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Operation: Krefeld
Date: 21/22nd June 1943
Unit: No. 158 Squadron
Type: Halifax II
Serial: HR735
Code: NP-N
Base: R.A.F. Lissett, Yorkshire
Location: Kaathoven (noor Brabant), near Berlicum, Holland
Pilot: P/O. Colin Harben Robinson D.F.C. N/Z415786 RNZAF Age 25 Killed
Pilot 2: Sgt. Ernest Herbert Fisher 1332036 RAFVR Age 21. Killed
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Stanley George Benjamin Hayes 1269598 RAFVR Age 24. Killed
Nav: Sgt. George Alexander Hill 1526249 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
Air/Bmr: Sgt. Walter Thomas Dunning 1435865 RAFVR Age 33. Missing
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Harry Frederick Barham 1270788 RAFVR Age 22. Missing
Air/Gnr: Sgt. David Duncan Cuthbert 1573822 RAFVR Age 28. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. George Beardmore Mycock 1078078 RAFVR Age 20. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Halifax II HR 735 took off from Lissett at 23.18 on an operation to Krefeld, Germany. 705 aircraft took part - 262 Lancasters, 209 Halifaxs, 117 Stirlings, 105 Wellingtons and 12 Mosquitoes.
Krefeld was hit very badly with the loss of 1,056 people on the ground killed, 4,550 injured, 72,000 people lost their homes. 47% of the city was burnt out following the dropping of 2,306 bombs.
This was not without huge losses to the RAF though, with 44 aircraft being lost, mostly due to German night fighters. 214 crew members were killed and a further 65 being made Prisoners of War.
After being shot down by a night-fighter flown by Hptm Hans-Dieter Frank (1), of 2./NJGI, with combat taking place at 01.37 hrs. at 5,500 mtrs, Halifax HR735 crashed at 01.58 hrs. at Kaathoven (noor Brabant), near Berlicum, Holland.
Earlier on June 12/13th, during a raid on Bochum, this crew was commended after being severely shot up by another night-fighter. This resulted in an immediate commissioning and award of the DFC for the New Zealand pilot.
(1) This was the 34th victory by Hptm Hans-Dieter Frank who went on to claim a massive 52 confirmed kills (plus a further 5 unconfirmed) before he was killed on the 27/28th September 1943. His aircraft was in collision with a Bf110 of stab 1./NJG1 - he managed to bale out but was strangled when he failed to disconnect the cable of his radio helmet before ejecting from his He219. The crew of the Bf110 were also killed during the collision.
P/O. Colin Harben Robinson DFC. Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery. Grave 25.B.2. Son of Walter Francis and Emily (nee Young) of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Sgt. Ernest Herbert Fisher. Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery. Grave 25.B.4. Son of of Herbert Francis and Rosa Lydia Fisher. Newington Butts, Berks, England.
Sgt. Stanley George Benjamin Hayes. Uden War Cemetery. Grave 5.E.8. Son of Stanley Frederick and Minnie Amelia (nee Elliott) of Finsbury, London, England.
Sgt. George Alexander Hill. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 153. Son of Robert and Eleanor Hill of St. Pancras, London, England.
Sgt. Walter Thomas Dunning. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 148. Son of William and Emma Mary of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England.
Sgt. Harry Frederick Barham. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 141. Son of Harry Ottawa and Florence Beatrice (nee Adams) Barham of Hastings, East Sussex, England.
Sgt. David Duncan Cuthbert. Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery. Grave 25.B.1. Son of David James William and Isabella Dorothea (nee Dow). Further Information: Born on the 8th April 1915 in Edinburgh, Scotland and is believed to have followed his father, a master butcher, into the trade as an apprentice butcher before volunteering for the RAF.
Sgt. George Beardmore Mycock. Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery. Grave 25.B.2. Son of Frederick Arthur and Olive Anne Mycock of Buxton, Derbyshire, England.
Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and specialist genealogist Linda Ibrom and also Ken Cuthbert for relatives of this crew. With thanks to the following, Adrian van Zantvoort, Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 02 August 2014, 13:09