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Operation: Bochum, Germany
Date: 9/10th October 1944 (Monday/Tuesday)
Unit: No. 76 Squadron
Type: Halifax III
Serial: NA567
Code: MP-W
Base: RAF Holme–Spalding-On-Moor, Yorkshire
Location: Bochum
Pilot: P/O. Adolph Le Roy Wall J/91147 RCAF Age 22. Killed (1)
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Leslie Thompson Webster 2219042 RAFVR Age 33. Killed
Nav: P/O. Lloyd Ronald Kay J/90618 RCAF Age 22. Killed
Air/Bmr: P/O. Thomas George Morin J/95084 RCAF Age ? Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Peter Edward Bennett 1613599 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O. Mike Gnida J/95083 RCAF Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O. Kenneth James Edmison J/950146 RCAF Age 26. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
NA567 took off from its base at Holme-Spalding-On-Moor, Yorkshire at 17:13 hrs as part of a group of 435 aircraft – 375 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, and 20 Mosquitoes.
The raid was not successful. The target area was covered by cloud and the bombing was scattered. Local reports state that there was some damage in the southern districts of Bochum, with 140 houses destroyed or seriously damaged with approximately 150 people being killed.Four Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster were lost in this operation. NJG 1 (Nachtjagdgeschwader – Night Fighter Wing) claims 4 hits as follows:
Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer shot down a 4-engine bomber south of Bochum at an altitude of 5200 m at 2032 hrs. Georg Fengler shot down a 4-engine bomber south-west of Bochum at an altitude of 5800 m at 2035 hrs. This is the most likely claim for Halifax III NA567. Willi Morlock shot down a 4-engine bomber at Kody Munster at an altitude of 3200 m at 2045 hrs. Heinz-Wolfang Schnaufer shot down a 4-engine bomber at South Munster at an altitude of 3500 m at 20:55 hrs (his 100th victory).
This crew flew 8 operations together:
August 25th 1944 - Watten, France - against a V-bomb site;
September 10th 1944 - Le Havre, France;
September 12th 1944 - Gelsenkirchen-Nordstern, Germany
September 20th 1944 - Calais, France;
September 23th 1944 - Neuss, Germany;
September 26th 1944 - Calais, France;
October 6th 1944 - Scholven, Germany;
October 9th 1944 - Bochum, Germany.
(1) Wall Lake west of Porter Lake was named after P/O. Adolph Le Roy Wall.
Burial Details:
Right: Reichswald Forest Cemetery – October 2006. The crew are in the second row to the right of the tree.The crew was originally buried in Dusseldorf but was later moved to the Reichswald Forest Cemetery near Kleve, Germany.
P/O. Adolph Le Roy Wall. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Collective grave 8B. 12-17. Son of Adolph and Olga Isabelle Wall (nee Olsen), of Stockholm, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Sgt. Leslie Thompson Webster. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Collective grave 8B. 12-17. Son of James and Helen Webster; husband of Muriel Grant Webster, of Swindon, Wiltshire, England.
P/O. Lloyd Ronald Kay. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Collective grave 8B. 12-17. Son of John and Beatrice Caroline Kay, of Fort William, Ontario, Canada.
P/O. Thomas George Morin. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Collective grave 8B. 12-17. No further details - are you able to assist?
Sgt. Peter Edward Bennett. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Collective grave 8B. 12-17. No further details - are you able to assist?
P/O. Mike Gnida. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Grave 8B.11. No further details - are you able to assist?
P/O. Kenneth James Edmison. Reichswald Forest Cemetery. Collective grave 8B. 12-17. Son of Arthur and Fleda Edmison of Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Husband of Jeane Edmison of Brantford. Father of Ray, Ron, and Carol.
Researched by Ron Richardson and Kathy Edmison for Aircrew Remembered. Further sources as quoted below.
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them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 28 March 2021, 20:01