Operation: Jever Aerodrome, Germany

Date: 26th/27th July 1942 (Sunday/Monday)

Unit No: 226 Squadron

Type: Boston Mk. III (A-20 Havoc)

Serial No: AL746

Code: MQ:S

Location: East of Langeoog island, Wadden Sea.

Base: RAF Swanton Morley, Norfolk, England.

Pilot: Plt Off. Victor Nelson Salmon J16066 RCAF Age 22. KiA

Navigator: Plt Off. Harold Frederick Deck 104388 RAFVR Age 29. KiA

Radio Op/Gunner: Flt Sgt. Sidney Duckworth 979532 RAFVR Age 25. KiA

Gunner: Sgt. Leslie Edward Caleb Oxley 650947 RAF Age 21. KiA

Above: 226 Squadron Boston Mk. III

REASON FOR LOSS:

Six Bostons took off from RAF Swanton Morley on the 26th July 1942 at 21:23 hrs for a diversion operation in conjunction with a heavy bombing operation on Hamburg.

The targets were three German Aerodromes with AL746 and AL700, captained by Sqn Ldr. Graham R. Magill DFC, tasked with bombing Jever Aerodrome.

Jever Aerodrome (now a NATO airfield) is about 15 km west of Wilhelmshaven and 4 km SSW of Jever itself. Aside from this operation on the airfield by RAF Boston and Blenheim intruder aircraft, with negligible results, the airfield was not significantly bombed during the war and was in relatively good condition when the war ended.

AL746 was seen, as reported in the Sqn Operational Record Book (ORB), to crash at 22:55 hrs after hitting the ground on the eastern edge of Langeoog on the way into the target.

There is also a claim for AL746 being hit by Marine flak and which the crashed to the NE of Spiekeroog island at 01:26 hrs (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (30 May - 31 December 1942) The Early Years Part 3 - Theo Boiten)

The crew were initially buried on Wangerooge Island in the local cemetery in Row 12, Graves 2, 3, 5 and 6. They were reinterred at the Sage War Cemetery on the 18th and 25th June 1947.

Langeoog, Spiekeroog and Wangerooge are three of the seven inhabited East Frisian Islands on the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea. In the island chain Langeoog is to the west of Spiekeroog and Wangerooge to its east.

The discrepancy regarding the cause, different locations and timings for the loss of the aircraft have not been resolved to date. The only saliant fact is that the initial burial of the crew was on Wangerooge Island on the 26th and 27th July 1942.

Burial details:

Above: Sage War cemetery (Courtesy of the TWGPP)

Marker for Plt Off. Salmon (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Coast Airman Missing (Courtesy of the Vancouver Sun)

Plt Off. Victor Nelson Salmon. Sage War Cemetery 11.D.2. Inscription: "HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE" ST.JOHN III.36". Born on 13th January 1920 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Son of Frank George and Jenny Hoyle (née Nelson) Salmon, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Above: Plt Off. Harold Frederick Deck (Courtesy of Claudio Meunier), and marker (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Plt Off. Harold Frederick Deck. Sage War Cemetery 13.A.6. Inscription: "WHEN A FREE MAN DIES, THAT MANY ENSLAVED MAY BE SET FREE, HE LIVES FOR EVER". Born on the 14th January 1913 in Argentina. Son of Frederick James and Violet Mabel (née MacFarlane) Deck, of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Husband of Delia Maria (née Battistesea) Deck, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England.

Above: (Courtesy of the Sevenoaks Chronicle Westerham Courier and Kentish Advertiser, dated, Friday July 31st 1942)

Harold Frederick Deck joined the RAF at Uxbridge as an airman on the 27th September 1940. 1267631 LAC Harold Frederick Deck was granted a commission and promoted to 104390 Plt Off. on the 9th August 1941.

There is a Window dedicated to him, his brothers and their father at the Church of St. Peters at Westleton. The window is dedicated to a father who died in February 1939 in Uruguay and his three sons who were killed in WW2 in the RAF. The window is in the south wall of the chancel, facing the WW2 Victory window in the north wall.

(courtesy of War Memorials on Line)

His brothers Plt Off. James Frederick Deck and Flt Lt. Charles George Frederick Deck were KiA on the 1st November 1941 and the 19th April 1945 respectively.

Marker for Flt Sgt. Duckworth (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Flt Sgt. Sidney Duckworth. Sage War Cemetery 11.C.2. Inscription: "HE WAS - WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS, THINK OF AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN, HE WAS THAT." Born on the 2nd April 1917 in Great Harwood, Lancashire. Son of Cecil and Ada (née Cotton) Duckworth, of Great Harwood, Lancashire, England.

Marker for Sgt. Oxley (Courtesy of the TWGPP).

Sgt. Leslie Edward Caleb Oxley. Sage War Cemetery 13.A.1. Inscription: "WE DO NOT FORGET YOU, DEAR, WE LOVED YOU TOO DEARLY AND WILL TO THE END". Born in 1st Qtr of 1921 in Bridgenorth, Shropshire. Son of John and Bessie (née Rampley) Oxley, of Ditton Priors, Shropshire, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape, Kelvin Youngs and Stefen Youngs and dedicated to this crew and their family. Special thanks to Claudio Meunier for his contributions.

Thanks to ‘The War Graves Photographic Project’ (TWGPP) for their great work.

Other sources as quoted below:

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