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Operation: Porto Santo Stefano
Date: 21/22nd April 1944 (Friday/Saturday)
Unit: No. 150 Squadron
Type: Wellington X
Serial: LN385
Code: MD-Q
Base: Amendola, Puglia, Italy.
Location: Salermo, Italy
Pilot: Lt. Albert de Wet Nussey 328728V SAAF Age 19. Killed
Nav: 2nd/Lt. D.G. Webster 103442V SAAF Age ? Killed
Air/Bmr: Sgt. Bernard Alan Lincoln 1601858 RAFVR Age 23. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. John Green 1576108 RAFVR Age 23. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frank Banks 1434766 RAFVR Age 23. Killed
We would like to appeal for relatives to contact us in order that we can put them in touch with the researchers who investigated the crash site.
Another interesting report submitted by Matteo Pierro of the Association Salerno
REASON FOR LOSS:
For almost seventy years the traces of the battle of Salerno remind us that the event had as its backdrop Salerno and its province in September 1943. Just look up to the hills surrounding the city to see the bunkers built before 1940 with the aim to counter an invasion from the sea illusory. Many times in the fields or in the excavations for the construction of buildings can be found explosives and ammunition, bringing to mind what happened during the landing of '43 and the next battle.
Over time we have collected a large amount of evidence even managed to reconstruct the history of some soldiers who fought in Salerno. As explained by Louis Fortunato, president of the Association: "Our aim is to create a permanent exhibition of what we have recovered in recent years allowing historians and enthusiasts but also to all interested parties to be able to enjoy the fruits of our hard research work. When those who want to learn about our activities can visit www.associazionesalerno1943.it.
To get an idea of what it means to reconstruct the history of that period, just think of the time and resources that are needed to identify locations where the planes fell in the battle of Salerno or during the Second World War. Salerno 1943, The Association also proposes that ambition. So far we have identified as many as 9 sites, close to Salerno and Avellino, in which planes crashed. Have been found and identified, in fact, fell three places where German aircraft (1 Focke Wulf 190, a Dornier Do217 and a Junkers 87 Stuka) 3 UK (1 Spitfire, Seafire and 1 Wellington 1) and 3 Americans (1-B 17 Flying Fortress, an A-26 Invader, and a C-47 Dakota). In most cases, these are places difficult to access in inaccessible mountainous areas. Almost nothing remains of the crashed aircraft as they were dismembered after the war and brought to the valley to be sold as scrap. Please note that for which they were made of aluminum was a precious metal in those years in which Italy emerged bled and impoverished by the war. Yet from a few small fragments were recovered with the help of metal detectors it was possible to reconstruct the history of some aircraft and their crews.
With these dates, I have contacted the office of the historic RAF in England to ask whether one of the reports of killed Wellington the dates in my possession there was one with that serial number on the engine. As I feared the answer was negative as was mentioned in the 5 reports only the number of an engine that did not correspond to our freshman. The nice lady told me she took the trouble to bring me but also the places where the planes were killed and one was exactly the one we explored!
What could happen is not yet known in detail. I can only speculate: Perhaps the plane had been hit on the way home and was damaged? Or to be affected were the drivers (they are in fact died on 21st April while the rest of the crew is dropped on 22nd April and the other men tried to return to base? Further research in progress should shed light on their story. For the moment I discovered that the plane identified by us, the LN385, was used by Trumpeter, a manufacturer of model airplanes, scaled to reproduce a Wellington bomber. Usually, the choices of the house modelling to give a certain number of their models fall on airplanes participating in important activities. We hope therefore to be able to reconstruct their activity.
Lt. Nussey and 2nd Lt. Webster were South Africans, while the others were British. As often happened in many of the RAF crews, there was a good percentage of men from other Commonwealth countries. In this case, two South Africans and three British airmen but other teams had New Zealanders, Australians, etc.
Their graves are in the military cemetery located at the edge of Highway 18 that leads from Salerno Battipaglia together with those of others killed 1842 of the Commonwealth. A quick visit to the shrine could help many to think about how tragic and senseless war is, and recall the causes, to avoid making the same mistakes that gave way to the bloodiest conflict in human history in which the transaction was Avalanche a significant episode.
Lt. Albert de Wet Nussey. Salerno War Cemetery Grave 1.E.6. Son of Brigadier-General AHM Nussey and Bridget, of Potchefstroom, Transvaal, South Africa.
2nd/Lt. D.G. Webster. Salerno War Cemetery Grave 1.E.2. No further details are you able to assist?
Sgt. Bernard Alan Lincoln. Salerno War Cemetery Grave 1.E.10. Son of Henry and Edith Parlby Lincoln, of West Dulwich, London, England.
Sgt. John Green. Salerno War Cemetery Grave 1.E.8. Son of Mrs. E. Reid, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England.
Sgt. Frank Banks. Salerno War Cemetery Grave 1.E.4. Son of Abraham Harding and Winifred Banks, of Willenhall, Staffordshire, husband of Ivy Florence Banks, of Willenhall, England.
Researched by: Matteo Pierro, Francesco De Cesare, Pasquale Capozzoli, Daniel Jewel, Lucky Louis and Matthew Ragone
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 31 January 2022, 13:29