Operation: Hanover

Date: 27/28th September 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: No. 158 Squadron. 4 Group

Type: Halifax II

Serial: JN905

Code: NP-L

Base: RAF Lisett, Yorkshire

Location: Lost without trace - North Sea

Pilot: Sgt. Peter Henry Payne 1231503 RAFVR Age 21. Missing - believed killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. William Joseph Patterson 644823 RAF Age ? Missing - believed killed

Nav: F/O. William Jerome Erly J/9574 RCAF Age 29. Missing - believed killed (1)

Air/Bmr: Sgt. Frank George Peploe 1549732 RAFVR Age 21. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/O. Milton Horkheimer 132659 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. James Reid Murray 979186 RAFVR Age 27. Missing - believed killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Leslie John Dawkins 1811130 RAFVR Age 19. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 19:34 hrs from RAF Lisett on an operation to Hannover. 678 aircraft - 312 Lancasters, 231 Halifaxes, 111 Stirlings, 24 Wellingtons. 5 B-17's also took part. 38 Bomber Command aircraft - 17 Halifaxes, 10 Lancasters, 10 Stirlings, 1 Wellington - lost, 5.6 per cent of the force, a B-17 also lost.

Let: F/O. William Jerome Erly

The use by the Pathfinders of faulty forecast winds again saved the centre of Hanover. The bombing was very concentrated but fell on an area 5 miles north of the city centre. No details are available from Germany but RAF photographic evidence showed that most of the bombs fell in open country or villages north of the city.

21 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes of No 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid on Brunswick which was successful in drawing off some night fighters. 218 people were killed in Brunswick - 51 Germans and 167 foreigners. 1 Lancaster lost.

9 Mosquitoes on another diversion to Emden, 5 Mosquitoes on Oboe tests to Aachen (3 were successful), 19 aircraft minelaying in the Kattegat and the Frisian Islands, 4 OTU sorties. No losses.

No claims fo the loss of JN905 - it is possible they were hit by flak and lost later on their return - we seek further information. The crew only joined the squadron the previous month on the 12th August from 1652 Heavy Conversion Unit,

(1) Sadly the brother of F/O. Erly was also killed earlier in 1941. See here for further details.

Burial details:

Sgt. Peter Henry Payne. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 161. Son of Henry Albert Payne and of Maud Kathleen Payne (née Chivers), of Leicester, England.

Sgt. William Joseph Patterson. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 161. No further details - are you able to assist?

F/O. William Jerome Erly. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 173. Born on the 12th May 1914 at Toronto, the son of James William Joseph and Mary Maude (née Kenney) Erly of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Sgt. Frank George Peploe. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 161. Born on the 18th December 1921 in Wath-on-Dearne, the son of Frank George and Ethel May Peploe, of Wath-on-Dearne, Yorkshire, England.

F/O. Milton Horkheimer. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 125. Son of Ernest and Alice Horkheimer, of Golders Green, Middlesex, England.

Sgt. James Reid Murray. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 160. From St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. No further details - are you able to assist?

Sgt. Leslie John Dawkins. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 147. Son of Henry Edward and Sarah Jane Dawkins, of Deptford, London, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to sources as quoted below:

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