Operation: Mailly-le-Camp, France

Date: 3rd/4th May 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit No: 576 Sqn, 1 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Lancaster I

Serial: ME586

Code: UL:B2

Base: RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire

Location: Œuilly, 9 km (5½ mls) WNW of the town Épernay, France

Pilot: Plt Off. Roy Whalley DFC 173131 RAFVR Age 22. KiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Cyril Van de Velde 1583073 RAFVR Age 20. PoW No: 373 * (1)

Nav: Flt Sgt. John Duncan Ward 1620681 RAFVR Age 24. Id No: 78396 **, PoW No: 8119 *** (2)

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Stanley James Barr 1475695 RAFVR Age 22. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Fred Burgess 1436225 RAFVR Age 23. KiA

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Jeremiah McCool 658240 RAFVR Age 26. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Norman Parry Reilly 1089622 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

* Stalag Luft 7, Bankau nr. Kreuzburg O.S." (O.S. standing for Oberschlesien, Upper Silesia). Today called Bąków nr. Kluczbork (Poland).

** Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimer, Germany in July 1937.

*** Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On the 3rd/4th May 1944 576 Sqn joined a force of 362 aircraft tasked with an attack on German military camp situated close to the village of Mailly-le-Camp in France.

Of the 42 Lancasters lost on this mission 576 Sqn only had one Lancaster that failed to return. Enroute to the target the aircraft was shot down at Œuilly, 9 km (5½ mls) WNW of the town Épernay and on the southern edge of Parc naturel régional de la Montagne de Reims.

No record of a Flak or German night-fighter claim has been found.

(1) After baling out Flt Sgt. Van de Velde was aided in evading the Germans but was captured in Aulnay-aux-Planches on the 19th June 1944. Whilst being held in Châlon on the 21st June he was threatened to be shot as a saboteur. He was then moved to Paris on the 18th July and then to Dulag Luft, Oberursel on the 20th July where he was threatened that he would be turned over to German civilians.

He was then transferred to Stalag Luft 7 at Bankau arriving there on the 22nd July 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. He was Interviewed on the 8th May 1945.

Cyril Van de Velde was born on the 12th December 1923 in Loughborough, Leicestershire. He was a Printers apprentice prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 13th January 1942.

(2) The details of Flt Sgt. Ward’s initial evasion are not known. However what is known is that he along with three other evaders named Clarke, Phelps B, and Rowe met in Paris, at the flat of a sculptor's studio. On the 17th of July they were taken to another flat where there were a dozen other airmen.

Sgt. John Clarke 1581581 RAFVR who was the Flight Engineer from 514 Squadron, Lancaster III DS822;

1st Lt. Bryon F. Phelps O-743083 USAAF who was the pilot from 393 Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter Group P-38J #42-104211;

Flt Sgt. Andrew Rowe 1673459 RAFVR who was the Flight Engineer from 640 Squadron Halifax III LK840.

The next day on the 18th July the group were the moved to the Piccadilly Hotel where they were arrested and taken to Gestapo Headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch.

They were then transferred to Fresnes prison which was located to the south of Paris and was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 they were amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR died in the sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

He was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 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. He was amongst the North, East and remaining West compound PoWs that were sent on the 2nd February or Marlag und Milag Nord at Westertimke.

Marlag is an acronym for Marinelager (naval prisoner of war camp), Milag is short for Marine-Internierten-Lager(naval internment camp), and Nord is German for ‘north’.

On the 2nd April 1945 the Commandant announced that he had received orders to leave the camp with most of his guards, leaving only a small detachment behind to hand over the camp to Allied forces, who were already in Bremen.

However, that afternoon a detachment of over a hundred SS-Feldgendarmerie entered the camp, mustered over 3,000 men including Flt Sgt. Ward, and marched them out, heading east. The next day, at around at 10:00 hrs the column was strafed by RAF aircraft, and two PoWs were killed.

Over the next few days the column was attacked from the air several times. Finally the Senior British Naval Officer (SBNO), who was later killed in a strafing attack by RAF aircraft, offered the Germans the PoW’s parole, in return for being allowed to rest during the day and march at night. The Germans agreed.

On the 9th April 1945 the guards at Marlag-Milag moved out and were replaced by older men, presumably local Volkssturm. Meanwhile, the column slowly headed east, finally crossing the River Elbe, north of Hamburg, on the 18th April.

On the 27th April the camps were liberated by elements of the British Guards Armoured Division. The next day, the 28th April, the column finally arrived at Lübeck on the Baltic coast. They were liberated by the British 11th Armoured Division on the 1st May 1945.

John Duncan Ward was born on the 1st February 1920. He was a Sheet Metal Worker in Preston, Lancashire prior to enlisting in the RAFVR on the 20th November 1941.

Burial details:

Above: The Œuilly Communal Cemetery. (Courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission)

From left to right: Flt Sgt. Reilly, Plt Off. Whalley DFC, Flt Sgt. Burgess, Sgt. McCool, Sgt. Barr.

Plt Off. Roy Whalley DFC. Œuilly Communal Cemetery Grave 2. Grave Inscription: ‘DIEU ET MON DROIT. GOD AND MY RIGHT’. Son of Arthur and Fanny Whalley, of Blackpool, Lancashire, England.

The DFC was awarded to 1479286 Warrant Officer (WO) Whalley whilst with 576 Sqn. London Gazette 6th June 1944.

Sgt. Stanley James Barr. Œuilly Communal Cemetery Grave 5. Grave Inscription: ‘NOT JUST TODAY BUT EVERY DAY IN SILENCE WE REMEMBER’. Son of Percy and Katie Elizabeth Barr of Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England.

Flt Sgt. Fred Burgess. Œuilly Communal Cemetery Grave 3. Grave Inscription: ‘WE MISS YOU MOST WHO LOVED YOU BEST GOD BLESS YOU, DEAR YOU'RE NOW AT REST’. Son of George and Annie Burgess, of Thornton, Blackpool, Lancashire, England.

Sgt. Jeremiah McCool. Œuilly Communal Cemetery Grave 4. Grave Inscription: ‘REMEMBERED ALWAYS R.I.P.’.Son of Jeremiah and Mary McCool; husband of Charlotte McCool, of Nitshill, Glasgow, Scotland.

Flt Sgt. Norman Parry Reilly. Œuilly Communal Cemetery Grave 1. Grave Inscription: ‘GOD TOOK YOU FROM THE WORLD BUT NOT FROM YOUR LOVING MAM, DAD AND BROTHERS’. Son of Michael and Beatrice Ethel Reilly of Hull, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape for Aircrew Remembered and dedicated to the relatives of this crew (Jul 2024)

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