I would much appreciate any help on the following casualty please Flight Lieutenant - Pilot 110570 Josiah Arthur Dean Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve - 57 Sqdn. Died 29th July 1942, aged 31. Buried - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 15. E. 13.
Posted in from 18 OTU on 7th July 42. 13/7, Duisberg. 14/7, Gardening. 21/7, Duisberg. 23/7, Duisberg. 25/7, Duisberg. 26/7, Hamburg. 28/7, Hamburg, missing..... Wellington Z1650.
28-29 July 1942 57 Squadron Wellington III Z1650 Op. Hamburg Took off at 2245 hours from Feltwell. (No further details of loss) Crew F/L. J A. Dean + Sgt. A W. Fricker + F/S. J E. Smith RCAF + Sgt. A. Daniels RCAF + F/S. P D. Dempsey RCAF + Sgt. H T F. Freysteinson RCAF + Source - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.3 - W R. Chorley. During the course of 1942, RAF Bomber Command visited Hamburg on 15 occasions. 1602 aircraft were dispatched with 1051 attacking the target (Navy, Industry, Transport and Oil) 1038 tons of HE were dropped along with 1008 tons of incendiaries. 100 aircraft were missing or lost.
Just checking out his name and date of death and came up with: UK, Electrical Engineer WWI and WWII Rolls of Honour, 1924, 1949 Name: Josiah Arthur Dean Death Date: Abt 1939-1945 Original data: First and Second World War Roll of Honour. Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London, England. From a family tree Josiah Arthur Dean 1911–1942 BIRTH APRIL 1911 • Rainford, Lancashire, England DEATH 29 JUL 1942 • Stratford upon Avon TD
Not your chap, but the name Freysteinson seemed worth a little dig... FREYSTEINSON, HARRY THEODORE FRANKLIN. Rank: Flight Sergeant. Trade: W.Op./Air Gnr. Service No: R/70881. Date of Death: 29/07/1942. Age: 20. Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force 57 (R.A.F.) Sqdn Grave Reference: Joint grave 15. E. 4-5. Cemetery: REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY. Additional Information: Son of John and Sarah Freysteinson, of Church bridge, Saskatchewan, Canada. WWII Veterans of Icelandic Descent Description: Flight Sergeant (Wireless/Air Gunner) HARRY THEODORE FRANKLIN FREYSTEINSSON - Born March 24, 1922 at Winnipeg, MB, son of John and Sigridur (Sarah) Freysteinsson, Churchbridge, SK. Harry served with the 57th Squadron (Royal Air Force). His Wellington aircraft was shot down over Lingen On Ens, Germany on July 29, 1942. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Klene, Germany. photo: http://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm:1997828. 57 Squadron code was DX plus individual aircraft letter. Just a small point, but I'd assume that Bomber Command at that stage of the War were using Hamburg for a target as, being on the coast would allow bombers more time away from German land AA defences, so it seems a little strange to find Z1650 being shot down near Lingen, quite a distance south west of Hamburg and well inland, but that must have been the route plotted, perhaps after releasing their bombs.
The plane was shot down on the night of 28 to 29 July 1942 on the border of Netherland-Germany on the Goudkampsweg in Ootmarsum. The six crew members were buried in Lingen on Ems and later transferred to Reichswald Forest.
Josiah was my great uncle. I have a couple more photos. The photos Of the planes cane from the my family. Would love to know if you have any more information on him DAVE
Hi Dave, thanks for getting in touch - he is on our website http://www.sthelensrollsofhonour.co.uk/wwiicasualty-843-Josiah_Arthur_Dean.html You might need to Join to see the photo's that we have - this is free of course.