Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
Check our Research databases: Database List
.

---

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

---

09/10.10.1944 No. 76 Squadron Halifax III NA567 MP-W P/O. Adolph Wall

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.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2024 Last Modified: 28 March 2021, 20:01

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor