Sgt JM Weir 576 Squadron RAF

Simultaneous major raids on Bottrop, Courtrai and Homberg the night of July 21st / 22nd, taking a direct northerly route in full moonlight had resulted in the loss of 48 aircraft.
The decision was therefore made for this Stuttgart mission to be timed to take a westerly route south then turn in to Germany near Paris thus skirting the moonlight issue.

Don Harkin gives a short talk about being shot down that night at: Don Harkin, WW2 Bomber Command Pilot – WW2VetsProject.Com

 

Due to the route it was an 8 hour long mission.
They took advantage of Allied Occupied territory and the lack of German nightfighters over France by that time.
Most bombing reports I have seen were from ~ 21,000' altitude.

Opportunity to mention a family friend [SIZE=-1]Dennis Stubbs[/SIZE]: ([SIZE=-1]DSO, OBE and DFC[/SIZE]) BOBHSOC | Stubbs who must have been one of the longest serving pilots in the RAF in WW2.
He was a fighter pilot flying Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain and at the time of this Stuttgart raid, which he participated in, was in the midst of Lancaster conversion.
He went to become one of the Pathfinders that November and [SIZE=-1]from January 1945 was Master Bomber with 54 Base.[/SIZE]

Salute!

Think of all the missions he must have flown, yet in the end, this Stuttgart mission is virtually the only one recorded in his bio.
For the men involved this was a truly memorable mission. It must have been an absolutely horrific experience to stand out like this for so many.

 

I am not sure where you are drawing your information from. The raid was on 20/21 July.

Both Middlebrook's Bomber Command War Diaries and the RAF's own Night Raid Report state a loss of 38 aircraft on these targets (20 on Homberg, 8 on Bottrop, 1 at Ardouval, 5 on Courtrai railway triangle and 4 on Courtrai marshaling yards). Absolutely decimated was No. 75 NZ Squadron losing seven of it's 25 aircraft on Homberg (28% loss). Lucky night for the Luftwaffe, not so lucky for BC.

No cloud but haze on both Homberg and Courtrai. 9/10s cloud on Ardouval until 15,000 ft with rain and thunderstorms to 23,000 ft. 10/10 clouds on Wizernes. No moon.

A map included in the Night Raid Report seems to indicate the only "direct, northerly route" to be the Mossie spoof raid to Hamburg.

Let me know if you would like a copy and I will oblige.

 

Do you have an example of your grandfather's signature, Simon? Would he have signed a souvenir "Jock Weir"?

Scroll down to the last bill on this page:

RAF Escaping Society 1945-95: Operation Marathon: Frteval Banknotes

First signature on the left. Is that his autograph?

 

I'm afraid this would be Charles Weir from 218 Sqn

Le camp de Freteval

 

My Grandfather served with 576 Squadron in 1944 and I just came across this post.
Are you aware that there is now a 576 Squadron Group on Facebook? There may be some further information available through there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1542014682763766/

 

Thanks for mentioning this and yes we are aware of this page. As a matter of fact our member SimonWeir is part of it.