Operation: Operation OSRIC 45, Belgium

Date: 8th/9th August 1944 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit No: 138 (Special) Squadron

Type: Halifax V

Serial: LL308

Code: NF:Q

Base: RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshire, England

Location: In the vicinity of Lusigny-sur-Barse, France

Pilot: Plt Off. Graham Warren Paterson 424509 RNZAF Age 22. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Stanley Raymond Curtis 1629379 RAFVR Age 20. KiA

Nav: Plt Off. Alfred William Atterton 182784 RAFVR Age 32. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Lewis Paul Searell 427066 RNZAF Age 20. Killed (1)

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Horace Bedford 1543670 RAFVR Age 35. KiA

Air Gnr (Front): Sgt. Condor Charles Dowse 630916 RAFVR Age 22. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Francis Eyre Ogilvie Evans 422202 RNZAF Age 24. Evader

REASON FOR LOSS:

LL308 took off from RAF Tempsford at 22:00 hrs and was the first of six aircraft assigned on Operation OSRIC 45 to drop supplies in Belgium.

LL308 was claimed by Oblt Ernst-Georg Drünkler, his 22nd Abschuss, from 1./NJG5 in the Troyes area at 1,400m at 03:10hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten).

It is believed that the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Lusigny-sur-Barse, where the crew were laid to rest.

No explanation has been found to resolve the mission being recorded as supply drops in Belgium and the crash location some 170 km (105 mls) SSW of the Belgium border.

(1) Flt Sgt. Evans, the only survivor, baled out and landed 2 km (1¼ mls) SW of Géraudot, 18 km (11 mls) east of Troyes (Aube).

After burying his parachute, harness and Mae West he walked to a farm on the outskirts of Courteranges, some 6 km (3¾ mls) SW of where he landed, where he was given shelter. On 12th August 1944 he attended the funeral of five of his comrades who were killed in the crash and was told by the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), that Flt Sgt. Seartell, although wounded, had been executed by the Luftwaffe.

Note: The French Forces of the Interior (FFI) was the formal name for French resistance fighters in the later stages of WW2.

To date no information has been found that any investigations had been carried out by British authorities into the death of Flt Sgt. Seartell.

On 26th August 1944 Flt Sgt. Evans contacted Allied Forces after which he was flown back to RAF Tempsford on the 8th September 1944.

Burial details:

Above: Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery.

Left to Right: Plt Off. Atterton and Sgt. Bedford; Sgt. Curtis and Sgt. Dowse; Plt Off. Paterson and Flt Sgt. Searell. (Courtesy of the New Zealand War Graves Project).

Plt Off. Graham Warren Paterson. Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery Collective Grave 22. Son of Thomas Edward and Jane (née Henderson) Paterson, of Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand.

Sgt. Stanley Raymond Curtis. Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery Collective Grave 22. Inscription: ‘SO DEARLY LOVED, SO SADLY MISSED. EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS. MUM, DAD AND FAMILY’. Son of Albert Edward and Elizabeth (née Steptoe) Curtis, of Streatham, London, England.

Plt Off. Alfred William Atterton. Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery Collective Grave 22. Inscription: ‘"ON WHOSE SOUL, SWEET JESUS, HAVE MERCY" DOWN MEMORY LANE WE MEET EACH DAY’. Born on the 15th February 1912 in Middleborough, Yorkshire North Riding. Son of Robert Thomas and Ethel Maud (née Robinson) Atterton. Husband of Lilian (née Emerson) Atterton, of Redcar, Yorkshire, England.

Flt Sgt. Lewis Paul Searell. Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery Collective Grave 22.

Son of Stanley Luscombe and of Pearl Alice (née Jackson) Searell of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand.

Sgt. Horace Bedford. Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery Collective Grave 22. Inscription: ‘IN MEMORY OF A VERY GALLANT CREW WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES THAT WE MIGHT LIVE’. Born in 1st Qtr of 1909 in Bramley, Yorkshire, West Riding. Son of Thomas and Selina (née Atkinson) Bedford, husband of Alice Rowena (née Dacombe) Bedford, of Cross Gates, Leeds, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Condor Charles Dowse. Lusigny-sur-Barse Communal Cemetery Collective Grave 22. Inscription: ‘OUR LOVE FOR YOU WILL NEVER DIE. LOVING WIFE AND CHILDREN’.

Son of Charles William and Elsie Emily (née Russell) Dowse. Husband of Hilda (née Pickford) Dowse, of Marple, Cheshire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape and dedicated to the relatives of this crew.

Other sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2024 Last Modified: 18 July 2023, 08:14