Mission: Hamburg

Date: 2/3 August 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit: RCAF 428 Squadron (Ghost)

Type: Handley Page Halifax V

Serial: EB212

Code: NA-U

Base: Middleton St. George

Location: North Sea

Pilot: P/O Victor Thomas Sylvester J/17282 RCAF Age 22

2nd Pilot: F/O Harvey George Funkhouser J/7036 RCAF Age 21 Killed

Flt/Eng: Sgt. Derek Charlesworth 1684079 RAFVR Age 20

Navigator: Sgt. Patrick John Forde 113667 RAFVR Age 28 Killed

Air/Bmr: F/Sgt. Geoffrey Keith Henry Creighton-Kelly 1331396 RAFVR Age 20

W/Op/A/Gnr: Sgt. Thomas Leslie Rose 1071860 RAFVR Age 24 Killed

A/Gnr: Sgt. John Wilson Lunn 534284 RAF Age Killed

A/Gnr: WOII Earl George Smith R/79401 RCAF Age 27 Killed

REASON FOR LOSS

This raid was the last of a period known as The Battle of Hamburg which ran from 24/25 July to 2/3 August 1943. Sir Arthur Harris had chosen this target to succeed The Battle of the Ruhr in order to disrupt submarine and ship building production by the bombing of generally civilian infrastucture areas of the city with the aim of demoralizing and displacing the labour workforce.
In total four major attacks were made during the battle which saw the introduction of “window” a tactic to render the German radar defences useless by dropping hundreds of strips of aluminum foil covered paper from the attacking bombers. Tests had shown that if enough of the strips were dropped many, many erroneous returns of the radar beams would totally confuse the radar operators as to which were real echoes from an enemy aircraft or a false return from a foil strip.
This operation was the most unsuccessful of the four raids as the bombers flew directly into a large thunderstorm as they reached the target area. Some of the Captains made the decision to turn back or bomb alternative targets which resulted in scattered bombing in and around Hamburg. Although not a designated target the town of Elmshorn outside of the city bore the brunt of most of the bombing. In total 30 aircraft were lost although not all by enemy action as several were lost due to icing, turbulence or being struck by lightning.

Although it is not certain it is suspected that Captain Sylvester and crew had reached the Hamburg area and after releasing their bomb load were making their way back over the German coast when they were intercepted by a nightfighter.

The Halifax crashed into the sea off of the north western coast of Germany. The bodies of Lunn and Creighton-Kelly were washed ashore some days later after the crash and that of Funkhouser was found off of Trischen on 20 August 1943. Lunn and Funkhouser were originally interered in the cemetery at Büsum and Creighton-Kelly at Friedrichskoog by the German authorities and then reintered at Kiel after the cesation of hostilities. The remaining members of the crew having no known grave.

Major Erich Simon of StabIV./NJ3 claimed a Halifax, thought to be EB212, brought down over the sea 25km WNW of Heide at 1:43 hours on 3 August 1943, the first of his two victories that night.
Simon was killed in action 7/8 October 1943 when his Ju88 was shot down by the crew of a Stirling bomber off of the coast of Denmark.

P/O Victor Thomas Sylvester

An American citizen, Victor was one of five brothers and a sister who emigrated with their parents to Paswegin, Saskatchewan in 1925. On completion of Grade XI at Paswegin High School in 1940 he helped his Father on the family farm until he enlisted in the RCAF on 27 May 1941. He complete his initial training at Regina on 13 September and was posted to No.15 Elementary Flying School, Regina. Posted to No.11 Service Flying School at Yorkton, on 8 November 1941 he graduated with his Pilots Flying Badge on 28 February 1942. After 14 days leave Victor embarked at Halifax bound for the UK arriving at No.3 PRC Bournemouth on 29 March 1942. Next posted to No.14 Pilots Advanced Flying Unit at RAF Ossington on 15 June for training on the twin engine Airspeed Oxford in preparation for converting to multi-engined bombers. Victor next trained on Wellington bombers first at No.25 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Finningley 28 July 1942 and then No.26 OTU at RAF Wing from 29 September until 20 January 1943 when he joined 428 Squadron. Victor completed 27 operations prior to being lost.

Left: P/O Victor Sylvester photo courtesy Victor's niece Jan Bergman.

Operational Record with 428 Squadron

February 1943
7/8 Lorient (served as 2nd pilot to Captain Manning) all flying Wellington’s
18/19 Gardening Friesian Islands – See Combat Report - Left
24/25 Wilhelmshaven
26/27 Cologne
28/1 St. Nazaire
March 1943
3/4 Hamburg
26/27 Duisberg
28/29 St. Nazaire
29/30 Bochum
April 1943
8/9 Duisberg
10/11 Frankfurt
14/15 Stuttgart
28/29 Gardening Friesian Islands
May 1943
4/5 Dortmund
12/13 Duisberg
13/14 Bochum
29/30 Wuppertal
June 1943
1 Gardening
11/12 Dusseldorf

July 1943
9/10 Gelsenkirken – first operation flying Halifax’s
13/14 Aachen
24/25 Hamburg

25/26 Essen
27/28 Hamburg
29/30 Hamburg
30/31 Ramscheid

F/O Harvey George Funkhouser

Harvey was born in his hometown of Port Colborne on 21 September 1921. By all accounts a very good student and perhaps more so an outstanding athlete and sportsman. He excelled at many sports both individually and as a member of several teams where he developed a strong sense of leadership and reliability such that he was held in high regard by his peers and mentors alike. Harvey graduated from Port Colborne High School with his Senior Matriculation Certificate in 1940 and worked for six months as a clerk at Bradleys Clothing Store before enlisting on 11 December 1940.

After completing his basic training, Harvey was promoted to a Leading Aircraftsman (LAC) and posted to No.3 Elementary Flying Training School at London, Ontario on 11 April 1941. He was next posted to No.1 Service Flying School (SFTS), Camp Borden where he graduated with the award of his Pilot’s Flying Badge on 21 August 1941 and granted an immediate commission with the rank of Pilot Officer. His success at flying and his sound leadership abilities led him to take a course to become an instructor. That October Harvey undertook a six-week course at Central Flying School, Trenton and was awarded his Instructors Certificate on 17 November 1941. Posted soon after to No.1 SFTS where he instructed student pilots until 28 December 1942 when he volunteered for active service on operations.

Posted overseas he disembarked in the UK on 13 February 1943 and was posted to No.3 Pilots Advanced Flying Unit on 2 March and then to No.24 OTU on 4 May 1943 where he trained on the twin-engine Whitley bomber. Upon completion of his course at OTU, he was recommended for flying four-engined bombers with the remarks: “An above average pilot and very sound captain. His long flying experience is evident in his flying. He has volunteered and is recommended for pathfinder duties when his navigator has had more experience.” Harvey’s next posting was to No.1664 Heavy Conversion Unit for training on the Halifax and Lancaster heavy bombers on 10 July 1943. On the very last day of July, Harvey was taken on strength of No. 428 Squadron.

Tragically, on his very first sortie, serving as the second pilot to Captain Sylvester to gain operational experience, he would lose his life in the crash of EB212.

Sgt. Derek Charlesworth
Derek was born on His father was a music teacher. He joined the Sylvester crew on the night of 9/10 July 1943 when they converted to the Halifax bomber. No further details are known.

Sgt. Patrick John Forde
First flew with Captain Sylvester on 14/15 April 1943. No further details are known.

F/Sgt. Geoffrey Keith Henry Creighton-Kelly
Geoffrey was born on 31 August 1922 in Calcutta, India. He was baptized at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Dhurrumtollah, Calcutta on 28 September 1922. An older brother Hubert was born in India in 1920. He first flew with Captain Sylvester on 18/19 February on a gardening operation to the Friesian Islands and would remain with him until the final flight. No further details are known.

Sgt. Thomas Leslie Rose
He first flew with Captain Sylvester on 18/19 February on a gardening operation to the Friesian Islands and would remain with him until the final flight. No further details are known.

Sgt. John Wilson Lunn
John was born on 30 December 1918 in Sunderland, Durham, England. He joined the Sylvester crew on the night of 9/10 July 1943 when they converted to the Halifax bomber. No further details are known.

WOII Earl George Smith

Like his captain P/O Sylvester, Earl was an American citizen who volunteered to join the RCAF in 1941. He was the eldest son of George and Martha having a younger brother and two older married sisters. After graduating from Classical Hign School in 1939, he had also worked as a hotel clerk in Florida for periods of time between 1937 and 1939. At the time of his enlistment, he was working at a factory in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. Earl traveled up to Montreal and enlisted on 26 April 1941.
After basic training and several temporary postings, Earl was posted to No.3 Initial Training School at Victoriaville, QC on 27 July 1941. Selected as a candidate for pilot training he was promoted to LAC and posted to No.4 Elementary Flying School at Windsor Mills that September. Unfortunately for Earl his progress in the course was unsatisfactory and not suitable for further training as a pilot ending up at Composite Training School (KTS) at Trenton on 15 October 1941. Following four months at KTS he was posted to No.4 Bombing and Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario to train as an air gunner where he graduated on 16 March 1942 with his badge and the rank of Sergeant.
Posted to the UK he arrived at No.3 PRC on 13 May 1942 and then posted to No.3 Air Gunnery School at RAF Castle Kennedy, Scotland on 29 June. Posted to No.14 OTU, Cottesmore 11 August 1942. No. 428 Squadron was formed at Dalton in Yorkshire on 7 November 1942 and Earl was posted there on the tenth of that month. When squadron operations began in February 1943, Earl flew his first sortie with Captain Manning to Lorient on 7/8 of that month. On his next operation on 18/19 February, he flew on a gardening operation to the Friesian Islands with Captain Sylvester and would remain with him until the final flight. Earl was approaching the completion of his first tour with 26 missions accomplished.
See above, Earl's Combat Report after an encounter with a Ju88 night fighter on the night of 18/19 February 1943

Burial Details:

P/O Victor Thomas Sylvester, Panel 178, Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK. Son of John and Olive (nee Christopherson) Sylvester of Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, Canada.

Sylvester Creek in Saskatchewan was named after P/O Sylvester in 1957

F/O Harvey George Funkhouser, Grave Reference 2 G 17 Kiel War Cemetery, Germany. Son of Annie Funkhouser, of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Derek Charlesworth, Panel 145, Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK. Son of Rowland and Ada (nee Wastnage) Charlesworth, of Rothwell, Yorkshire.

Sgt. Patrick John Forde Panel 149, Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK. Son of Patrick E. and Lilian Forde.

F/Sgt. Geoffrey Keith Henry Creighton-Kelly, Grave Reference 1 H 19 Kiel War Cemetery, Germany. Son of Hubert Henry Carlise and Edna Clare Louisa Boyde (nee Staples) Creighton -Kelly of Calcutta, West Bengal, India.

Sgt. Thomas Leslie Rose, Panel 163, Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK. Son of Thomas and Teresa Casia Rose; husband of Joan Rose, of Pontefract, Yorkshire.

Sgt. John Wilson Lunn Grave Reference 2 G 16 Kiel War Cemetery, Germany.

WOII Earl George Smith, Panel 180, Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK. Son of George D. Smith, and of Martha C. (nee McNeil) Smith, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Source Citation
Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Canada, Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947, Series: RG 24, Volume: 28236

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Canada, World War II Records and Service Files of War Dead, 1939-1947 [database on line]. Lehi, UT, USA. Ancestry Operations, Inc., 2015.

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) Veterans Affairs Canada

RAF Operations Record Books, AIR 27/1 – AIR 27/2893. National Archives Kew, UK.