Operation: Stuttgart, Germany

Date: 28th/29th July 1944 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit No: 57 Squadron, 5 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: ME864

Code: DX:E

Base: RAF East Kirkby, Lincolnshire

Location: Eutingen, NE of Pforzheim, Germany

Pilot: Fg Off. Anthony Valentine Hutchinson Wardle DFC 175510 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Cyril John Ludlow 1863182 RAFVR Age 22. Murdered (1)

Nav: Fg Off. Frank Balfour Robertson 144681 RAFVR Age 24. PoW * (2)

Bomb Aimer: Flt Sgt. Robert David Bridgman 1587436 RAFVR Age 21. PoW No. 694 ** (3)

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Fred Eden 1755205 RAFVR Age 21. PoW No. 702 ** (4)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. Frank Fowler 1144839 RAFVR Age 23. PoW No. 705 ** (5)

Air Gnr (Rear): Sgt. Jenkin Morgan Gittoes 1064890 RAFVR Age 25. KiA

* Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland. (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser, Bavaria).

** Stalag Luft 7, Bankau near Kreuzberg, Silesia, Germany. (Now Bąków, Opole Voivodeship, Poland).

Above five (5) members of Fg Off. Wardle’s crew: Back left to right: , Sgt. Jenkin M. Gittoes Flt Sgt. Cyril J. Ludlow. Front left to right: Flt Sgt. Fred Eden, Flt Sgt. Robert D. Bridgman, Fg Off. Frank B. Robertson (Courtesy of Eloise Evans)

REASON FOR LOSS:

Lancaster ME864 took off from RAF East Kirkby at 21:44hrs and joined a force of 494 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitoes from 5 Group for a raid on Stuttgart.

Before reaching the target ME864 was intercepted and shot down by Hptm. Heinz-Wolfgang Schnauffer, his 87th Abschuss and second of three this night, from Stab IV./NJG1, near Eutingen, NE of Pforzheim and 30 km west of Stuttgart at 4.500 m at 01:50 hrs. (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (24 July 1944 - 15 October 1944) Part 4 - Theo Boiten).

Hptm. Heinz Wolfgang Schnauffer (Kracker Archives )

Maj. Heinz-Wolfgang Schnauffer survived the war. In 164 sorties he claimed 119 confirmed Abschüsse and two unconfirmed albeit the two aircraft appeared to have crashed. In post-war reconstructions of the German air defence system, he assisted the British with technical details. On the 13th July 1950 he was involved in a car crash in France and died of his injuries two days later. (Luftwaffe ACES - Biographies and Victory Claims (Mathews and Foreman) - Volume 4)

A second aircraft from 57 Sqn failed to return from this raid. Lancaster I PD212 DX:F was lost at about 00:30 hrs over France possibly NE of Romilly. Fg Off. W.A. Nichols, Sgt. E. Hirst. Fg Off. D.J.H. Littlejohn and Sgt. J.N. Hanton evaded capture whilst the other three from the crew became PoWs

(1) The circumstances leading to the death of Sgt. Ludlow were determined at a British Military court convened in Hamburg between the 3rd and 9th March 1948.

Two German nationals were charged in committing a war crime in that they at Eutingen, Germany, on or about the 29th July 1944, in violation of the laws and usages of war, were concerned in the killing of Sgt. C.J. Ludlow, Royal Air Force, a British PoW.

The two accused were:

Franz Oswald Schroth, a former SA-Sturmbannführer (Maj) and member of of the Nazi party;

Willi Schwab, a former SA-Sturmführer (Junior officer) and member of of the Nazi party.

The court heard that on the night of the 28th/29th July 1944 Karl Geuss and Friedrich Jakob Buchleither were on duty at the Gendarmarieposten (Police post) in Niefern and on patrol.

Geuss was an Oberwachtmeister der Reserve (Police S/Sgt. in the Reserve) and Buchleither was a Wachtmeister (Police Sgt) and the Postenführer (equates to NCO in charge) at Niefern.

Note: Buchleither was responsible for the area encompassed by Niefern, Eutingen, Kieselbronn and Öschelbronn.

At about midnight an air-raid alarm was sounded and the two made their way to the Kieselbronn town hall. At about 02:00 hrs they were contacted and told that an aircraft had crashed in the vicinity of Eutingen and were ordered to proceed immediately to the Eutingen town hall.

They then went to the location where the aircraft had crashed and took all the necessary measures for the guarding and cordoning off the site. Later that morning Buchleither returned to the crash site together with a man named Zorn, purportedly an engineer, and identified the aircraft to be English.

Julius Rudolf Zorn was a German National who was a goldsmith by trade.

Upon their return Buchleither was informed that a British airman had been captured between Niefern and Eutingen. He and Zorn, who had his boss’s car, collected the airman and took him to the town hall at Eutingen. Buchleither recorded the airman’s details and then telephoned the Wehrbezirkskommando (Military District Command) and requested that they collected the airman. He left the airman in the custody of Geuss and made his way to Niefern to inspect the bomb damage.

At about 09:00 hrs a second British airman was brought to the town hall at Niefern. Buchleither recorded the airman’s details and again telephoned the Wehrbezirkskommando. The airman was left in the custody of the on duty policeman and Buchleither return to the town hall at Eutingen. At about 11:00 hrs a car from the Wehrmacht arrived at Eutingen to collect the airman held in custody there. The airman held at Niefern was already in the car.

The identities of the two airmen that were handed over to the Wehrmacht are unknown.

At approximately 13:00 hrs Buchleither was informed that a third airman had been found and was being held in the town hall at Eutingen. Geuss had collected the airman who had one leg in a splint and was carried to the police room in the town hall using his parachute. When Buchleither arrived he telephoned the hospital in Pforzheim and asked them to collect the wounded airman. There were a number of unidentified Nazi party members present.

Shorty thereafter a fourth airman had been found dead in nearby woods. Buchleither together with the local Coroner trekked for 30 mins to reach the location and was away from the town hall for between 1 to 1½ hrs.

Whilst Buchleither was away Geuss described in his deposition that two men had arrived from Pforzheim who identified themselves as Gestapo. They then ordered him and everyone else to leave the police room so that they could interrogate the airman. Whilst clearing onlookers from the courtyard he heard screams of pain from the police room and then the sound of a gunshot.

Geuss returned to the police room and found the door locked. As he was trying to open the door it was unlocked and the two men exited, one with bloodied hands. Whilst this man washed his hands the two spoke with the Bürgermeister.

The Bürgermeister was believed to be August Issel.

When Geuss entered the room he saw the prisoner lying in one corner dead from a gunshot wound to the temple.

The deposition given by Schroth described different events leading to the shooting of the airman. He stated that on the day in question Kreisleiter Knab was furious that the captured airmen had not been killed and sent him immediately to Eutingen where he would find Schwab who would brief him. Schwab had informed him that some airmen had come down during the night and that they were to protect them from the civilian population who were intent on lynching the airmen.

According to Schwab’s deposition he was later admonished by Knab for not following the ‘information’ received from Martin Bormann that German nationals who had lynched Allied airmen should not been punished.

Note: Hans Christian Knab was the former Kreisleiter of Pforzheim who was tried, and convicted for the murder of five from the crew of 214 (FMS) Squadron Fortress III HB799.

Whilst speaking with the Bürgermeister at Eutingen he was informed that another airman had been brought in and the Bürgermeister immediately left for the police room downstairs. He and Schwab followed about 10 mins later. When they arrived they found the room full of people but only recognised the Bürgermeister and SA-Hauptsturmführer (Capt) Voigt.

Voigt had driven Schwab to Eutingen.

Schroth claimed that he pushed through the crowd and saw a man unknown to him, but who appeared to be the interpreter, conversing with the airman in English. The interpreter then ordered a policeman, believed to be Geuss, to clear the room because the airman would not make any more statements. Schroth claimed that the policeman told the interpreter that he should stop questioning the airman as it was a matter for the Wehrmacht.

Whilst Schroth was clearing the room he turned around to the sound of something falling and saw the interpreter sprawled on the airman. He claimed that he attempted to pull the interpreter away but each man had hold of the other’s neck. The Bürgermeister entered the room and Schroth went upstairs the to find a policeman. Before any policeman could intervene he heard one or more shots being fired.

He and Schwab then returned to the police room and saw the airman apparently dead. Schroth did not see the interpreter nor the Bürgermeister and when he asked those still present in the anteroom the only response he received was a shrugging of shoulders. He and Schwab then returned to Pforzheim.

Witnesses claimed that Issel was armed with a revolver and that he was the individual who had ordered the room to be cleared. Furthermore these witnesses claimed that it was Zorn who had shot the airman using Issel’s sidearm.

Zorn in his deposition admitted that he was called as an interpreter but claimed that he did not get any responses from the airman when questioning him. He was in the anteroom when the police room was cleared. He then went home and it was not until the next day that he was made aware that the airman was dead. He denied that he had mistreated the airman.

These claims could not be tested in court because both Issel and Zorn had died before the trial:

Zorn had committed suicide on the morning of the first day of the trial. He had been found a ground floor lavatory with his cervical artery cut. The time of death was estimated to be sometime after 08:00 hrs.

Issel had died on the 1st May 1945. His cause of death was not reported on his death certificate.

The court decided that the evidence presented was not sufficient to find Schroth and Schwab guilty of the charge and they were acquitted.

(2) Fg Off. Robertson was captured in the Stuttgart area on the 2nd August. After the statutory transport to and interrogation at Dulag Luft Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 on the 21st August 1944.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages. On the 2nd February he was amongst the remaining PoWs from the West Compound who were sent to Stalag 3A at Luckenwalde.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Fg Off. Robertson was interviewed on the 24th May 1945

Frank Balfour Robertson was born on the 9th December 1913 in Scotland. He was a bank clerk in Dundee prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 20th September 1940.

(3) Flt Sgt. Bridgman was captured at Pforzheim on the 29th July and was interrogated at a military depot at Pforzheim and then at a Luftwaffe airfield in Stuttgart.

Flt Sgt. Bridgman was appointed to a commission and promoted to 182694 Plt Off. on the 27th July 1944 (London Gazette 26th September 1944).

After the statutory transport to and interrogation at Dulag Luft Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7 during September 1944.

On the 19th January 1945, he was amongst the 1,500 prisoners marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February, and were loaded onto a train.

He was promoted to Fg Off. on the 27th January 1945 (London Gazette 25th January 1946)

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3A located about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Fg Off. Bridgman was interviewed on the 22nd May 1945

Robert David Bridgman was born on the 23rd October 1923 in Southampton, Hampshire. He was a Agricultural Student in Torquey, Devon prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 9th February 1942 Robert passed away on the 5th October 2005 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

(4)Sgt. Eden was captured at Pforzheim on the 29th July. After the statutory transport to and interrogation at Dulag Luft Oberursel he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7 during August 1944.

On the 19th January 1945, he was amongst the 1,500 prisoners marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February, and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3Alocated about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. Sgt. Eden was interviewed on the 13th May 1945.

Fred Eden was born on the 11th November 1922 in St. Helens, Lancashire. He was a garage hand in St. Helens, Lancashire prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 23rd October 1941. Fred passed away in the 1st Qtr of 1982 in St. Helens, Lancashire.

(5) Flt Sgt. Fowler was captured on the 29th July. It was not until the 27th August that he arrived at Dulag Luft, Oberursel. On the 29th August he was transferred to Stalag Luft 7, Bankau nr. Kreuzburg, Upper Silesia arriving there on the 13th September.

On the 19th January 1945, the now Warrant officer (WO) Fowler was amongst the 1,500 prisoners marched out of the camp in the bitter cold. They crossed a bridge over the river Oderon the 21st January, reached Goldberg on 5th February, and were loaded onto a train.

On the 8th February they reached Stalag 3Alocated about 52 km (32 mls) south of Berlinnear Luckenwalde, which already held 20,000 prisoners, consisting mainly of soldiers from Britain, Canada, the US and Russia.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated. WO. Fowler was interviewed on the 22nd May 1945.

Frank Fowler was born on the 16th August 1921 in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. He was a Machinist in Newcastle-on-Tyne prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 22nd February 1941.

Burial details:

The three airmen were initially buried in the local cemetery at Eutingen on the 30th July 1944. They were exhumed on the 29th July 1948 and reinterred at the Durnbach War Cemetery.

Fg Off. Anthony Valentine Hutchinson Wardle DFC. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave: 1.K.6. Born on the 10th September 1922 in Bishop Auckland, County Durham. Son of Valentine Hutchinson and Amy Katherine (née Bickmore) Wardle, of Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham, England.

Fg Off. Wardle was posthumously awarded the DFC for his service with 57 Sqn. London Gazette 1st June 1945.

Sgt. Cyril John Ludlow. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave: 1.K.7. Born on the 8th February 1922 in Wandsworth, London. Son of Ernest John and Alice Maud (née Hankin) Ludlow of Wandsworth, London, England.

Sgt. Jenkin Morgan Gittoes. Durnbach War Cemetery. Grave: 1.K.5. Grave inscription: “TO THE BEAUTIFUL MEMORY OF OUR BRAVE, BELOVED SON”. Born in February 1919 in Beryskir, Breconshire, Wales. Son of Vincent Fred and Blodwen Tydvil (née Morgan) Gittoes, of Hereford, England. Husband of Doreen F. (née Jones) Gittoes of Radnorshire, Wales.

Originally researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) for Oliver Bridgman, Mark Swan and the relatives and friends of the crew (Mar 2018). Reviewed and updated by Ralph Snape and Traugott Vitz for Aircrew Remembered. With thanks to Traugott Vitz for his work on the ‘VitzArchive’.(Feb 2023) Page sponsored August 2023. Thanks to Eloise Evans for the crew photograph (April 2025). Reviewed and updated with new PoW information (Apr 2025).

Other sources listed below:

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