Operation: Blainville-Sur-I’Eau, France

Date: 28th/29th June 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 102 (Ceylon) Squadron, 4 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Halifax III

Serial: LW159

Code: DY:Q

Base: RAF Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire

Location: Cœuvres-et-Valsery, 15 km (9¼ mls) WSW of Soissons, France

Pilot: Plt Off. Henry Rogers 173133 RAFVR Age 31. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. George Edward Frost 613715 RAFVR Age 34. KiA

Nav: Flt Sgt. Llewelyn Williams 1412114 RAFVR Age 21. Id No: 78437 *, PoW No: 8124 ** (1)

Bomb Aimer: WO1. Robert John Wilson R153559 RCAF Age 21. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Plt Off. Robert John Messer 177070 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. James Alexander Ligertwood 1006198 RAFVR Age 22. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Plt Off. Leslie Clifford Potter 409742 RAAF Age 24. KiA

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimer, Germany in July 1937.

** Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

Left to right: WO1. Robert J. Wilson, Plt Off. Leslie C. Potter, as a WO, from their Service Records

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the night of the 28th/29th June 1944 102 (Ceylon) Sqn provided 20 aircraft to join a force of 230 aircraft that were detailed to attack the railway yards at Blainville-Sur-I’Eau and Metz in France.

Of the 11 Halifaxes lost from the Blainville-Sur-I’Eau raid 5 of the losses were from 102 (Ceylon) Sqn:

Halifax III LW143 DY:O (3 KiA, 4 PoWs);
Halifax III MZ644 DY:V (3 KiA, 4 Evd);
Halifax III MZ646 DY:W (5 KiA, 2 PoW);
Halifax III NA502 DY:S (2 KiA,1 PoW, 4 Evd).

LW159 was claimed by either Obstlt. Günther Radusch, his 62nd Abschuss from Stab./NJG2 or Maj. Paul Semrau, his 28th Abschuss from Stab II./NJG2 in the Soissons area at 01:00 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (12 May 1944 - 23 July 1944) Part 3 - Theo Boiten)

The aircraft crashed at Cœuvres-et-Valsery, 15 km (9¼ mls) WSW of Soissons.

(1) Just as Flt Sgt. Williams was going to bale out the aircraft was hit again and he was wounded in the forehead. The other six from the crew did not bale out and were killed. He then found himself falling and pulled the ripcord. He lost his flying boots and sprained an ankle on landing and had to leave his parachute and harness hanging in a tree.

Note: He was appointed to a commission and promoted to 178363 Plt Off. on the 26th May 1944 which was promulgated in the London Gazette dated 11th August 1944.

He found a nearby house and stole a pair of socks from an out-house and then knocked at the door. He was provided with a drink of water and was told that there were Germans nearby. This was near Villers-Cotterêts and where he slept that night in a haystack. About noon the next day, the 29th June 1944, he awoke and saw a farmhouse nearby.

Seeing two men in uniform there he started walking away. However, one of the men came after him and introduced himself as the owner of the house at which he had been given water the previous evening. The man’s uniform was that of the Forestry Guards and asked Flt Sgt. Williams what he wanted to do to which he said that he intended to make for Paris. He told him that he would help him and provided him with some food and told him to wait in the forest.

He returned with two other men in lorry at out 19:00 hrs and brought him some dungarees and a pair of boots into which he changed and then handed over his uniform. The two men in the lorry then drove his to the office of the Forestry Commission in Villers-Cotterêts where he stayed the office manage for about a month. During this time he was provided with medical attention for his head injury and sprained ankle. He was also provided with a set of civilian clothes and identity papers, using his escape photographs, describing him as a woodcutter.

When he had recovered sufficiently arrangements were made to take him to Paris. On about the 25th July 1944 the manager and his friend drove him by lorry to Paris. Arriving there he handed back his identity papers and was then taken by another man and was then handed over to a fireman. They then met two men in a café who both spoke English very fluently. One of whom apparently had been a French Liaison officer with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in 1940.

In the afternoon this man returned in a small van with a Gendarme. He was driven to the Gendarme 's house where he stayed until the 7th August 1944. This man seemed to be an organiser in the Resistance movement.

On the 6th August the Gendarme’s immediate superior in the Resistance movement arrived and invited Flt Sgt. Williams to stay with him. He accepted and the next day the Gendarme took him to his superior’s home where he stayed the night. The next day the house was raided by the Gestapo and the man, his wife and Flt Sgt. Williams were taken to Gestapo HQ at 84 Avenue Foch in Paris. He was interrogated but only provided his name, rank and number.

He was then transferred to Fresnes prison which was located to the south of Paris and was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 he was amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

He was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 1944.

Note: He was promoted to Fg Off. on the 26th November 1944 which was promulgated in the London Gazette dated 2nd February 1945.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages.

Flt Sgt. Williams amongst the PoWs who were transferred to Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde.

As of 1st January 1945, it housed 45,942 PoWs, including 24,996 French, 12,517 Soviet, 4,093 Serbian, 1,499 American, 1,433 British, 1,310 Italian, 86 Polish and 8 Romanian.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated.

He remained at Stalag 3A for about 3 weeks. He and others managed to get American transport on the 7th May 1945 to the River Elbe and then managed to organise a flight to Brussels and then onto England.

Returning to England he remained in the service and was promoted to Flt Lt. on the 26th May 1946. London Gazette 21st June 1946. He was then transferred to the newly reconstituted Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) retaining his rank of Flt Lt. on the 24th February 1951 which was promulgated in the London Gazette dated 8th June 1951.

He was transferred to the Secretarial Branch and promoted to Flt Lt. on the 10th September 1951 promulgated in the London Gazette dated 16th October 1951. He was transferred to the Reserve on the 21st August 1954 promulgated in the London Gazette dated 25th March 1955.

He relinquished his commission on the 24th February 1961 which was promulgated in the London Gazette dated 21st February 1961.

Llewellyn Williams was born on the 4th November 1922. He was Local Government Officer in Cardiff, Glamorganshire prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 20th October 1941.

Burial details:

Above Cœuvres-et-Valsery Community Cemetery. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC))

Left to right: Plt Off. Potter, Flt Sgt. Ligertwood, WO1. Wilson, Sgt. Frost, Plt Off. Messer, Plt Off. Rogers.

Plt Off. Henry Rogers. Cœuvres-et-Valsery Communal Cemetery Grave 11. Born on the 9th March 1913 in Monmouthshire, Wales. Son of William (deceased) and Florence Ethel (née Vowles) Rogers. Husband of Mary Letitia (née Morris) Rogers of Cardiff, Wales.

Sgt. George Edward Frost. Cœuvres-et-Valsery Communal Cemetery Grave 9. Grave Inscription: ‘TO LIVE IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE HE LEFT BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE. DUTY NOBLY DONE’. Born on the 2nd May 1910 in Northampton. Son of Alfred Mark and Emma (née Willmer) Frost of Northampton, England.

WO1. Robert John Wilson. Cœuvres-et-Valsery Communal Cemetery Grave 8. Grave Inscription: ‘PEACEFULLY SLEEPING’. Born on the 19th October 1922 in Parmerston, Ontario. Son of David and Sarah Rebecca (née Cherry) Wilson, of Palmerston, Ontario, Canada.

Plt Off. Robert John Messer. Cœuvres-et-Valsery Communal Cemetery Grave 10. Grave Inscription: ‘SILENT THOUGHTS, TEARS UNSEEN, KEEP YOUR MEMORY EVER GREEN’. Born on the 11th November 1923 in Morriston, Swansea, Wales. Son of Robert John and Maud (née Ellis) Messer of Morriston, Glamorgan, Wales.

Flt Sgt. James Alexander Ligertwood. Cœuvres-et-Valsery Communal Cemetery Grave 7. Born in 1922 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Son of James Alexander and Jessie Stuart (née Henderson) Ligertwood of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Also remembered on the Roll of Honour at The Scottish National War Memorial.

Plt Off. Leslie Clifford Potter. Cœuvres-et-Valsery Communal Cemetery Grave 6. Grave Inscription: ‘DUTY NOBLY DONE’. Born on the 16th April 1920 in North Fitzroy, Victoria. Son of Joseph William and Ethel Beatrice (née Hill) Potter. Husband of Lorna Constance Potter, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Jul 2024)

Other sources listed below:

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