Operation: Trappes, France

Date: 2nd/3rd June 1944 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit No: 10 Squadron, 4 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax III

Serial: MZ630

Code: ZA:S

Base: RAF Melbourne, Yorkshire

Location: St-Andre-de-l’Eure, France

Pilot: Fg Off. Alexander Archibald 'Sandy' Murray 145681 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. John Neville Osselton 1892507 RAFVR Age 21. Id No. 78371 *, PoW No. 8109 ** (1)

Nav: Fg Off. Stanley Albert Booker MBE(M), L d’H 51872 RAF Age 22. Id No. 78370 *, PoW No. 8045 ** (2)

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Ernest Frederick 'Snooky' Stokes 1399125 RAFVR Age 28. PoW No 4025 *** (4)

WOp/Air Gnr: WO. John 'Taffy' Williams 976202 RAFVR Age 25. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Clifford Lionel ‘Cliff’ Hallett 1585043 RAFVR Age 21. Evader. (5)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Terrance Gould 1262334 RAFVR Age 23. Id No. 78386 *, PoW No. 8091 ** (6)

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

** Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

*** Stalag Luft 1 Barth-Vogelsang, today situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 2nd/3rd June 1944 MZ639 joined a combined force of 128 aircraft to bomb the railway marshalling yards at Trappes in France.

Two aircraft from the squadron failed to return from this mission.

The first was Halifax III LV882 ZA:D which was shot down my a German night fighter around 30 km from Dreux. (6 KiA, 1 Evd).

MZ630 was claimed by Oblt Jakob Schaus, his 12th Abschuss, from 4./NJG4, around 30km of Dreux at 2000m at 01:12 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten).

On the night of the 2nd/3rd February 1945 Oblt Jakob Schaus was wounded and baled out after being shot down by 239 Sqn Mosquito NF.30 NT349, flown by Flt Lt. Anthony James Holderness 42127 and Flt Lt. Walter Rowley DFC 128492. Oblt Schaus was credited with 20 confirmed Abschüsse and one unconfirmed. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive Biographies - Theo Boiten).

The mainplanes and both port engines were set ablaze by the night-fighter. The crew, except for Fg Off. Murray and WO. Williams who were killed in the crash, abandoned the bomber. The aircraft crashed at St-Andre-de-l’Eure, some 72 km (45 mls) west of Paris.

(1) Flt Sgt. Osselton landed in a meadow at about 01:30 hrs. His parachute had caught in a tree which he pulled down and trod it down into a deep ditch and covered everything with leaves. There was a house nearby but he set off due south toward Spain and so as to put some distance between himself and the aircraft crash site.

He walked all night until well after day break and then laid in some long grass until an hour or so before dark and then set off again. Around noon on the Sunday he stopped and hid in a straw stack. That evening he asked a Frenchman who was passing by for food, clothes and assistance. He went off and fetched about six other men and two of them took him to a farm where he was fed and stayed for two nights.

On Tuesday mid-day he was taken to the local Resistance group at Muzy where he joined up with Fg Off. Booker.

From this point on his story is the same as that of Fg Off. Booker (See Ser 2 & 3).

John Neville Osselton was born on the 12th May 1923. He was a student in Staines, Middlesex prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 22nd March 1943. John Neville Osselton died on the 20th October 1999 in Cambridge.

(2) Fg Off. Booker landed in a cornfield and after burying his parachute and mae west set off walking in the direction of the Spanish frontier. After some 12 hrs of walking he was within 6 km of Dreux where he realised that he would need assistance in the form of a passport, food, clothing, etc. to get to Spain. He then approached an old man working in a field and offered him 100 francs and asked for help.

He was taken to a nearby château where an English widow and her elderly sister lived. He was given a complete outfit of clothes and arrangements were made to provide him with an identity card.

On the evening of the 3rd June a French woman came and took him to her house in Muzy. This woman was in charge of the local French Forces of the Interior (FFI) and her house was continually being used by them. He remained there until the 6th June, when he was joined by Sgt. Osselton. The same day they returned to the château where they met an American air gunner whose Christian name was George.

This was Sgt. George Wayne Scott 35548906, a Gunner from the 668th Bombardment Sqn, 416th Bombardment Group, whose A-20G Havoc, #43-9380 which was shot down by Flak on the 3rd June 1944.

The three stayed there for the next 3 days until a German patrol was seen approaching the house. They then were taken by a family friend and hidden in a nearby thicket. As soon as the Germans had left the three returned to the house in Muzy, where they were joined by another American, a Mustang pilot.

This was 1st Lt. James Dale Hastin O-676788, a pilot from the 374th Fighter Sqn, 361st Fighter Group, whose P-51B ‘Bette of Brooklyn II’ #43-6982 was shot down on the 8th June 1944.

Shortly thereafter they were taken by a member of the FFI to a large wood nearby, where they remained in hiding for the next 2 days, being allowed to sleep in the stable of a nearby sanatorium for 2 nights. The matron of the sanatorium then asked them to go elsewhere as several of her nurses had German sympathies and were suspicious of her activities.

Fg Off. Booker made contact with their host in Muzy and that night the same member of the FFI who had helped them previously, arrived and took the two Americans to a nearby farm, and he and Sgt. Osselton to the house of a widow in Muzy. They remained there for 3 days but had to move again because arrangements were being made for German officers to be billeted in the house.

They returned to the house of their original helper in Muzy and remained there until the 25th June. The previous day, the leader of the FFI told them that he had received instructions that they were to be flown back to the UK on the following night. On the 25th June at 18:00 hrs he and Sgt. Osselton rendezvoused with a car containing a Frenchman and woman and the two Americans we had met previously.

The Frenchman and woman is believed to be Jean-Jacques was a Belgian traitor named Jaques Desoubrie (Jean-Jacques, Jean Masson and Pierre Boulain were aliases) who had infiltrated the Réseau Comète (Comet Line) escape route in Brussels and Paris. He was responsible for the Nazis rounding up dozen of members of the Réseau Comète and Allied airmen. He was finally captured and stood accused at a French military trial in Lille. He was convicted and condemned to death for having participated in the capture and assassination of members of the resistance and for sending Allied military to their deaths in violation of the Geneva convention. He was executed by firing squad.

Madame Orsini, also known as Colette, was Marie-Antoinette Orsini and an accomplice of Desoubrie. She was arrested by the French authorities but not before Desoubrie tried but failed to kill her so that she would not inform on him.

This car proceeded to take them to Paris stopping for the night at a farm near Versailles. When they arrived in Paris on the 26th June they were taken to a hotel, which he believed was the Hotel Piccadilly, where he and Sgt. Osselton were shut up in a room, the two Americans being sent to one on a higher floor. The next day two English speaking members of the resistance came and interviewed them to ascertain their identity. They explained that the aircraft could not get there and that they were to be sent by transport to Spain.

Each day a man came with a sandwich for them and on the 4th day took Sgt. Osselton and the two Americans away in a car. On the 1st July Fg Off. Booker and an injured American called Hoffman were taken, supposedly to Orléans, but several things made him suspicious.

This was 2nd Lt. Robert Bruce Hoffman O-758172, a pilot from the 38th Fighter Sqn, 55th Fighter Group whose P-38J Lightning, #42-67578 was shot down by Bf109s on the 23rd June 1944.

Firstly the drivers' complete disregard of caution, his returning to Paris after apparently forgetting a password and then parking for 10 minutes outside a Post Office waiting for a phone call. Just as Fg Off. Booker was about to try to escape, an armed German patrol surrounded the car and handcuffed them without even questioning them. The driver made no protests. The car was then driven to Fresnes prison and the pair were locked in a cell. (See Ser 3).

After returning to England he remained in the RAF and was promoted to Flt Lt. on the 18th May 1945 and then served with Headquarters, 41 Group, Maintenance Command at RAF Andover, until 1947.

He then served as a navigator with 77 Sqn, Transport Command at RAF Manston until 1948 after which he was posted to 206 Sqn and then 99 Sqn, Transport Command during Berlin Airlift, Germany until 1949. He then served as Wing Navigational Officer with Transport Command at RAF Lyneham, until 1951.

He then became an intelligence officer with the 2nd Tactical Air Force and was attached to MI6 in Hamburg, Germany until 1953, and then in Berlin, Germany until 1957. He then served as a navigator with 206 Sqn, Coastal Command at RAF St. Mawgan between 1958 and 1961. He again served as an intelligence officer with the RAF attached to MI6 in West Berlin until 1962. He then served as the Intelligence Officer with 224 Sqn, Coastal Command in Gibraltar between until 1964 after which he served on home postings until 1965.

He was awarded the MBE(M) which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 1st January 1965. He then served with No. 1 Aeronautical Information Document Unit at RAF Northolt until 1973. He was promoted to Sqn Ldr. which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 4th January 1972. The following year, on the 30th January 1973, he retired from the RAF at his own request.

He was awarded the Chevalier in the ordre national de la Légion d'honneur by the President of France in December 2020.

Stanley Albert Booker was born on the 25th April 1922. Stan Booker was/is the last surviving Buchenwald airman, celebrating his 102nd birthday on 25th April 2024.

(3) Fresnes prison was located to the south of Paris and 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.

Flt Sgt. Osselton, Fg Off. Booker and Flt Sgt. Gould were transferred to Stalag Luft 3, East Compound 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. 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.

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

Flt Sgt. Osselton, Fg Off. Booker and Flt Sgt. Gould were amongst the PoWs who were transferred 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.

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.

(4) Sgt. Stokes suffered a serious leg injury either during the attack or after baling out of the aircraft and was captured by the German authorities near Paris on the 3rd June 1944.

He was treated at a Paris hospital from the 5th June to 14th July 1944 before being moved to Camp No. 1268, Obermaßfeld.

This was the Reserve-Lazarett Obermaßfeld 9C(a) PoW Hospital attached to Stalag 9C.

After recovering sufficiently he was transferred to Stalag Luft 1, Barth on the 2nd April 1945.

On the 30th April 1945, the prisoners were ordered to evacuate the camp in the face of the advancing Soviet Red Army, but the Senior American Officer, Col. Hubert Zemke, refused to give the order. After negotiations between Zemke and Commandant Oberst (Col) Gustav Warnstedt, it was agreed that to avoid useless bloodshed the guards would go, leaving the PoWs behind. The next day, the first Soviet troops arrived.

The Western Allied prisoners took over the camp into self-administration on the 1st May 1945. After protracted negotiations between the Western Allies and the Soviet leadership, the evacuation of the 8,498 inmates of Stalag Luft 1 finally took place on 12th to 14th May 1945, from Barth Air Base using aircraft of the 8th US. Air Force. Hundreds of PoWs had meanwhile made their own way west. Sgt. Stokes was interviewed on the 13th June 1945.

Ernest Frederick Stokes was born on the 14th June 1915 in Camberwell, London. He was an Optician in Catford, London prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 17th November 1941. Ernest Frederick Stokes died on the 11th October 1982 in St. Austell, Cornwall.

(5) All that is known about Sgt. Hallett’s evasion through France is that he made his way to the Allied camp in the Forêt Fréteval near 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 was evacuated to RAF Northolt on the 14th August 1944.

(6) Flt Sgt. Gould baled out and landed in the middle of an aerodrome near to Saint-André-de-l’Eure. He had lost his flying boots but set off walking and after 2 hrs he laid up for the reminder of the night.

Believed to be the airfield 2¼ km (1½ mls) SW of Saint-André-de-l’Eure itself.

The next morning he contacted a young man who was walking nearby who took him to a cottage and asked him for some boots. He then hid up in a haystack and was brought some food and wine by a woman from this cottage. That night he slept in the woods nearby and moved into the cottage the next night.

The mayor of Saint-André-de-l’Eure then came to see him. The following day he was provided with civilian clothes and was moved by bicycle to the mayor's own home . He remained here in hiding for the next 6 weeks and was fixed up with an identity card, coupons and clothes. Whilst here he was also in contact with the local Maquis group.

While at the mayor's house in Saint-André-de-l’Eure a party of Luftwaffe Officers arrived and stayed for 2 days. He took the opportunity to put sand in the petrol tank of their car at night time.

He was then moved, in the company of 3 unnamed Americans, by car to Paris where they were driven to a private house. Here they found about 20 Allied personnel and all of them were told that they should be moved in the direction of Spain the next day. They were well fed that night.

The next afternoon they were taken out being told that we were to meet transport at 18:00 hrs. At the appointed time a truck arrived which collected a total of 33 of evaders. They were driven for a few minutes and then told to get out and they were all marched round a quadrangle, taken into a building and told that they were saboteurs and would be shot. That night they were taken to Fresnes prison, kept together for that night and the following day sorted out and put into solitary confinement. (See Ser 3)

Terrance Gould was born on the 24th March 1921 in Pontypridd, Glamorganshire. He was a Master Butcher in Caerphilly before enlisting in the RAFVR on the 15th August 1940.

After returning to the UK he married Betty Margaret Pipe in 1948 and settled in Calcot, Berkshire where he was a Foreman Burcher in a department store. He died on the 19th September 1953 in Battle Hospital in Oxford of heart failure and lung cancer, aged 32.

Burial details:

Fg Off. Murray and WO. Williams were removed from the crashed aircraft and buried on the 7th June with full military honours by the Luftwaffe.

Above: St. André de I'Eure Communal Cemetery (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)). There are only six CWGC graves in this Cemetery, numbered 1 to 6 from the top right of the photograph. The grave marker for WO. John 'Taffy' Williams is the 2nd and Fg Off. Alexander Archibald 'Sandy' Murray is the 4th.

Fg Off. Alexander Archibald 'Sandy' Murray. St. André de I'Eure Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Grave inscription: "TAKE COMFORT, CHRISTIANS, WHEN YOUR FRIENDS IN JESUS FALL ASLEEP". Born on the 1st February 1921 in Cleland, Lanarkshire. Son of James Smith and Mary McKillop (née Somerville) Murray of Cleland, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

WO. John 'Taffy' Williams. St. André de I'Eure Communal Cemetery Grave 2. Grave inscription: ‘ALWAYS IN OUR THOUGHTS’. Son of Frederick Thomas and Mary Ann Williams of Winton, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (May 2024). Thanks to Traugott Vitz for the updates to the narrative for Fg Off. Booker (Jun 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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