Mission: Brunsbuttel, Germany

Date: 4th September 1939 (Monday)

Unit: 9 Squadron

Type: Wellington I

Serial: L4275

Code: WS:H

Base: RAF Honington, Bury St. Edmunds,

Location: Off the German coast, North Sea

Pilot: Flt Sgt. Albion John Turner 561939 RAF Age 27. Killed

2nd Pilot: Sgt. Donald Edward Jarvis 565602 RAF Age 24. Killed

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. Bertie Greville Walton 550292 RAF Age 20. Missing

WOp/Air Gnr: AC2. Kenneth George Day 549741 RAF Age 20. Killed

Air Gnr (Rear): AC1. George Thomas Brocking 546065 RAF Age 22. Missing

Wellington Mk I from No. 9 Squadron. Model of Kiel harbour and district made by RAF Model Making Section, Medmenham. Kiel harbour

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off from RAF Honington 16:05 hrs as No. 3 of Sqn Ldr. Lamb's section to attack the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Brunsbuttel harbour at the mouth of the Kiel Canal.

The aircraft reached the target area which was covered in low cloud and it is believed that Wellington L4268 was shot down by flak or may have been attacked by German Bf109's and crashed into the sea.

Further research has identified that two Wellingtons, this aircraft and Wellington I L4268 WS:? were claimed on this date and location by either:
Feldwebel Hans Troitzsch from 6./JG77 - Brunsbuttel at 17:25 hrs.
Feldwebel Alfred Held from 6./JG77 - Brunsbuttel at 17:15 hrs.
(OKL Fighter Claims for the Reich & Western Front 1939-40)

Both battleships were undamaged. The crew were some of the first casualties of WW2, the war having been declared the day before

The battle cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst were undamaged

Burial Details:

Flt Sgt. Turner and Sgt. Jarvis was initially interred in the Wilhelmshaven German Military Cemetery before being moved to their final resting place on the 8th July 1947.

Sage War Cemetery, Runnymede Memorial and Becklingen War Cemetery

Flt Sgt. Albion John Turner. Sage War Cemetery, Germany. Grave Ref: 4. E. 3. Born on the 6th October 1911 in Portsmouth. Son of Albion Henry and Beatrice May (née Jenkinson) Turner of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

Sgt. Donald Edward Jarvis. Sage War Cemetery, Germany. Grave Ref: 4. C. 5. Son of Percy Herbert and Alice Eliza Jarvis of Chatham, England.

Sgt. Bertie Greville Walton. Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 2. Son of Ellen Mary Walton of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England.

AC2. Kenneth George Day. Becklingen War Cemetery, Germany. Grave Ref: 26. C. 12. Son of George Allen and Edith Blanche Day of Belle Vue, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England.

A report from Rotterdam states that the body of AC. Kenneth Day was picked up on September 14th 1939, by a cargo steamer and that he was buried with full military honours in Cuxheaven, Germany. He was reinterred at Becklingen on the 24th December 1946.

AC1. George Thomas Brocking. Runnymede Memorial, Surrey. Panel 2. Born in June 1917 in Wandsworth, Greater London. Son of William Percy and Jessie May (née Youell) Brocking. Both his parents predeceased him in December 1933 and May 1924 respectively.

Researched by Kate Tame, Aircrew Remembered - for the relatives and friends of the crew. Thanks Martin W Bowman - 'Bombs Away.' Thanks to John Jones for the fighter claim information (Mar 2019). Thank to John Jones for the Grave Concentration information (Nov 2021). NoK updates by Aircrew Remembered (2021). Other acknowledgments below.

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