Greetings! This is a thread dedicated to the memory of the crew of Halifax MZ651 which came down in flames approximately 2km NE of the French village of Autheuil-Authouillet on the night of June 11/12 1944. My great uncle Flt Sgt Phillip Allan Robson (RAAF 418571) was the aircraft's wireless operator. I am hoping to use this thread as a central repository for all information pertaining to this aircraft and its crew, not only for me, but anyone else who may need it. Whenever I feel the urge to do a little research, anything I find will be stored here and in my personal archive. Let me begin by replicating some info from another thread, kindly added by spidge... Aircraft Type: Halifax Serial number: MZ 651 Radio call sign: DY – Z Unit: ATTD 102 SQN RAF Summary: Halifax MZ651 took off from RAF Pocklington at 2204 hours on the night of 11/12th June 1944, detailed to bomb communications at Massy-Palaiseau, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. Crew: RAAF 426696 Flt Sgt R P Singleton, Captain (Pilot) † RAF Sgt H R Smith, (Flight Engineer) † RAF Sgt S J Thomas, (Navigator)† RAAF 426685 PO McNamara, M F J (Air Bomber) † RAAF 418571 Flt Sgt P A Robson, ((Wireless Air Gunner) † RAF Sgt N Lishman, (Mid Upper Gunner) † RAF Sgt J D Francis, (Rear Gunner) † A Missing Research & Enquiry team later reported“ the aircraft crashed in flames on a hillside near Autheuil approx 8 miles north east of Everaux, Department of Eure, France. All the crew were killed and they are buried in the Autheuil Communal Cemetery, Locality Eure, France. Autheuil is a village and commune 14kms north east of Everaux on the N316 road from Everaux to Gaillon and Les Andelys, France. Source: AWM 237 (65) NAA: A705, 166/26/479 Micro Film No 463 OAFH Commonwealth War Graves records W R Chorley: RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Page 273, Volume 1944.
John Dann from Dedicated to the crews of 462 and 466 Squadron. emailed me the following link: Recherche de France-Crashes 39-45 Contains some details of the crash and a complete set of grave photographs. I emailed John regarding Halifax MZ 299 as one of its crew, P/O T. L. Williams (wireless operator), was a friend of my great uncle and was mentioned in a letter from my great grandmother to the Department of Air (see attachment). I was hoping to gather some more knowledge of the story I was told about my great uncle as a child, that line of investigation is still open, I will append this post as I discover more.
Homepage for 102 Squadron: 102 (Ceylon) Squadron Web Page I had a bit of a glance at this page a while back, not really had the time to look too far in, hopefully I'll find some contacts there.
Link to the crash site memorial: Halifax MZ651 - Autheuil-Authouillet - Aérostèles If you look on Google Earth, there is a large clearing to the South of the marker, I've always believed this to be the crash site itself: https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=49.10907+1.29695&hl=en&ll=49.106649,1.296644&spn=0.011715,0.033023&sll=-37.860283,145.079616&sspn=1.808475,4.22699&t=h&z=16
Probably shot down by Ju 88, Hauptman Gerhard Raht, Stab I./NJG 2 12.06.44: 4-mot Flzg Franz. Küste 1.500m 00.53h Hope this helps
Probably shot down by Ju 88, Hauptman Gerhard Raht, Stab I./NJG 2 12.06.44: 4-mot Flzg Franz. Küste 1.500m 00.53h Hope this helps Certainly worth more investigation, I've added it to my to-do list, thanks for your input
