng: Sgt. Charles Henry Wright 1608844 RAFVR Age? PoW No. 287 *** (2)

Nav: Flt Sgt. Keith Cyril Mills 425954 RAAF Age 20. Id No: 78405 *, PoW No: 8108 ** (3)

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Ian Rossell Caple Innes MM 423016 RAAF Age 22. Evader (4)

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Eric Lyle Johnston 418957 RAAF Age 21. Id No: 78421 *, PoW No: 8098 ** (5)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. James Percival Gwilliam 432355 RAAF Age 21. Id No: 78423 *, PoW No: 8093 ** (6)

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Douglas Reeves Foden 428495 RAAF Age 19. Evader (7)

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany in July 1937.

** Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).

*** Stalag Luft 7 Bankau nr. Kreuzburg O.S." (O.S. standing for Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia). Today called Bąków nr. Kluczbork (Poland).

Above: Plt Off. Robert N. Mills, Flt Sgt. Keith C. Mills, Flt Sgt. Innes MM from their Service Files

Above: Flt Sgt. Eric C. Johnston from his Service File, Flt Sgt. James P. Gwilliam (Courtesy of the Australian War Memorial)

March 2025 - An updated comprehensive report on Stalag 3A: To read the report on conditions and evacuation of Stalag 3A during the period of liberation from April - May 1945 click here

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 22nd June 1944 24 aircraft from the squadron were detailed to join a force of 221 aircraft on a mission to bomb the railway yards at Laon and Rheims.

The majority of this crew had joined 78 Sqn on the 10th June from 1622 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU). Although this was their second mission the first operation was abandoned due to weather.

They successfully dropped it bombs on the Laon marshalling yards and on the homebound leg they were attacked by a German night-fighter setting the port petrol tanks ablaze. The crew were ordered to abandon the aircraft and all successfully baled out between 8000 ft and 1500 ft. The aircraft crashed about 12¾ km (8 mls) south of Montdidier in France.

MZ692 was claimed by Lt. Gerhard Wagner, his 8th Abschuss and first of two this night, from 9./NJG5, 25 km south of Amiens at 3.000 m. at 00:28 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten)

Oblt. Wagner was shot down by AAA over the Normandy front on the night of the 3rd/4th August 1944. He was severely wounded and was captured by British forces. He was credited with 13 Abschüsse. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive - Biographies - Theo Boiten).

MZ692 was one of two aircraft from the squadron that failed to return. The second was Halifax III LK840 EY:J.

The following description of the evasion and capture of Plt Off. Mills, Flt Sgt. Mills, Flt Sgt. Johnston and Flt Sgt. Gwilliam is based upon the statement made by Warrant Officer (WO) Johnson which was taken on the 26th July 1945:

Flt Sgt. Johnson baled out at approximately 01:30 hrs and came down some 5½ km (3¼ mls) SSW of Montdidier near the village of Le Frestoy-Vaux. He sprained his ankle on landing and hid up near the village until about 10:00 hrs and then approached a farmer who took him to his mother's house where he received treatment for his ankle and rested in the loft until about 16:30 hrs the same day. About 05:30 hrs on the 24th June he was assisted by two members of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), one of whom was a Signal Box controller at a nearby rail crossing, to move to another house in the village.

On the 25th June he cycled with one of the members of the FFI to Maignelay-Montigny to 7¾ km (4¾ mls) to the SE as the crow flies. Here he met a man named Pierre G., who was an electrician by trade, however, Johnson was doubtful of the reliability of this man. Here he also met his Pilot, Plt Off. Robert Mills and they remained hidden in the village for approximately two weeks.

On the 8th July they were moved to the village of Coivrel, some 2½ km (1½ mls) to due west, because a nearby village of either Tricot or Saint-Just-en-Chaussée was raided by the Germans. Here they were joined by their Navigator, Flt Sgt. Keith Mills and Rear Gunner, Flt Sgt. Gwilliam and remained in the village for approximately 3 weeks and received excellent treatment.

On the 28th July a note was handed to Flt Sgt. Johnson by an alleged member of the FFI. The note ordered "You are instructed to be ready to be taken to England by aeroplane at noon tomorrow". The next morning they were taken out to a wood at the back of the house in which they were staying where group photographs were taken. After this they were loaded onto a truck and were told that they would be met by a car.

Above: A group photograph, improved and colorised, with helpers and Australian airmen which was taken in Coivrel the day before the airmen were arrested. It should noted none of the French people were involved in the betrayal. (Courtesy of Franck Signorile)

The airmen who are wearing berets have been identified as: left to right; Flt Sgt. Keith C. Mills, Flt Sgt. Johnston, Plt Off. Robert N. Mills, Flt Sgt. James P. Gwilliam.

They drove off in the direction Beauvais and after about 20 km (12½ mls) they were handed over to a youth of 19 or 20 years of age who was known by the truck driver who introduced the youth as a local FFI leader. The youth told the four airmen they would be taken to a nearby wood where they we told to wait. About an hour a car arrived with three men aboard, one of whom got out and disappeared while the four airmen got into the back.

They continued on the road to Beauvais for another 15 km (9¼ mls) until they met a car parked facing their approach on a hill. They were stopped and approximately 6 men in civilian clothes alighted from the parked car and ordered them to put up their hands. They then realised that they had been betrayed as these men were Germans or French collaborators. The four airmen were then ordered to put their hands behind their backs and were then handcuffed.

The collaborators were in fact two Frenchmen who were working with the local Sicherheitsdienst (SD) (Security service of the Schutzstaffel (SS)). After liberation they were both eventually brought before the French courts and found guilty of the charges brought against them. They were sentenced to death, however, their sentences were commuted to hard labour and then to 20 years imprisonment. They were both released in the early 1960s and were never seen or heard of again.

Plt Off. Robert Mills and Flt Sgt. Johnson remained in the same car with the same driver while Flt Sgt. Keith Mills and Flt Sgt. Gwilliam were transferred to the other car. They were then driven to the prison in Beauvais for interrogation. They arrived at the prison on the morning of Saturday 29th July. They were interrogated on the following Monday 31st July by an interrogator who spoke French, German and English. On the 1st August they were transferred to the Fresnes prison in Paris arriving there the following day.

Fresnes prison waswhere French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 they amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

Plt Off. Mills, Flt Sgt. Mills, Flt Sgt. Johnston and Flt Sgt. Gwilliam were transferred to Stalag Luft 3, over the period 15th to 20th October 1944.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages.

Plt Off. Mills, Flt Sgt. Mills and Flt Sgt. Johnston was amongst the PoWs from the West Compound that were sent to Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde.

As of 1st January 1945, it housed 45,942 PoWs, including 24,996 French, 12,517 Soviet, 4,093 Serbian, 1,499 American, 1,433 British, 1,310 Italian, 86 Polish and 8 Romanian. In early 1945, some 1,000 PoWs from Stalag Luft 3 and other camps were brought to adding to the already overcrowded and unhygienic conditions.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army.

Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated.

(1) Plt Off. Mills was promoted to Fg Off. on the 18th August 1944 whilst being held as a PoW.

Fg Off. Mills returned to Australia on the 9th September 1945 and was discharged from the RAAF upon demobilisation on the 7th December 1945.

Robert Neil Mills was born on the 30th April 1924 in Port Broughton, South Australia. He passed away on the 7th August 1990 in Adelaide, South Australia.

(2) A “General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners” for Sgt. Wright has not been found. However, as he was at Stalag Luft 7 it probable that he was amongst the 1,500 prisoners marched out of the camp in the bitter cold on the 19th January 1945. They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February, and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3A located about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlin near Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

From here his story is the same as that for Plt Off. Mills, Flt Sgt. Mills and Flt Sgt. Johnston.

(3) Flt Sgt. Keith Cyril Mills was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) on the 23rd January 1945 whilst a PoW.

WO. Mills returned to Australia on the 9th September 1945 and was discharged from the RAAF upon demobilisation on the 27th October 1945.

Keith Cyril Mills was born on the 2nd January 1924 in Mackay, Queensland, Australia. He passed away on the 17th February 2012 Mackay, Queensland, Australia.

(4) Flt Sgt. Innes lost his flying boots during his descent and narrowly missed a collision with an enemy aircraft. He landed safely and after disposing of some of his equipment, he ran from the vicinity in his socks. At dawn he made contact with a farmer who provided him with boots and food and took him to Cuvilly.

After proceeding south he came to a village where he was given civilian clothes and he then decided to make for the Swiss border. He passed through Compiègne, Soissons and Montépreux to Mailly-le-Camp where he made contact with the Resistance Movement. On about the 20th July he met a United States officer.

The US officer was 2nd Lt. Glen S. Call O-761559 of the USAAF who was the Co-Pilot from B-17G #42-107023 of the 532nd Bombardment Sqn (H), 381st Bombardment Group (H) which crashed-landed 3¼ km (2 mls) south of Champfleuery, after being damaged by German fighters. (1 KiA, 5 PoWs, 3 Evd).

On approximately 23rd July they were conducted to Troyes, some 42 km (26¼ mls) south of Mailly-le-Camp where they met a Capt. "Jack" of British Intelligence whose job was to organise and equip French Resistance. He took them to a Maquis camp in a forest 32 km (20 mils) from Bar-sur-Aube, east of Troyes where they stayed until the end of July.

Note: Capt. "Jack" has not been identified to date. However, it is probable that he was either leading of one of the 3-man Special Air Service (SAS) teams or 3-man Special Operations Executive (SOE) ‘Jedburgh’ teams dropped into France leading up to D-Day.

He told them that they would be sent to England by plane, and later the French said by Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) boat, neither of none of which happened. They then decided to head out on their own for the Swiss frontier and managed to get as far south as far as Champlittle, west of Vesoul.

Owing to the impossibility of crossing the Swiss frontier at that time they tried to get in touch with the American forces but in the meantime they joined forces with a Special Air Service (SAS) unit and helped them when raids were made on convoys and villages held by enemy troops, acting as rear and front gunners on jeeps.

This SAS unit was commanded by Major Bill Fraser who lead Operation ‘Houndsworth’. The unit comprised 18 officers and 126 men of 'A' Squadron, 1st SAS who were dropped into France by two Stirlings of 299 Sqn and one from 199 Sqn on the 10th/11th June 1944 and operated around Dijon in the Burgundy region of France until the 8th September 1944.

Their objective was to disrupt German lines of communication, coordinate the activities of the French Resistance and prevent German reinforcements moving to the Normandy beachheads, especially the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

A report from No 2. Recce party by Lt. Ian G. Wellsted, recorded that on the 27th July two airmen, one American and one Canadian [sic] join the Squadron.

On the 31st August 1944, Flt Sgt. Innes, 2nd Lt. Call and an unnamed third companion left the SAS unit and in a few days were driven to the American lines by members of the Maquis. Flt Sgt. Innes returned to the UK on the 6th September 1944.

For his distinguished service with the SAS Flt Sgt. Innes was awarded the Military Medal (MM) (no accompanying citation) on the 12th May 1945, which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 12th June 1945.

He was appointed to a commission and promoted to Plt Off. on the 5th October 1944. Plt Off. Innes returned to Australia on the 22nd February 1945 and he was promoted to Fg Off. on the 5th April 1945.

He was discharged from the RAAF on the 5th July 1945 at his own request to resume his civilian occupation in the Insurance industry.

Ian Rossell Caple Innes was born on the 28th January 1922 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He passed away in December 2019 in Peregian Springs, Queensland, Australia.

(5) Flt Sgt. Johnston was promoted to Warrant Officer (WO) on the 28th October 1944 whilst being held as a PoW.

WO. Johnston return to Australia on the 10th September 1945 and was discharged from the RAAF on the 17th December 1945.

On his return to Australia he submitted an Affidavit describing his ill treatment whilst being held at the Beauvais prison.

“On the 31st July 1944 I was taken from my cell to a room for questioning. The interrogator ask me my name, rank and number and I gave him correct answers. He then insisted that I disclose where I had been hiding, who had provided us with clothes and food. When I refused to give him the information a rubber truncheon was produced and I was covered by a guard with a gun. I still refused to answer and I was struck with the truncheon on my body and head causing many bruises and a swollen face. This went on for approx. ½ hr before the interrogator allowed me to go.

I do not know his name but had a typically German physique at 45 - 50 years of age, about 5’ 6” in height, heavy build almost bald with a broad face and high forehead. He spoke German, English and French”.

Eric Lyle Johnston was born on the 30th December 1922 in Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia. He passed away on the 5th August 2003 in Eltham, Victoria, Australia.

(6) On the 2nd February Flt Sgt. Gwilliam was amongst the PoWs from the North, East and remaining West compound prisoners at Spremberg who were sent to the Malag und Milag Nord PoW camp.

The Malag und Milag Nord PoW camp was located at a former Luftwaffe (German Air Force) barracks near Westertimke NE of Bremen in Germany

Malag = Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp) and Milag = Marine-Internierten-Lager (naval internment camp), Nord (North).

On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen.

However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men and marched them out, heading east. It is believed that Flt Sgt. Gwilliam was amongst the PoWs who fled into the surrounding woods or hid away in the camp to avoid the forced-march.

Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The Germans agreed. The column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe, north of Hamburg, on the 18th April. On the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945.

At the Malag-Milag Nord camp the guards fled on 9th April 1945 and were replaced by elderly civilian guards. Those remaining at the camp were liberated by the British Guards Armoured Division on the 27th April 1945. He was interviewed on the 5th May 1945.

James Percival Gwilliam was born on the 12th June 1923 in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. He was employed as a Book keeper prior to enlisting in the RAAF on the 7th December 1942. James passed away on the 11th August 2002 in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.

(7) The Escape an Evasion report for Flt Sgt. Foden has not been found and all that is known is that he was liberated in France.

Douglas Reeves Foden was born on the 23rd September 1924 in Prahran, Victoria, Australia. He passed away on the 26th August 1977 in Parkdale, Victoria, Australia.

Burial details:

None all the crew survived

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the crew and their families (May 2024). Updated information about the evasion and capture of the four Buchenwald airmen (Sep 2024). Thanks to Franck Signorile (French Historian) for the group photograph of the airmen and their helpers and also for the additional information about the captured airmen. (Sep 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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