Operation: Luxembourg

Date: 10th May 1940 (Friday)

Unit No: 150 Squadron, Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF), Bomber Command

Type: Battle I

Serial: K9390

Code: JN:I

Base: Ecury-sur-Coole, France

Location: Gosselies, Hainaut north of Charleroi, Belgium

Pilot: Flt Lt. Eric Parker 39111 RAF Age 26. KiA (1)

Obs: Sgt. John Whalley 562373 RAF Age? PoW No. 18820 * (2)

WOp/Air Gnr: Cpl. Rodney Kenneth Rye 551184 RAF Age 20. PoW No. 13046 ** (3)

* Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland (now Šilutė in Lithuania)

** Stalag 357, Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 10th May 1940 Battle I K9390 took-off from Berry-au-Bac as one of a force of thirty-two (32) Battles from 12, 103, 105, 142, 150 and 226 Squadrons who were ordered to attack German troops advancing through Luxembourg at noon. As it was impossible to provide fighter escort the bombers were briefed to make a very low approach to target and attack from as little as 250 foot (80 meters) using bombs with a delayed fuse.

K9390 and L5539, from the squadron. attacked a reported enemy column on the road from Jung-lins-ter to Ech-ter-nach a 16 km (10 mls) stretch of road in Luxembourg.

They were met with heavy ground fire during the low-level attack on the column which damaged K9390 severely enough that required them to force-land at Rue de la Barrière, Merl on the western side of Luxembourg city at approximately 16:25 hrs. Flt Lt. Parker was killed as a result. Sgt. Whalley was unhurt but Cpl. Rye was wounded having his right thumb being shot off, both were captured.

According to local people, the crew opened fire on approaching German soldiers killing five (5) five. Flt Lt. Parker may have been killed during this action while using his firearm. Several other photographs confirm the presence of the body of one of the crew beside the downed aircraft. Studying the image of the cockpit shows no bullet holes so it is possible that he had dismounted the plane before engaging the soldiers.

Short video describing the crew and loss of Battle I K9390 JN:I (Courtesy of Tom Bowen, Michael Beckers and Peter Schlebaum).

(1) Eric Parker was granted a Short Service commission as acting Plt Off. effective 7th September 1936 (London Gazette 22nd September 1936). He was confirmed in his appointment and graded as a Plt Off. on the 13th July 1937 (London Gazette 14th September 1937).

Note: The notification for his promotion to Fg Off. has not been found.

Fg Off. Eric Parker was promoted to Flt Lt. effective 13th February 1939 (London Gazette 14th February 1939).

Above: Courtesy of The Province, dated 18th May 1940

(2) The ‘General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners of War’ for Sgt. Whalley is not available. The only PoW information found is that he was at Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug.

(3) Cpl. Rye was captured near Luxembourg and transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberursel arriving there on the 11th May. After the statutory solitary confinement and interrogation he was transferred to Stalag 12A on the 18th May 1940.

Stalag 12A Located between Limburg an der Lahn and Diez, 4 km SW of Limburg and was used as a transit camp.

On the 17th June 1940 he was transferred to Stalag 8B, Lamsdorf, now called Łambinowice in Silesia. On the 17th July 1940 he was transferred to Stalag Luft 2, Barth-Vogelsang arriving there on the 19th July 1940.

The camp was the first permanent PoW camp for members of the Western Allied Air Forces and was opened in 1941 to hold British officers, but was closed 20th April 1942, when they were transferred to other camps. It was renamed Stalag Luft 1 on the 1st December 1942.

Cpl. Rye was transferred to Stalag Luft 3, Sagan arriving there on the 21st April. On the 24th June 1943 he was transferred to Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland.

In June 1943 Stalag Luft 6 became a Stalag for enlisted men, when British and Canadian NCOs (non-commissioned officers) arrived at the camp from Stalag Luft 1 and Stalag Luft 3.

In early 1944 the Russian Army were advancing into the Baltic States from the North and the East preparation for evacuating the camp was being made. PoWs from Stalag Luft 6, the camp closest to the Russian advance, were in the "northern route" of the force-marches, and were transported to Stalag 20A by train commencing on the 9th July 1944and from there took part in the forced-march. It was estimated that 100,000 PoWs took the northern route. It went to Stalag Luft 4 at Groß-Tychow, Pomerania then via Stettin to Stalag 9B and Stalag 357 Fallingbostel, however, it was officially designated as Stalag 357 Oerbke. Some prisoners were marched from here at the end of the war towards Lübeck.

In early April 1945 the PoWs were informed by the Commandant Oberst Hermann Ostmann that 12,000 British PoWs were being evacuated from the camp in the face of the Allied advance. The men marched from the camp in columns of 2,000.

After ten (10) days they arrived at Gresse, east of the Elbe. There they were issued with Red Cross parcels, but were then unfortunately strafed by British Typhoonfighter-bombers, mistaking them for German troops. Sixty (60) PoW were killed and many wounded.

WO. ‘Dixie’ Deans confronted OberstOstmann and bluntly gave him a choice, to be captured to the Russians or the British. Ostman provided WO. Deans with a pass and a German guard, and they headed west to contact the advancing British troops. On the 1st May 1945 WO. Deans and his guard were sheltering in a house east ofLauenbergwhen they heard over the radio the news of the death of Adolf Hitler. The next morning the house was overrun by troops of the British 6th Airborne. WO. Deans was taken to the commander of VIII Corpsand explained the situation. He was given a captured Mercedes car and drove back to Gresse. Two days later the PoW column marched back across the British lines. The now Warrant Officer (WO) Rye was interviewed on the 10th May 1945.

Rodney Kenneth Rye was born on the 28th October 1919 in Richmond South in London. He enlisted in the Regular Royal Air Force (RAF) on the 22nd September 1936. Rodney passed away on the 22nd October 2011 in Chichester, West Sussex.

Burial details:

Flt Lt. Eric Parker. Luxembourg (Hollerich) Communal Cemetery Grave 7. Born circa 1914 in British Columbia, Canada. Son of Ralph Fernleigh and Katherine Welcome Parker of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. Husband to Joan M. (née Lemercier) Parker of Southampton, Hampshire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape from Aircrew Remembered as dedicated to this crew and their families with thanks to Tom Bowen for the link to the video (Aug 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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