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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28/29.06.1943 No. 619 Squadron Lancaster III ED979 Fl/Sgt. T.P. Murphy

Operation: Cologne, Germany

Date: 28/29th June 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: No. 619 Squadron

Type: Lancaster Mk III

Serial: ED979



Code: PG-?



Base: RAF Woodhall Spa. Lincolnshire.

Location: Aalst-Waalre, just south of Eindhoven, Holland

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Terence Peter Murphy 1246721 RAF Age 23. Killed

Nav: F/O. Eric Harper 134213 RAFVR Age 35. Killed

Flt/Engr: Sgt. Jack Adsetts 531481 RAF Age 25. Killed

Air/Bmr: F/O. Alexander Mackay 131976 RAFVR Age 29. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Norman Evan Rivers 1330344 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Raymond Archibald Grace 614065 RAF Age 23. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. John Harvey William Walker R/64856 RCAF Age 22. Killed

We would like to place an appeal on behalf of Raimondo Bogaars for further information and or photographs. Raimondo is hoping to place a memorial at the crash site in the future. Please contact us and your information will be forwarded.


REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 22:58 hrs from RAF Woodhall Spa. 608 aircraft took part (267 Lancasters, 169 Halifaxes, 85 Wellingtons, 75 Stirlings and 12 Mosquitoes).

The raid took place with a cloud covered Cologne but even with that and the fact that only 6 Mosquitoes dropped their markers, the raid was devastating to Cologne.

4,377 people were killed on the ground, 10,000 were injured and another 230,000 were forced to leave their damaged homes.

Above: As described (courtesy Raimondo Bogaars, Frank Maxwell, Andy Mackay, Simon Nash)

The RAF lost 25 aircraft. 157 Aircrew were killed and another 19 made PoW.

Lancaster ED979 was shot down by Maj. Günter Radusch (1), night fighter ace of Stab II NJG3 over Waaire, 7 KM South Eindhoven at a height of 6,200 mtrs at 02:24 hrs.

(1) Maj Günter Radusch survived the war with 66 kills. See Kracker Archive on this site for more details

We have been contacted by the nephew of the pilot, he wrote:

"Fl/Sgt. Murphy was my uncle and prior to volunteering for service following the 1940 blitz of Coventry and the consequential bombing of his mother's house, he and my grandma stayed with us (my parents and I)"

F/O. Alexander Mackay front row - 3rd from left during training (courtesy Andy Mackay)

Further information on the pilot, Fl/Sgt. Terence Peter Murphy as supplied by his nephew, Frank Maxwell:

"Terence Peter Murphy was born in Foleshill a district of Coventry in 1920 the youngest of five boys spanning a period of 21 years. After attending Coventry Technical College he followed the family tradition of the previous two generations of engineers and trained at Armstrong Whitworth who manufactured the Lancaster bombers.
He wanted to be a designer and under the guidance of his older brother Dennis who was the Chief Draughtsman, he was able to achieve his ambition."

Terence pictured above with his mother

"Both his grandfather and father had been engineers in Connecticut USA where his father was born, moving to England in 1896. Sadly his father died when he was 3 years old so he really never knew him and was brought up by his mother who managed to find time as a tailoress working from home, to support him and his next brother Dennis who was still at school, with help from the older boys who were working."

Local newspaper reporting his schooldays

"He was an excellent athlete and was known as Terence the runner, his brothers were also good talented sportsmen and his uncle Willy Isaacs was a British Cycling Champion in 1904, a tradition which has followed in the next three generations.

His mother a native of London had two brothers who in the early 1900’s owned a company called Acton Engineering, manufacturing parts for the emerging automobile industry; so his destiny in engineering seemed inescapable and by coincidence the next three generations have followed this path!"

The area that Terry lived before and after the blitz on Coventry

"On the 14th November 1940 following the onslaught of German bombing central Coventry was destroyed including his mother’s house and he and his mother moved to his second eldest brother Frank’s house, next to open countryside on the perimeter of Coventry, which still managed to suffer considerable bomb damage on that fateful night and in subsequent raids.

As a consequence of the Coventry Blitz Terence volunteered for the Air Force, which was natural considering his affinity with the Lancaster and went from designer to pilot, much against his family’s wishes who thought as he was in a reserved occupation it wasn’t necessary, he commented that someone has to fight the Gerries after what they have done to Coventry!

He was indeed very proud when he came home on leave in his uniform for the first time and subsequently when he was training in Canada and brought home the photographs he had taken on the training flights, with the camera which is still kept with his medals and letters.

On the night of the 28th/29th June 1943 over Cologne he and so many other brave men did pay back for Coventry and he paid the ultimate price with his life, a loss from which his mother was never able to recover and died 3 years later a very frail lonely and heartbroken old lady."

Simon Nash contacted us in March 2018:

"My father served at RAF Eindhoven in the early 1950's and is a founder member of the RAF Eindhoven Association, who go to Eindhoven when they can on 16 to 18 September to celebrate the liberation. I have attended with him on some occasions as I too am ex RAF and have a connection with it. A friend who my father served with stayed in Holland and married a Dutch girl. Her mother was in the town when the aircraft came down, because it was so close to her house after the war she tended the graves of the crew.
The mother of Sgt Grace, Ada Emily Grace from Leicester sent her a photo of Sgt Grace and his medal ribbons in appreciation of dedication in tending to her sons grave.
The lady who tended the graves died in 97'ish at an elderly age and her daughter and my fathers friend cleared out the house and found the items. They still live in Eindhoven. He did not know what to do with them so handed them to the RAF Eindhoven Association. My father passed them to me as he knows I have an interest in RAF history".

Burial details:

Flt/Sgt. Terence Peter Murphy. Einhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery Plot EE. Grave 45. Son of Daniel and Edith Clyne Murphy, of Canley, Coventry, England. 

 Grave inscription reads: "Rest In Peace. Mum, Jack And Frank, Dan And Denis".

F/O. Eric Harper. Einhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery Plot EE. Grave 42. Son of William and Sarah Harper, of Bolton, Lancashire, England

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Sgt. Raymond Archibald Grace. Einhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery Plot EE. Grave 41. Son of Walter A.B. and Ada Emily Grace, of Leicester, England. Grave inscription reads: "Did E'er Such Love And Sorrow Meet, Or Thorns Compose So Rich A Crown?"

Flt/Sgt. John Harvey William Walker. Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery XV.F.4. Son of John James Walker and Pearl Walker, of Sunny Brae, New Brunswick, Canada. Grave inscription reads: "In Loving Memory Of Our Son Harvey. May You For Ever Rest In Peace".

F/O. Alexander Mackay. Einhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery Plot EE. Grave 40. Son of Adam Sinclair Mackay and Jane Mackay, of Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. Grave inscription reads: "Until The Day Break And The Shadows Flee Away".

Sgt. Jack Adsetts. Einhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery Plot EE. Grave 39. Born 11th November 1917 in Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the son of John Henry and Annie (née Sutherland). The family was well known in Bolsover having run the popular Angel Inn for several generations. Jack had an older brother, Frederick, and was well regarded in Bolsover as a keen sportsman, especially as a lightweight boxer. From a Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 1st May 1936 report of a contest between Jack Adsetts (Bolsover P.T. and Boxing Club) and Jock Simpson (Bentinck): "This was one of the fastest three round contests ever witnessed in Bolsover and Mr. Johnny Lowry announced that Adsetts had won by a very narrow margin". A year after his loss the family remembered him in the local press: "Always smiling, always content, loved and respected wherever he went"

Sgt. Norman Evan Rivers. Einhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery Plot EE. Grave 43. Son of A.G. and Florence Rivers, of Hadleigh, Essex, England. Grave inscription reads: "He Followed Jesus All The Way, Even Unto Death, That We Might Live In Peace".

With information supplied by, Raimondo Bogaars, Andy Mackay and Frank Maxwell. Simon Nash. who contacted us in March 2018. Other sources as shown below. Also to Patricia Rose Grace who also contacted us in March 2018 and kindly sponsored the page. Also to Dave Champion for details on Sgt. Adsetts - May 2018.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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