Operation: München

Date: 6/7th September 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: No. 434 Squadron (Bluenose)

Type: Halifax V

Serial: DK262 (“The Rotary Club of Halifax”)

Code: IP-R

Base: RAF Tholthorpe

Location: Perlacher forst, SW Munich

Pilot: Sgt. Leonard Thomas Olmstead R/134468 RCAF Age 25. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Leslie Leonard Stone 1804541 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Nav: Sgt. Roger Moore R/139779 RCAF Age 24. Killed

Air/Bmr: Sgt. David Douglas Witts R/122133 RCAF Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frederick Trimby 1239637 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. George Wills Sutherland R/190551 RCAF Age 19. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Philip Murray Shulman R/136292 RCAF Age 20. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Halifax DK262 took off from RAF Tholthorpe at 19:35hrs for an operation on München. Part of 404 aircraft that took off on this operation. The city was mostly covered in cloud and the crews could do no more than bomb on a timed run from the Ammersee, a lake situated 21 miles south-west of the target.

The Halifax was shot down by the Luftwaffe nightfighter ace, Oblt. Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin (1) of 6./NJG1 his 20th claim of the war. The aircraft crashed into the Perlacher forst south west of München at 00:47 hrs.

(1) Hptm. Eckart-Wilhelm von Bonin (shown left), survived the war and died age 73, on the 11th January 1992 in Hamburg, Germany. (A total of 35 claims)

Burial details:

Sgt. Leonard Thomas Olmstead. Durnbach War Cemetery. Joint Grave 7.E.9-10. Son of Albert Wesley and Mary Jane Olmstead of Port La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. One of four children - educated at Wingham Consolidated School. Prior to service worked as a hired hand at Wingham and at the Gold Mines at Red Lake. When enlisted he was working at the Macleods Hardware store in Port La Prairie, Manitoba. Grave inscription reads: “I Hope To See My Pilot Face To Face, When I Have Crossed The Bar. Tennyson”. Olmstead Lake, north east of North Knife Lake was named after Sgt. Leonard Thomas Olmstead in 1974.

Sgt. Leslie Leonard Stone. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 7.E.8. Son of George and Edith Stone and brother of Lillian and Joan Stone of Barking, Essex, England. Grave inscription reads: “Sweet Is The Memory That Will Never Fade, Mum, Dad, Family And Friends”.

Right: Leslie Stone with his sister Lilian.

Sgt. Roger Moore. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 7.E.11-12 (Jt.) Son of Fredrick and Harriette of Kinley, Saskatchewan, Canada. Born in Kinley and attended Public School there. Prior to enlistment worked at the Toronto General Trust Company. Grave inscription reads: “Not Lost But Gone Before”.

Sgt. David Douglas Witts. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave 7.E.13. Son of Bernard and Flossie Witts of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Grave inscription reads: “Dear Father, In They Gracious Keeping, Now We Leave Our Loved One Sleeping”.

Sgt.Frederick Trimby. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective Grave 7.G.12-17. Son of Fred and Eliza Trimby of Smithies, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England. Grave inscription reads: “Love And Remembrance Live Longer Than Death”.

Sgt. George Wills Sutherland. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective Grave 7.G.12-17. Son of John Dean Sutherland and Margaret Florence Sutherland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Grave inscription reads: “Until The Day Break, And The Shadows Flee Away.”

Sgt. Philip Murray Shulman. Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective Grave 7.G.12-17. Understood to be from Toronto, Canada. This was his first operational sortie.

Researched for Aircrew Remembered by Linda Ibrom - June 2017. Page dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Morris Stanley and Joan Stanley for photographs and information - cousin of Sgt. Leslie Leonard Stone, also to ‘Operation Picture Me’ for some of the crew photos.

Crew:

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