Operation: Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France

Date: 4th/5th July 1944 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit No: 427 (Lion) Squadron, RCAF, 6 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax III

Serial: LW166

Code: ZL:S

Base: RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire

Location: About 10½ km (6½ mls) SW of Dourdan, France

Pilot: Fg Off. Claude Alexander 'Bud' Moss J28603 RCAF Age 21. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. William Arthur Steel 2206920 RAFVR Age 26. KiA

Nav: Fg Off. John Frances ‘Jack’ Bester J35747 RCAF Age 22. Evader (1)

Bomb Aimer: Fg Off. John David Siddall J28796 RCAF Age 30. Evader (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Harold ‘Al’ Atkin R68318 RCAF Age 27. Id No: 78440 *, PoW No: 8075 ** (3)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. George Grant Cunningham Brown R216134 RCAF Age 19. PoW No. 348 *** (4)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. James Erlund Finnie R207670 RCAF Age 22. PoW No. 357 *** (4)

* 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: Fg Off. Claude Alexander 'Bud' Moss from his service record

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 4th July 1944 aircraft from the squadron were tasked on a mission to bomb the railway yards at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. Very heavy opposition was encountered, both from Flak and German night-fighters. LW166 was the only bomber from the squadron that failed to return.

LW166 was claimed by Ofhr. Johannes Strassner, his 2nd Abschuss and the first of two this night, from 2./NJG2 in the area of Chartres at 1,000m at 01:30 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten).

The aircraft crashed at approximately 02:00 hrs, between the hamlets of Obville and Allainville, about 10½ km (6½ mls) SW of Dourdan.

The body of Fg Off. Moss was recovered from the aircraft wreckage and Sgt. Steele was found a short distance from the scene of the crash. They were buried in separate coffins in the village cemetery at Allainville where they remain.

(1) Fg Off. Bester was slightly injured either during the fighter attack or upon landing. He was sheltered, aided and eventually helped to enter a large camp that had been established for evaders and escapers near to Châteaudun.

Note: This camp was part of ‘Operation Marathon’ which was a plan to hide evading Allied airmen in secret camps in France and Belgium. The Forêt Fréteval camp was code named ‘Operation Sherwood’ and eventually held more than 130 Allied airmen. The camp was liberated on the 11th August 1944.

He left for the UK from the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B.14 at Amblie, Calvados landing at RAF Northolt on the 18th August 1944.

(2) Fg Off. Siddall was slightly injured either during the fighter attack or upon landing. His Escape and Evasion questionnaire is not currently available.

(3) Little is known about his evasion except that made his way or was taken to Artennay, some 50 km (31 mls) south of the crash site. On the 14th July he was taken to Paris where two day later he was betrayed and arrested. He was then taken to the Fresnes prison located to the south of Paris.

This was where 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 he was 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.

He was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia over the period 15th to 20th October 1944.

Flt Sgt. Atkin was appointed to a commission and promoted to J90299 Plt Off. whilst at Stalag Luft 3.

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. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

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.

He was in the compound that were force marched to Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde.

In early 1945, some 1,000 PoWs from the Stalag 8C and Stalag Luft 3 were brought to Stalag 3A, and also PoWs from the Stalag 21C in Wolsztyn adding to the already overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. Finally, as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army on the 22nd April 1945.

After the war he was an active campaigner for justice for those held at Buchenwald.

Above Courtesy of the Detroit Free Press, dated 26th March 1949

His name was actually Atkins but enlisted in RCAF using his grandparent’s address and the name Atkin. On discharge from the RCAF he reverted to Atkins.

Harold ‘Al’ Atkins was born on the 10th April 1916 in Arizona, USA He died aged 47 on the 4th November 1964 in Willoughby, Ohio of a suspected heart attack.

(4) Sgt. Finnie suffered a sprained ankle when parachuting and was captured in a forest south of Chartres on the 7th July 1944.

James Erlund Finnie was born on the 12th March 1922 and was a Bank Teller in Ottawa prior to enlisting in the RCAF on the 11th January 1943.

He was transported to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 12th July where he was interrogated for the next two days. On the 14th July he was transferred to the transit camp at Wetzlar and on the 19th July he was transported to Stalag Luft 7 arriving there on the 21st July.

Here he met up with Sgt. Brown. Both he and Sgt. Brown were appointed to a commission and promoted to J90273 Plt Off and J90066 Plt Off. respectively.

On the 19th January 1945, 1,500 prisoners marched out of camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oder on 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.

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

They remained at the camp until the 5th May 1945 when they were evacuated and interviewed on the 19th May 1945.

Burial details:

Above: Allainville Communal Cemetery, Joint Grave for Fg Off. Moss and Sgt. Steel (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

Fg Off. Claude Alexander 'Bud' Moss. Allainville Communal Cemetery, Joint Grave. Grave Inscription: ‘"HE ASKED LIFE OF THEE, AND THOU GAVEST IT HIM, EVEN LENGTH OF DAYS FOR EVER AND EVER"’. Born on the 19th August 1922 in Adanac, Saskatchewan. Son of Bruce Alexander (deceased) and of Gladys Maud (née Delahoy) Moss, of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Sgt. William Arthur Steel. Allainville Communal Cemetery, Joint Grave. Grave Inscription: ‘HUSBAND OF DALPHINE AND SON OF SAMUEL AND ELIZABETH STEEL, GRIMSBY, ENGLAND’. Born on the 23rd November 1917 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Son of Samuel and Annie Elizabeth (née Broadbent) Steel, of Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Husband of Dalphine Alberta (née Philliskirk) Steel of Scartho, Lincolnshire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Feb 2024)

Other sources listed below:

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