Operation: Toulouse, France

Date: 5th/6th April 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 207 Squadron, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: ME685

Code: EM:C

Base: RAF Spilsby, Lincolnshire

Location: 5 km (3 mls) from Toulouse city centre, France

Pilot: WO. John Raymond 'Ray' Senior 1057241 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Arthur Frederick Woolley 1819373 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Nav: Flt Sgt. Stanley Walter Sayce 1318013 RAFVR Age 25. KiA

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. John Thornton Read 1601667 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: WO. William John Waycott 415706 RAAF Age. 21 KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. Frederick Thomas Robert Bruce 423780 RAAF Age 32. KiA

Air Gnr: (Rear) Sgt. Henry Wilson 1852344 RAFVR Age 33. KiA

Above left to right: Sgt. Arthur Frederick Woolley Flt Sgt. Stanley Walter Sayce, both as trainees; Flt Sgt. John Thornton Read (Courtesy of Claire Jenkins-Robinson)

Above left to right: WO. William John Waycott; Flt Sgt. Frederick Thomas Robert Bruce as trainees from their service records.

Above: Sgt. Henry Wilson as a trainee (Courtesy of Yvonne Green)

REASON FOR LOSS:

ME685 took off from RAF Spilsby at 20:20 hrs to join a force of 144 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito to attack the aircraft factory at Toulouse.

The aircraft was carrying 1 x 4000lb High Capacity (HC) bomb, 10 x 500 lb general purpose bombs and 3 Small Bomb Carriers (SBC) with 12 x 30 lb incendiaries.

The aircraft was hit by Flak before their bombs were dropped and exploded with great force. The wreckage and crew fell to earth at 00:30 hrs about 5 km (3 mls) from the city centre.

ME685 and her crew was the only loss sustained on this mission.

The above photographs were taken by the brother of WO. Ray Senior at the memorial service for the crew in 1977. This event is organised by the 'Anciens Combattants' at Toulouse and is performed annually. The 'Anciens Combattants' at Toulouse is a veterans organisation. (Courtesy of Lisa Brister)

Above: Memorial plaque installed at St Etienne de Montaudran near the crash site on the 80th anniversary in 2024 (Courtesy of Yvonne Green)

Burial Details

Above: There are only eight Commonwealth Graves in the Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery, the seven from this crew and an LAC Alfred John Walters 1370713 RAFVR who died on the 13th March 1945. He was serving with No. 122 Staging Post (SP) Transport Command, and died in the Purpan Military Hospital, Toulouse from injuries sustained when he was knocked down by a motor vehicle at Purpan. (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Above: Initial Grave marker for WO. John R. Senior (Courtesy of Yvonne Green)

WO. John Raymond 'Ray' Senior. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Inscription: ‘IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR SON. HE DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE’. Son of Arthur and Minnie Maria Senior, of Dinnington, Yorkshire, England.

Sgt. Arthur Frederick Woolley. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 7. Inscription: ‘TO HAVE, TO LOVE, TO LOSE AND WHEN GOD WILLS, TO FIND. WORTHY OF REMEMBRANCE.’ Born on the 23rd October 1923 in Nottingham. Son of John Wooley (deceased in September 1941) and Annie (née Ledger) Woolley, of Nottingham, England.

Flt Sgt. Stanley Walter Sayce. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 2. Inscription: ‘LOST TO SIGHT BUT IN MEMORY EVER DEAR’. Born on the 15th April 1919 in Newport, Monmouthshire. Son of Albert Edmund and Sophia Kate (née Trigg) Sayce, of Newport, Monmouthshire (Both his parents predeceased him in August 1942 and June 1932 respectively). Husband of Jessie (née Forrest) Sayce, of Newport, Wales.

Stanley Sayce served with the Cardiff City Police between 1938 and 1941 before enlisting in the RAFVR.

Flt Sgt. John Thornton Read. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 3. Inscription: ‘IN LOVING MEMORY. EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS’. Born in 4th Qtr of 1922 in Tamworth, Staffordshire. Son of John Thornton (deceased in October 1940) and Inez Elizabeth (née Emmerton) Read of Wembley Park, Middlesex. Husband of Margaret Bradbury (née Rayner) Read, of Barrington, Cambridgeshire, England.

WO. William John Waycott. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 5. Inscription: ‘GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN. HE GAVE HIS ALL’. Born on the 10th June 1922 in Perth, Western Australia. Son of Samuel Sherwill and Ethel May Waycott, of East Perth, Western Australia.

Above: Grave Marker for Flt Sgt. Frederick Thomas Robert Bruce (Courtesy of Claire Jenkins-Robinson)

Flt Sgt. Frederick Thomas Robert Bruce. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 1. Inscription: ‘HE DIED THAT HIS SON MIGHT LIVE’. Born on the 1st April 1912 in Sydney, New South Wales. Son of Frederick Wilson and Esther Jane Bruce. Husband of Adelaide Dorothy Bruce of Kensington, New South Wales, Australia.

Sgt. Henry Wilson. Toulouse (La Fourguette) Communal Cemetery Grave 6. Inscription: ‘NEVER SHALL THY MEMORY FADE’. Born on the 1st October 1909 in Sunderland, Milford, Durham. Son of Charles and Mary Ann (née Warner) of Sunderland, Durham. Both his parents predeceased him in 4th Qtr of 1928 and 1940 respectively.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew. With thanks to Claire Jenkins-Robinson, a cousin of one of the crew, for the acknowledged photographs (Sep 2023). Thanks again to Claire Jenkins Robinson for the update to Sgt. Wilson’s Next of Kin details (Oct 2023). Thanks to Lisa Brister, who is a great niece of Sgt. Woolley, via Claire Jenkins-Robinson for the Ceremony photographs (Oct 2023). Thanks to Sgt. Henry Wilson’s great niece, Yvonne Green via Claire Jenkins Robinson, for his image, initial grave marker for WO. Senior and the plaque (Apr 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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