Hello all, our country is in lock down due to the Global pandemic, and as a result I find I have some spare time to continue with my research. Can anyone please categorically CONFIRM the actual crash site of above named Lancaster. Details are PA214 9J-J. 227 Squadron Crashed 14th/15th March 1945 Operation was to bomb oil refinery Lützkendorf. All crew killed. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks one and all. Regards kiwiazza.
Thanks for the credit, but the guy who set it all up really deserves the credit, Fred But to answer the question a little better, the CWGC records often have a tab for "Concentration" which records where they were initially buried, before being "concentrated" into a CWGC cemetery. In the case of this crew, all were initially buried in Ersingen Civil Cemetery on 14 April 1945. Rouse, Edwards, Orry and Thomas were in 1 grave (not 4) as a multiple grave, so it's possible that they were killed in the fighter attack, remaining in the aircraft, whereas the other 4 crew members were able to be individually identified, but that's just a speculation as to why they couldn't also be individually identified. The CWGC has then appeared to be able to identify Rouse and Thomas and bury in individual graves 5 and 7 with Edwards and Orry "sharing" Grave No 6 in Durnbach. The crash would likely to have been in the vicinity of Ersingen, if that helps clarify.
The RAF Balderton Research Group posted on facebook in 2018 about Henry Thomas (crew member), who was killed when PA214 9J-P "Polly Peppermint" was shot down. This post just says it crashed near Illesheim. RAF Balderton Research Group Their website is here: RAF Balderton Research Group
Indeed merging together all informations from Lancaster NG399 EM-O 207 squadron Lancaster Crash Site we have a rough estimate of who was probably shot down by whom and where: Ofhr. Bunje 207 Squadron. Lancaster I NG399 EM-O. Buchfart Olt. Daborer 49 Squadron. Lancaster I RF153 EA-K. Braunsbreda Flak 50 Squadron. Lancaster I NG177 VN-L. Lützkendorf Becker/Johanssen 227 Squadron. Lancaster I RA 546, 9J-J Schussbach 189 Squadron Lancaster I NX567 CA-Q Leuzenbronn 214 Squadron B-17 Mark III HB802 BU-O Baiersbronn Hptm. Friedrich 57 Squadron. Lancaster I NG398 DX-N. Ettlingen 227 Squadron. Lancaster I PA214 9J-P. Ersingen both locations are just 30km apart, hence... this leaves us to 106 Squadron. Lancaster I LL948 ZN-V. who seems entirely missing Beckers astonishing overclaiming remains a total mystery....I have an idea of that, but: De mortuis nil nisi bene
With regard to LL948 ZN-V the rear gunner survived...... so what became of the wreckage? In Locke's RAAF Casualty file, there is a record from Flt Sgt J S Hussey 1598072, of Samands Farm, Farnham, Blandford, Dorset after repatriation that states ".... the aircraft was returning from the target Lutzkendorf and just south of Karlsruhe was hit by ack ack fire. In a few seconds the aircraft was out of control and the intercom failed. Flt Sgt Hussey bailed out from the rear turret (the turret could be rotated so that by opening the rear door the gunner could simply fall out backwards - if he was wearing his parachute). He was captured by German soldiers close to the wreckage of his aircraft. The Germans found no trace of other survivors and Flt Sgt Hussey is confident that he was the only one to bale out." In his letter he states that the fires started forwards and spread so quickly that the rest of the crew must have been overcome. He also sates he landed close to the blazing aircraft. So the aircraft wreckage was located, presumably somewhere south of Karlsruhe, and the wreckage examined to find no other survivors..... So what became of the crew? The RAAF MRES were still looking for any evidence in 1949.... From Husseys description it seems unlikely that he was taken to another nearby wreck, or that LL948 travelled as far as the North Sea to be lost forever. I assume similar information is also in Cossart and Barrows files. Sole beneficiary of his Will was his mother Doris, in Marounbra, Sydney. Perhaps his father Campbell Kingsley Locke had died? For what little it adds, it was Locke's 9th Op.
The aircraft already burned mid-air and presumably the impact turned the wreckage into a huge pyre for the unlucky crew . Unfortunately from late 1944 onwards it became sad practice to care less and less for the remains of aircrews, regardless of nationality: More than often the remains of a crash were either left where they are or brushed into the impact craters and refilled Once we discovered human remains amidst the scattered debris of a Bf 110 in a forest. But officially the entire crew of three was buried on a war cemetery nearby. As it revealed the recovery crew only brought back the heads for burial, leaving anything else behind.... Could imagine the care for enemy crews was even less I suspect the debris of that particular Lancaster was removed sometimes postwar, including the remains of the crew, hence the MRES found nothing there Example for fate of 467. Squadron Lancaster ED 867 PO-, Crew MIA 29.01.1944 Flugzege
Thank you gentlemen for your replies. That does clarify a couple of things for me. Re the order of claims for that raid, who knows, it was a confusing night with over claiming evident. In regards to the RAF Balterdon website information on 9J-P , I will be writing to them as they can’t put information on a public Facebook page that is incorrect. Especially when it comes to deceased airmen who died in battle. Now I know the location of where the airmen were buried that gives a clear indication of where they went down. So thanks for that. Best regards all
Just a little extra comment.... Intrigued by the name "Polly Peppermint", I wondered why the crew had chosen that (with the aircraft letter "P" it's often Peter, Paul or similar, not often a double alliteration.... Here's why... The adventures of Polly Peppermint (Hardcover) – 1943 by Ada May Harrison (Author), Robert Sargent Austin (Author) As a child in 1945, books were in short supply, and I read this so often that I could recite it from memory. As a teenager, I found that a school friend also knew this book. It went right out of my mind till I was around 60, and suffering from insomnia. I remembered this book, and tried to recall as much as I could, and gradually more and more of it came back to me. I eventually managed to track down a copy, and found that I had remembered well over half of it - it had obviously made a big impression! Polly Peppermint was much more badly-behaved than Just William, and left a trail of havoc. As an adult, I am puzzled by the casual way in which she goes missing, is exploited as child labour, and finally returned to her home with no recriminations - to a child reader, this just seemed delicious naughtiness. Obviously being a new (and rare) book in wartime, this made an impression on the crew - leaving a trail of destruction appealed.
214 Squadron Fortress III HB779 BU-L was also hit but after the crew bailed out the pilot managed to fly the crippled bomber back home. The others were murdered by a mob: The Murder of Five Captured RAF Officers. Warning: Graphic Images
The Locke family migrated from Staffordshire to Australia in 1912. Campbell, born Greenwich October 1899, served in WWI. Deceased Sydney May 1963.
