Lancaster PB265 FOUND!!!!

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by simonweir, Jan 14, 2010.

  1. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Hi folks
    at long last I have located the wreckage of my grandfather's crashed Lancaster Bomber. PB265 UL-V2. The 'Old Wings Association' in Paris located and excavated the crash site in 1989. The have used the recovered usable parts in Lancaster WU21 (NX664) which they are reconstructing. I have six pieces of the wreckage already,but this is amazing news. Over the years museum items from the crash have been displayed locally in the Museum Airborne of Ste Mére l'Eglise.
    Im planning to visit the crash site in Carquebut soon to dedicate a plaque to the pilot F/O RJ SARVIS USAAF, who died in the crash. Then on to Paris to see the remains of Sgt weir's plane. Heres a photo of the restoration.
    I also intend to bring back some of the wreckage to be displayed at his old base at Elsham Wolds, where 576 Squadron have a museum.
    What a week!!
     

    Attached Files:

    canuck likes this.
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Bloody hell thats some restoration !

    Well done to all concerned :)

    Regards
    Andy
     
  3. Kieron Hill

    Kieron Hill Senior Member

    Bloody hell thats some restoration !


    Come on Drew with have all done Airfix...lol :D
    I think restoration projects like this are great
    thanks for sharing.
     
  4. Peter Clare

    Peter Clare Very Senior Member

    Excellent news Simon, its nice when years of research come good.

    The restoration project looks great, well done to all.

    Regards
    Peter
     
  5. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Amazing bit of restoration there - I always think the nose section of the Lanc is something pretty impressive even on its own.
     
  6. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    Amazing bit of restoration there - I always think the nose section of the Lanc is something pretty impressive even on its own.
    It is isnt it? Very distinctive indeed. Great work by those boys. :)
     
  7. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    That is a very impressive reconstruction / Restoration Project.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  8. piaf

    piaf Member

    Simon,
    Will you post the date and time of the Dedication ceremony please?
    If I can I will attend
    Gill
     
  9. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Will do. should be in March at Carquebut.Will keep you posted.
     
  10. James S

    James S Very Senior Member

    Thank you , always a pleasure to see work like this.
    Have a good trip over to France , excellent. :)
     
  11. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Have just been sent these amazing photos of the excavation in 1989
     

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  12. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

    Thanks for sharing.
     
  13. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Translation from 3945 Magazine received today!!

    34/45 MAGAZINE n°58 Le dernier vol du Lancaster PB265 (pp. 4-9) translation


    THE LAST FLIGHT


    OF THE LANCASTER PB 265
    By Gérard Renault (translation Germain Julien)
    "Great-Britain, on the 24th of July 1944, night has just fallen. In Elsham Woods, on the base of the 576 Squadron, the Lancaster crews have been given the order, for the third consecutive night, to bomb the German city of Stuttgart. As the others, the crew of the Lancaster registered as “UL-V2” on his cabin, serial number: PB 265, doesn’t know yet the flight won’t be back from this new mission.
    The airbase of the RAF in Elsham Woods has been created in July 1941. She first was the base for the 103rd Squadron equipped with Wellington bombers and then endowed with Lancaster in 1942. The 576 BS has been formed in November 1943.
    Let’s now turn our attention to the Lancaster registered as “UL-V2” and whose serial number is PB 265. The bomber’s crew is:
    - Flight Officer Robert Sarvis (ASN), young American pilot from Tennessee originally from the 12th Replacement Depot of the USAAF who has been transferred to the RAF. - Sergeant Alexander Balfour (ASN 1.021.030), mechanic in the RAF. - Sergeant J.M. Weir (ASN 1.560.450), bomber in the RAF. - R.T. Gordon (ASN R 181 524), navigator from the Royal Canadian Air Force, Sergeant J. Coates (ASN 1.622.241) from the RAF. - Sergeant E. Reed (ASN 1.541.804), machine gunner from the RCAF. A crew in command of an American with two Canadians and four British on a British plane!
    In this night of Monday the 24th of July 1944, the 576 BS leave the English coast and join up with a unit of 412 Lancaster and 138 Hallifax, and then head toward Stuttgart. Heading south for Orleans and then toward the east until the target. The unit reaches the French coast east of Le Havre, catching sight of the gleam of the fights raging the bridgehead of Normandy where the allied troops trampled on for a few weeks, on the eve of “Cobra”, the great offensive that Americans will launch in a few hours. The unit then reaches the south of the département of Eure-et-Loir. Here, hidden in the shade, a German night fighter is waiting for his prey. He has chosen it. It will be the Lancaster PB 265. The German attacks and hits the bomber. F/O Robert Sarvis then order the evacuation of the plane, Sergeant Alexander Balfour jumps with a parachute from the airplane. But the pilot manages to control the bomber and reconsiders his order of evacuation. He decides to attempt to reach the bridgehead of Normandy. The Lancaster is at 9 500 feet high and head toward Normandy.
    But let’s get back to Sergeant Balfour. He was at the front of the airplane, busy throwing Windows (according to a letter from A. Balfour, dated from the 19th of August 1990) when he receives the order of evacuation. He jumps and hits ground in Loiret. He is rescued by Mr. Bernardeau de Saint-Denis-en-Val. He is then directed toward the Resistance in Orgères-en-Beauce (Eure-et-Loir) and then taken in charge by the network of the pharmacist Picourt in Chartres. He is then accommodated at Mr. Laulhée and Mr. Château in Villebon (Eure-et-Loir) until the liberation by the Patton Army on the 16 and 17th of August 1944. Meantime, the Picourt network had collected 51 allies aviators, 17 of them were taken by the German police in July 1944, thanks to information given by a traitor. The network had notably collected Major Bud Mahurin (American pilot of the 56th Fighter Group, shot down on the 27th of March 1944 near Allonnes in Eure-et-Loir), hotshot of the US chase who totalized 21 victories. Bud Mahurin will get back to Great-Britain (mission Pick-Up) thanks to a Lysander during the night of the 6th of June 1944, on a clandestine field near to Outarville in Loiret.
    We now come back to the Lancaster that was continuing his route toward Normandy. It reaches Carentan at 8 500 feet high, where, to crown it all, it is attacked by the American DCA of that town. The Lancaster is hit once again, on fire. F/O Sarvis orders the abandon of the flight. Five members of the crew jump and witness the fall and then the explosion of the bomber. Sergeants Gordon, Reed and Clark are injured ; they will be hospitalized by the American Medical Corps in Carentan. But what happened to F/O Sarvis in these first hours of the 25th of July? Did he abandon the bomber after the others? mystery! In December 1944, while all the members of the crew got back to Great-Britain, he is still “missing”. The research undertaken on site of the crash, on the side of the CD 270, in the town of Carquebut, won’t give any results. And yet, thereafter, in the cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer (Calvados) there will be a grave (Plot B, Row 05, Grave 38) and a cross on which is written: Plt O. Robert, J. Sarvis, Tenn., July 25, 1644, 12 Rept Depot. Normandy, B. 05.38. But what’s in this grave?
    Second act
    Let’s now jump forward through time, 45 years later, on the 18th of July 1989. We are a team of “researchers”, all fascinated by aviation of the Second World War, and that all come to spend their holidays in Normandy every year. At the instigation of Mr. Tournailles from Clainville, this team goes to the swamp of Carquebut. There is there: Mr. Leprêtre (from Brussels), Pierre and Jean Nekrassoff, Gérard Renault. Armed with shovels and a metal detector, we discover an important amount of unidentified parts of aluminium, from a US, German, English plane? Then these relics show calibre 303 munitions and also a Dunlop flying boot and, macabre discover, a human leg in his boots and a part of trousers. It was a British plane. The excavations carried on until 1,8 meters deep enable to discover an extractor parachute and a white parachute in perfect state of conservation in the swamp, in spite of 45 years. Excavations are really difficult because of the presence of oil, petrol and water. They will be abandoned on the 19th of July after the discovery of an important amount of Windows (aluminium stripes still tied up), each Lancaster would carry about 200 kilograms of these on the European Front during August 1943. The human leg is put back into ground: pictures are taken straight away.
    Among the numerous metallic parts discovered: four small aluminium plates with series of numbers on them. On one of them, the figures 683 and PB 265 will give us the key of the enigma. In order to move forward in our investigation, we ask M. B. Eadon Mills, British citizen, campsite neighbour, his contribution, what he accepts with pleasure. Thereafter, he will contact the British Ministry of Defence and the embassy of Great-Britain in France. Back home, we ask the support of the “Ailes Anciennes”, in the person of Messrs. Niclot and Lafosse, of Lucé, aviation specialist. In their documents, we find tracks of the Lancaster P 265, given for shot down in France in July 1945 (date mistaken). Subsequently, Mr. Niclot will obtain the Missing n°9741 from the National Archives in Washington along with a document concerning the Sergeant Balfour. The British embassy, amazed by our discovery, transmits the result of our research to the American embassy. As we didn’t possess the material resources necessary to excavate the site, we ask for the help of the “Ailes Anciennes”. The excavation are undertaken on the 4th and 5th of July 1990 thanks to a mechanical excavator and with the presence of two American members of the US sepulchre of Germany. The excavations, carried on up to six meters deep, enabled the discovery of new parts shown on this page."
     

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  14. KevinBattle

    KevinBattle Senior Member

    Thanks for this and also for the efforts M Renault and his friends have gone to for the respect they have shown in dealing with this.
    Isn't it strange how late July seems to recur in that account? Almost a Brigadoon....
     
  15. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Just received this from 82ndTRAX. A letter from Sgt RT GORDON of the SARVIS Crew...

    August 31
    Dear Mrs. Sarvis:
    “It was not until last week that I knew Bob was missing. Until that time, I had been in a hospital in Southern England, and had no news concerning the rest of the crew. Since then, I have seen most of the others, and can tell you what happened, partly from what I have learned from the other chaps.
    “We were over the interior of France when we were hit. The aircraft was very badly damaged, and immediately went into a dive. While Bob was trying to regain control of the plane, he gave the order to abandon the aircraft. The engineer, who was closest to the escape hatch, jumped just before Bob was able to pull the plane out of the dive, and hold it on an even keel. As soon as he was able to do this, Bob told the rest of us to remain in the aircraft, and we altered course for the Allied lines in Normandy, hoping to get as near to them as possible before bailing out.
    “By skill and sheer strength. Bob was able to keep us up until we reached Allied territory. He said there was no chance of making a safe landing, and told us to prepare to jump. After the bomb-aimer jumped. I went forward to the escape hatch to check the others out. I had barely reached there when the aircraft was hit a second time by an anti-aircraft shell, and the plane went into a dive. The sudden lurch threw me off my feet, and I fell through the hatch. After a few seconds of confusion, I found the ripcord on my parachute, pulled it, and dropped to earth safely.
    “Before we had gone forward to jump, the bomb-aimer had assisted Bob to adjust the straps of his harness, and make every preparation to jump. Bob told us in detail what he intended to do after all of us had jumped – such as trimming the aircraft for level flight, and so on. The wireless operator jumped after me, and he was followed by the mid-upper gunner. They didn’t have much to tell about what happened after I left, except that Bob was alright, and ready to jump. They were at a good height at the time, and for that reason I had hopes that everyone had gotten out safely. That is the story of the experiences of the crew.
    Bob was much more than skipper to the rest of us—or perhaps I mean that he was a captain in the finest sense of the word. With the good-humored perversity of a crew, the boys rarely let Bob know in words how much we all thought of him, but when we were flying together, we were able to show him in deed what his inspiration meant to us. For our various duties, the rest of us have only average abilities, but in response to Bob’s leadership, we were able to achieve better-than-average performance as a crew. This was realized not only by ourselves, but also by our friends in the squadron, and by the squadron commanders. I mention this so that when you receive the Distinguished Flying Cross that has been awarded Bob, you will know that the award was merited not only by this final gallant achievement, but just as much by the constant fine example he set for all of us.
    “Jack Balfour, the engineer, who dropped behind enemy lines, has recently arrived safely in England. Tom Clark, the rear gunner, is still in a hospital under treatment for an injury he received when he jumped.
    “For all of us, the realization that we owe our lives to Bob’s courage and endurance is final vindication of our faith in our skipper. This letter, written on behalf of the whole crew, is an inadequate expression of our feelings. But, though we realize that words are small comfort at this time, we want you to know that Bob’s friends over here are hoping and praying with you.
    Very sincerely,
    Roy Gordon”
     
    Smudger Jnr likes this.
  16. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Heres the latest on my search...

    Received from the 'Old Wings' in Normandy "He also thinks that all the medium and large pieces have been recovered from the ground.
    He also mentioned that some parts of the plane appears in the selling by the french public domain to some scrap merchant (1948), whose names are M. Roger Lamache de Montebourg that apparently purchased the remainings of the wreckage and also a so called 'ME109 G6' who was on the other side of the road!!"

    ...................and this !!!

    "He also has been informed by his uncle (that apparently leaves nearby the crash site!) that 5 young people (3 Dutchman and 2 English) have been arrested by the police in the area 3 years ago as they were wandering with a metal detector in this area that is 'restrected/protected'!!!"

    So, the plot thickens. It looks like I will be in Normandy in late July to follow all of this up and to see the existing remains of Lancaster PB265 at St Mere En Eglise Airborne Museum and Le Bouget, Paris. Hopefully I will be able to find more pieces of the wreckage, however it looks more and more unlikely. Will try and find the scrap dealers site and have a look around, but I doubt it is still there.
     
  17. britman

    britman Senior Member

    Good luck in your quest Simon and thank you for sharing this adventure.

    Jason.
     
  18. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Very well done to all concerned.

    An extremely interesting piece of history brought to life.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  19. Mike L

    Mike L Very Senior Member

    Very interesting Simon, please keep us informed of further news.

    Mike
     
  20. simonweir

    simonweir Member

    Thanks to Dr Gould I have traced one of the crew from Lanc PB265. The Wireless Op, Sgt J Coates teamed up with the Bastick Crew in Lancaster NF975, coded UL-J2, replacing Douglas Gould who had been injured on a raid on 29/11/44. Sgt Coates had only one more mission to complete on the night they flew on ops to Dortmund on 21st Feb 1945. Taking off from Fiskerton at 21.41hrs, the plane was lost without trace and the bodies of the crew are still missing.
     

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