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Operation: Essen
Date: 12/13th March 1943 (Friday/Saturday)
Unit: No. 100 Squadron
Type: Lancaster III
Serial: ED544
Code: HW-Q
Base: RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Location: Unknown - probably in vicinity of Essen
Pilot: Sgt. Ronald Moseley Peake AUS/408871 RAAF Age 21. Killed
Flt/Engr: Sgt. Harold Jowitt 945644 RAFVR Age 24. Killed
Nav: Sgt. Roger Fisher Rowe Sides AUS/412850 RAAF Age 20. Killed
Air/Bmr: Sgt. Ernest Hodgson 1506082 RAFVR Age 32. Killed
W/Op/Air Gnr: Sgt. Arthur Reece Roberts AUS/407909 RAAF Age 27. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Eric Chamberlain 1476619 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O Douglas Invicta Arthur 50778 RAF Age ?. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS
Airborne at 19:37 hours, Lancaster HW-Q was one of 457 aircraft that were dispatched that night targeting the giant Krupps industrial complex at Essen. ‘Oboe’ target marking had become operational just three months earlier and this raid proved how deadly accurate the system was. Although the weather that night was clear with a bright moon overhead, the ground below was somewhat obscured by smoke from the factories and later, during the raid, from a defensive smoke screen drifting across the target area.
The target indicators dropped by the Pathfinders were well concentrated and photographic reconnaissance the next day confirmed that the works had been severely damaged. 500 houses were also destroyed and 198 people, mostly civilians, were killed. In addition, German records show that one third of the bombs fell on the outskirts of Essen killing 39 people in the town of Bottrop about 8 miles to the north west.
Although the exact location is unknown, in all likelihood, ED544 was a victim of the flak barrage and fell in the vicinity of Essen as the remains of the crew were buried on the 18th March in the Hauptfriedhof (Am Gottesacker) in neighbouring Dortmund, 20 miles to the east, before being transferred to the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
Burial Details:
Sgt. Ronald Moseley Peake. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Collective Grave Ref. 3. C. 11-12. Born on the 17th August 1921 at Ringwood, the son of Arthur and Lilian Minnie Peake, of Mitcham, Victoria, Australia. Enlisted 20th June 1940.
Sgt. Harold Jowitt. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave Ref. 3 B 17. Son of John and Florrie Jowitt, of Sandal, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England.
Sgt. Roger Fisher Rowe Sides. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Collective Grave Ref. 3. C. 11-12. Born on the 19th March 1919 at Summer Hill, the son of George Frederick and Gertruge Evelyn Sides, of Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia.
Sgt. Ernest Hodgson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Collective Grave Ref. 3. C. 11-12. Son of Barraclough and Ruth Hodgson, of Bradford, Yorkshire, England. Husband of Doris Hodgson, of Bradford, Yorkshire, England.
Sgt. Arthur Reece Roberts. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave Ref. 3 C. 10. Born on the 24th December 1915 at Adelaide, the son of James Rees Roberts and Jeanne Roberts, of Henley Park, South Australia. Husband of Dorothy Roberts.
Sgt. William Eric Chamberlain. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave Ref. 3 C. 13. Son of John William and Ellen Bertha Chamberlain, of Middleton, Manchester, England.
P/O Douglas Invicta Arthur. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Grave Ref. 3 C. 14. Next of kin details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?
Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and RCAF specialist Colin Bamford for relatives of this crew.
CHB 24.03.2010
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Last Modified: 24 February 2023, 16:53