Information required (now resolved): 1898574 Stanley William HERRING, 61 Squadron RAF: 09/02/1945

Dear All

Could I please ask for your assistance.
Whilst out and about I met an elderly couple( the gentleman was ex Royal Navy convoy escort) at Runnymede.
They were there looking for a family member (RAF) who was killed in Feb 1945.

They had travelled a fair distance and had hoped to find his name on the memorial.
I helped them locate the 1945 panels but his name was not on there.
Anyway I have their contact details and said I would try to find out as much as I could and post it to them.
I have found him on CWGC.
info re squadron and type of aircraft. plus grave photo if at all possible would be greatly appreciated.
I will then post it off to them.

The casualty in question is Stanley William Herring.


Casualty Details

Name: HERRING, STANLEY WILLIAM
Initials: S W
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Sergeant (Air Bomber.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 61 Sqdn.
Date of Death: 09/02/1945
Service No: 1898574
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Coll. grave 5. B. 9-10.
Cemetery: POZNAN OLD GARRISON CEMETERY

thank you

 

Hi Clive, I have the following......


8-9 February 1945

61 Squadron
Lancaster I PB759 QR- N
Op. Politz


F/. B S. Tasker RAAF +
Sgt. T. McKnight pow
F/O. E Walker pow
F/S. W R R. Boobyer pow
F/S. R M. McKenzie RAAF +
Sgt. S W. Herring +
Sgt. V A. Edwards +

Took off 1659 hrs in the first phrase strike against a synthetic oil production plant. Those who died rest in Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery.

BCL Vol.6 - Chorley

The Politz raid of 8/9 February 1945

Politz: 475 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 12 Lancasters lost, l of them coming down in Sweden. The attack took place in 2 waves, the first being marked and carried out entirely by the No 5 Group method and the second being marked by the Pathfinders of No 8 Group. The weather conditions were clear and the bombing of both waves was extremely accurate. Severe damage was caused to this important synthetic-oil plant. It produced no further oil during the war. Speer mentioned this raid, in his post-war interrogations, as being another big setback to Germany's war effort.

Bomber Command War Diaries' - Middlebrook/ Everitt

 

Hi Clive

Forum member Peter Bennett has done this cemetery recently.

See link to thread about it and you should be able to get a photo of your man for that couple.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-grave-photographs/26599-poznan-old-garrison-cemetery-poland.html

Regards - Rob

PS - Have PM'd him for you with a link to this thread.

 

Hi Clive

You may find some useful information in the Casualty Repatriation file for F/O Walker RAAF held at the national Archives of Australia, including statements from the surviving crew members.

Search & Retrieve

(Click on the paper icon under the heading 'Digitised Item')

However the file lists the aircraft as Lancaster ME443.

Nick

 

As ever

thank you so much

it will mean so much to them

excellent response

 

Nick's link didn't work for me but I did find the papers for the pilot, Brian Stanley Tasker.

It would seem that it was no longer possible to positively identify the remains of the four deceased crew when they were moved to Poznan.

Sad reading.

Perhaps this is the reason why the family expected him to be on Runnymede ?

 

Here is a photo, I have also sent a PM to CLI

 

Thanks Peter. Clive will make the couple who journeyed to Runnymede very happy. It must have been a shock to find he was not commemorated there and that he was buried and commemorated in Poland.

Thanks to the combination of Clive putting feelers out, you having photographed the headstones in Poznan, this Forum, the Internet, etc, etc, we have made someones day.

Regards - Rob

 

Thanks Peter. Clive will make the couple who journeyed to Runnymede very happy. It must have been a shock to find he was not commemorated there and that he was buried and commemorated in Poland.

Thanks to the combination of Clive putting feelers out, you having photographed the headstones in Poznan, this Forum, the Internet, etc, etc, we have made someones day.

Regards - Rob

Rob absolutely agree.
The info and assistance from our members is first class (as ever)
I called the couple last night and they are extremely pleased how quickly the info came together.
I have put a package together for them including photos of Stanleys CWGC headstone.

thank you all again
fantastic support

regards
Clive

 

Hopefully a happy ending to a sad tale, great work everyone.

 

Hi I'm new to this site and just thought I would add a few bits I have about Lancaster PB759 and the crew:

My uncle was Sgt V A Edwards, the rear gunner. I have copies of a few pages of the pilots log. (Brian Tasker) showing SW Herring as part of the crew.

 

Hello 1066. Thanks for posting. Isn't the internet an amazing thing ? None of this research would have been possible just a few years ago.

 

1066

good show

thank you

 

Just another snippet to add to the story of PB 759.
I received this email some time ago from the daughter of F/O E. Walker, one of the crew who survived the crash.

> Dad, Edwin Walker, better known as Teddy, obviously survived the plane
> crash. He hung on 4 days without food in the cold, but then surrendered. A
> cousin of ours only told me recently that the place he landed was near a
> river, and the russinans were over the other side! He had to try and hide
> from both the Germans and the Russians therefore! He was imprisoned until
> the end of the war. Our mother (whom he had only married in 1944) presumed
> he was dead.
>
> Upon return he went back to his job with Customs and Excise which he did
> until he retired at 62. They had 4 children- I am number 3. I think I can
> say he had a happy life, though neither of them were in great health in
> their later years (they were both heavy smokers) and neither reached an
> old age. Mum died in 1987 aged 67 and dad died of a stroke in 1988 aged
> 69. His last year without our mother was very sad and in many ways he lost
> a lot of interest in life, though he did try hard.

 

I'm afraid the ORB and subsequently, Chorley, are wrong about this aircraft, PB759 did not, and could not have flown this night, the Tasker crew were on board ME443 when lost, PB759 was lost on 30th December 44 according to it's AM Form 78 and loss card. Just another case of mistakes made by a squadron adjutant in filling out the ORB.

 

Letter of thanks attached from his cousin after the information from this thread was sent to him.



the post below by Geoff mentions Stanley William Herring
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/18267-in-memoriam-those-air-force-pilotscrews-who-died-on-this-day-in-ww2/page-32

regards
Clive

 

Long time no see....
I realise this long ago topic resolved the original query, but I came across this whilst researching the Names on the Gordon District RUFC Roll of Honour.
One chap (J McKenzie) eludes my grasp, as i can't find any with a direct link to North Sydney area.
One that did seem to fit the approximate location, if not the initial was:
As there is no simple search for “J” McKenzie with a close link to North Sydney, perhaps…?
Flight Sergeant Raymond Murdoch McKenzie. Service Number: 40520
Royal Australian Air Force. Died 9 February 1945. Age 28 years old
Buried at Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery. Plot 5. Row B. Collective graves 9-10.
Additional Info Son of Hugh Murdoch McKenzie and Stella Grace McKenzie, of Cammeray, New South Wales, Australia.
Personal Inscription Greater Love Hath No Man Than This, That He Lay Down His Life.

4 crew members originally buried in Jasenitz Cemetery in 2 Collective Graves, Plot V Row B Graves 9 & 10.
The wreckage landed near Hohenholz off Dorfstrabe, Jasenitz, (now Jasienica) only 6km from Politz (now Police, Poland), approximately 11 miles north of Stettin (Szczecin).
There is also a Jasenitz in Germany is almost 200 km away, but clearly beyond range of an aircraft hit over the target.

Flying Officer Brian Stanley Tasker. (Pilot) Service Number: 437172.
Royal Australian Air Force. Died 09 February 1945. Age 20 years old
Buried at Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery Plot 5. Row B. Coll. Graves 9-10
Additional Info Son of Reginald Alexander and Elsie Olive Tasker, of Torrensville, South Australia. Personal Inscription His Duty Nobly Done. Loved by all

Sgt. T. McKnight (Flight Engr) Service Number 1799464 PoW (no Camp or PoW Number known but both surviving crew also met Walker at the PoW camp). Reported that he had been blown out of the aircraft.

F/O. E Walker (Navigator) Service Number 154359 pow. Edwin Walker, better known as Teddy, survived the plane crash. He hung on 4 days without food in the cold, but then surrendered. The place where he landed was near a river (the Oder) and the Russians were over the other side.
F/O Walker, the Navigator, PoW, reported “The aircraft was hit over the target. I saw McKenzie leave his seat and clip on his chute and think he must have attempted to get the mid upper or rear gunner out but left it too late. The aircraft was on fire and might have gone into the Baltic Sea.
Boobyer and McKnight baled out before me. McKnight was not injured in the attack and he left by the rear exit. He saw Tasker preparing to bale out.”

F/Sgt. Wilfred Percy Roy Boobyer (Bomb Aimer). Service Number 1337691 PoW.

Sergeant Vernon Albert Edwards. Service Number: 1852213. Rear gunner.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 61 Sqdn. Died 09 February 1945. Age 19 years old
Buried at Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery. Plot 5. Row B. Coll. grave 9-10
Additional Info Son of Bertie and Doris Kathleen Edwards, of The Lilacs, Cross-in-Hand, Sussex.
Epitaph: Deep in our Hearts a Memory is kept, of One we loved and will never Forget

Sergeant Stanley William Herring. Service Number: 1898574 Mid upper gunner
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 61 Sqdn. Died 09 February 1945
Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery. Plot 5. Row B. Coll. grave 9-10.
Additional Info: Son of William James and Winifred Herring, 82 Clayhill Cresent Lewisham SE9.

Lancaster Mk III PB759 (actually ME443) QR-N of 61 Sqdn on Operation to bomb Politz.
Take off 16:59 from RAF Skellingthorpe in the first wave of an attack on synthetic fuel production plant. Politz raid of 8/9 February 1945:
Politz: 475 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 12 Lancasters lost, plus 1 coming down in Sweden.
The attack took place in 2 waves, the first being marked and carried out entirely by the No 5 Group method and the second being marked by the Pathfinders of No 8 Group. The weather conditions were clear and the bombing of both waves was extremely accurate.

The raid proved to be a total success with accurate bombing from both waves, which caused tremendous damage.
The squadron had 15 Lancasters attacking the target, flying at between 9,000 and 13,000ft.
Most crews reported large yellow and red explosions with billowing black smoke.
Defences within the target area had been tough with heavy, accurate flak; 13 Lancasters failed to return.
Severe damage was caused to this important synthetic-oil plant. It produced no further oil during the war.
Speer mentioned this raid, in his post-war interrogations, as being another big setback to Germany's war effort.

McKenzie was lost on the 8 Feb 45 raid to Politz. 61 Sqn was thought to have lost 4 aircraft on this raid.
The Squadron Operations Record Book reported 3 aircraft as missing, LL911 and two other aircraft which difficult to read.
The aircraft letter code was QR-N and this was actually ME443 as PB759 was lost on 30 Dec 44.
Loss Cards list PB737 (Bartlett) LL911 (Collins) and ME443 (Pilot Tasker and crew).
The Loss Cards are more likely to be correct. It was actually ME443 QR-N on its first operation with the Squadron.

PB759 had been lost on 30 Dec 44. The only Squadron operation on this date was the bombing of Houffalize.
The reports for this operation stated that one aircraft was lost but the crew escaped, safety parachuting in friendly territory.
There was no indication as to which aircraft this was. but Station records showed that an aircraft was missing from 61 Sqn.
From a crew member's log book, 31.12.44. aircraft 'N', no serial number, Fl. Lt. Crampton (Captain), Ops Houffalize, aircraft abandoned shot up by flak. This can only be PB759, replaced by brand new Lanc ME443, coded as “N” on it's first operational flight.
Tasker is shown to have completed 12 Ops before this one, but it’s not known how many Ops the rest of those may have completed.
It may be the same, but personnel swapped on occasions, due to leave, illness etc.

With the aircraft crashing so close to the target, the survivors were lucky not to be caught up in the bomb blasts.
It obviously plunged out of control trapping 4 crew inside, and with sufficient force that individual identities could not be established when later exhumed, although fragments of both RAF and RAAF (darker blue) and the pilots brevet were found.

Sorry for a long winded post on a long done subject, especially as the relatives CL1 met were near 90 all those years ago, but ......

 

Kevin well done thank you for adding the info much appreciated

regards
Clive

 

Sergeant ( Air Bomber. ) Stanley William Herring...





this is the Poznan McKenzie

Flight Sergeant Raymond Murdoch McKenzie...

 

I can't add any information to this particularly but my uncle was Thomas McKnight who was the flight engineer on this mission. I know from what my father told me before he passed away that Thomas (Tommy) was still haunted by the events of that night and what he saw as a POW afterwards. My dad managed to get him drunk enough once to talk about it as he wouldn't speak about it under normal circumstances, and he said you could tell how much the loss of his fellow crew members stayed with him. Tommy passed away in 1998 aged 74 after suffering from Parkinson's. His death was quite tragic as he had taken his dog for a walk but had then suffered from some kind of flashback and had hidden himself in a ditch (earlier in the war he had been shot down and escaped capture so we think this is what he was undergoing) and sadly succumbed to hypothermia. He had ditched his I.D etc as per his training. I think a lot of what he saw on this night had followed him into later life. My thoughts go out to the crew that didn't make it out that night.