Operation: 'Glow Worm'

Date: 15th July 1944 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 172 Squadron. 19 Group (Coastal Command) (motto: 'Insidiantibus Insidiamuir')

Type: Wellington XIV

Serial: NB831

Code: -

Base: RAF Chivenor, Devon, England

Location: Bristol Channel

Pilot: F/O. John Francis Waters AUS/408542 RAAF Age 26. Killed

Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Wouter Hazeu 1549980 RAFVR Age 25. Missing - believed killed

Obs: F/O. Thomas John Paul Magee J/21751 RCAF Age 21. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Norman Stanley Birch 1315909 RAFVR Age 21. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Henry Bruce McAuley NZ/421281 RNZAF Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Frederick Asby Wilkinson 1331024 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at around 02:00 hrs on a 'Glow Worm' Operation (Leigh Light training exercise)

Flying on radar due to very poor light and low cloud. They were flying on a dummy attack on MBG 88 that was positioned in the Bristol Channel when on their second run at 03:30 hrs passes slightly astern of MGB 88 at 15 ft. they extinguished the Leigh Light and banked away steeply.

It seems that a wingtip clipped the water and the Wellington crashed into the channel, about a mile away from MGB 88 and bust into flames. Only two of the multi-national crew bodies were recovered.

Burial details:

F/O. John Francis Waters. Bath Cemetery (Haycombe). Plot 51. Sec. H. Row T. Grave 240. Born on the 03rd November 1917 at Benalli, Victoria, the son of Clive Guilfoyle Waters and Mary Wilson Waters, of Brighton Beach, Victoria, Australia. (Master of Professional Studies) Enlisted 26 April 1941. Grave inscription: 'We Boast No More Of Our Bloodless Flag - Henry Lawson'.

Fl/Sgt. Wouter Hazeu. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 218. Born on the 19th April 1919 at Hilversum, Netherlands, the son of Willem and Marieanne Hazeu and husband of Margaret Elizabeth Hazeu, of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Wouter was a banker prior to the war. Please note that the CWGC list his age incorrectly as 26.

F/O. Thomas John Paul Magee Runnymede Memorial. Panel 247. Son of Thomas S. and Katharine A. Magee, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Fl/Sgt. Norman Stanley Birch Runnymede Memorial. Panel 215. Son of Stanley Herbert Birch and Elsie Birch, of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, England.

Fl/Sgt. Henry Bruce McAuley. Bath Cemetery (Haycombe). Plot 51. Sec. H. Row V. Grave 240. Born on the 22nd June 1922 at Auckland, the son of Henry McAuley, and of Annie McAuley (née Teal), of Newton, Auckland, New Zealand. Enlisted into the RNZAF on the 25th February 1942, prior to that he served in the New Zealand army for a year. Trained in Canada and also with 32 Operational Training Unit in England. Joined 172 squadron on the 26th November 1943. A total of 304 flying hours logged.

Fl/Sgt. Frederick Asby Wilkinson Runnymede Memorial. Panel 223. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the late Rob Philips who was a meticulous researcher into Dutch aviators who were listed as killed or missing during WW 2. We were entrusted to make his work available to be read by others before he passed away in 2010.

This has been presented as 'Lost' his archive and can be seen here. More about Rob, the person here. Also with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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