Wellington bomber loss Bremen 1943

Hello all,
My great uncle was a navigator on Wellingtons during the war, but unfortunately he was lost on a raid on Bremen in 1943. I have two emotive pictures of him in flying gear with his name and Bremen 1943 written on the back . His name was Roy Cannel Cluett. It has been passed down though the family that he was shot down over the North Sea on the return leg and posted as missing. However a recent trip to Runnymead failed to find his name. The family would like to know as much information as possible on Roy, we don't even know what Squadron he served with. Many thanks

 

Cant find him on CWGC either.

CWGC - Find War Dead

.

Neither can I. Seems hes not listed in the Bomber Command Role Of Honour either.

Could you please add more info? What nationality was he?.

 

I will ask the family if he was known by another name. He was British

 

Unlikely to see a Wellington on a BC raid to Bremen in 1943.

Mosquito, Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster were used on the few Bremen raids in 1943.

Ross

 

Just spoken to family and my uncle seems to remember it being a night raid to Willemshaven. Sorry, I guess that information has become faded over the years. As for the name , he was always known by the name written on the back of the photograph, so a bit of a mystery I'm afraid!

 

As I see it, Bremen was not visited much at all by B.C during 1943.During the year,the Wellington was being phased out as more Lancasters became available to equip front line squadrons.

Interestingly the last op by B.C using the Wellington was a trip to Bremen on the night of 8-9 October 1943 when two Stirlings were lost.

 

Sorry Harry but the Wellingtons operating during the night 8/9 Oct 1943 were not tasked against Bremen. Only Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster, the Wellingtons were sent to Hanover.

Pages copyright TNA AIR 14/3375

Regards
Ross

 

Hi,

If your Great Uncle was lost in service during WW2 he would be listed as such. Could you please confirm the spelling of his name as members of the forum are at the moment at a loss as to who he was.

Any other details however small would possibly also help.

 

According to Chorley, Wellington X LN451 QO-W lost on 8/9th October 1943 on Op: Hannover was to be the last Wellington to be reported missing from a main force bombing operation, flown under the authority of Bomber Command in WW2.

One squadron remained equipped with the type, 300 squadron based at Ingham and its use on mine laying operations was assured for some months to come.

 

Hi I have just been through CWGC with all known spellings of Cluett and nothing turns up.
Might be an idea to email this lady here.

Sue Smith's Home Page for cluett.org.uk

 

Hi , I am trying to find out any more info and will post as soon as I find anything more.

 

Hello Harri109
This looks possibly like your Great Uncle different date though 1941.

CANNELL, DUDLEY ROY CLUETT

Rank:
Sergeant
Service No:
939106
Date of Death:
17/01/1941
Age:
23
Regiment/Service:
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

40 Sqdn.
Panel Reference
Panel 40.
Memorial
RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of Stanley and Ethel Cannell.

 

CWGC also lists Cannell as being with 40 Sqdn.
CWGC - Casualty Details

 

Well done great detective work

16-17 January 1941

40 Squadron
Wellington IC T2912
Op. Wilhelmshaven

Took off from Wyton at 1756 hrs. Signal received indicating task completed after which the Wellington vanished without trace. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

Crew.

Sgt. A E. Jones +
Sgt. E G. Robertson +
Sgt. J H. Lee +
Sgt. H F. Lander +
Sgt. D R C. Cannell +
Sgt. E F. Todd +

Source - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.2 - W R. Chorley

17 Jan 1941 - WILHELMSHAVEN BATTERED

 

Success!! I have subsequently found out that his surname was Cannell with two Ls and not Cluett, which was a forename. His full name was Dudley Roy Cluett Cannell . It appears also that the relation that wrote Bremen 1943 must have been misinformed as the CWGC has his date of death as 17/01/1941, he was serving with 40 Sqn RAFVR. He was a Sergeant and his service No was 939106. The family would be very interested to know anything further about the circumstances of his loss, so any information would be great. I apologise for the previous information which must have been very confusing as it was to us, unfortunately i only had what was written on the photo to go at.

 

fantastic, so many thanks for taking the time to research for me, it really closes a chapter for the family. I was looking at the CWGS at the same time that your recent replies were posted and came to the same conclusion.

 

thanks for the panel pics too CL1

 

40 Sqdn ORB TNA reference here:

Air Ministry and successors: Operations Record Books, Squadrons. No. 40 SQUADRON. Operations Record Books. 40 Y.

• Collection: Records created or inherited by the Air Ministry, the Royal Air Force, and related bodies
• Date range: 01 January 1941 - 31 January 1941
• Reference:AIR 27/412/21
• Subjects:Air Force

 

Cheers Mike L and everyone, I am currently trying to attach photos of Roy