Lancaster Bomber 514 Squadron

you both have done well Wayne/Alex and thank dieter for me and I apoligize that I was not able to translate for you.

radio operator could be simply Bordfünker and he will understand although German translation is radar operator. Funk could easily be tranalted device or radio.

for the event on the night of 15 July 44 it may well have been a Me 410 from KG(J) 51 or 54 although both units flying very dark grey 410's were on Fernenachtjagd - free hunts as intruders over England.

Bf 110G-4's and Ju 88G-1's were active from NJG 4 and 5 and also Bf 109G-6's from I./JG 301.

3 claims made by I./NJG 5, 2 claims made by Stfw. Kollak of III./NJG 4 at 01.54 hjrs and 2.05hrs

Hauptmann Söthe claimed 2 Lancs and Leutnant Fensch claimed a lancaster, both pilots from II./NJG 4 and in your time frame Alex from what I can discern

Erich

 

BTW Thanks Erich for that location. It is nowhere near Weert, which is Gardnetz "05 Ost S MM".

The search continues!

 

Brief update to lancaster 514 sqdn. I have finally dispatched the letter to Heinz Roekker (in German) concerning July 28/44. Let us hope both Heinz and Herr Strassner are in good health and able to make contact (friendly) with us. More night fighters. May 19/44 near Lemans. Take off 22:50 duration 4hrs 50 mins. Two attacks by Me 109 and one by FW 190.
May 22/44- Absolute nightmare. Take off 22:55 duration 4hrs 25 mins.Fighters were Me109 and FW190. Logged 12 fighter attacks!
Most were by 109's. A Luftwaffe Major Gerhard Doehler told me he had attacked a Lancaster over Dortmund that night at 01:15 May 23 in a FW190. I hope this does not tax your search equipment too far. Hope for the future, Cheers EA Campbell

 

sorry Alex but nothing from any sngle engine unit for the 19 of May 44.

for the 22nd a huge operation, Fw 190A-6 flown by Hauptmann Frid. Müller of 1./NJGr 10 claimed 2 Lancasters for his 21-22nd victories.

JG 301 did nothing.

JG 300 few over Dortmund and Braunschweig as well as part of II./JG 302 flying Bf 109G-6's.

4 claims by Bf 109G-6 pilots of I./JG 300
6 claims for II./JG 300 and their Fw 190A-7's and A-8's.
III./JG 300 Bf 109G-6's claimed 4 RAF heavies. the III. gruppe was actually vectored in the wrong direction at first.

II./JG 302 I have nothing but only text on the next day's mission against B-17's of the US 15th AF along with Bf 110G-2's of II./ZG 1 out of Wels Austria.

v/r Erich ~

 

Thank you Erich. I'm aware of your busy schedule and
possibly stressful times. Greatly appreciated. EAC

 

A prompt but brief reply from Heinz Roekker arrived today. It reads-

Dear Mr. Campbell,

Mein Staffeloffizier Johannes Strassner ist am 3. September 1998 verstorben.

(Signed here by H.Roekker)
A bit disappointing but to be expected.
Cheers EAC

 

Alex this was the only reply that Heinz gave you ? that's strange. Well at least we know what has happened to Herr Straßner . . .

Erich

 

For those of you who have been following this attempt to find, and communicate with, the pilot who attacked Lancaster A2-C July 28, 1944 you will know that Heinz Rokker has informed us that Lt. Strassner died in 1998. As my dad said " A bit disappointing but to be expected." Still, very exciting to have been able to identify Lt. Strassner as the pilot and a great demonstration of the power of the Internet. Thanks to all of you who contributed to this quest.
We may be able to find out more. Perhaps Lt. Strassner's log book still exists and there are some details there that may be of interest, or another crew member is still alive. Did the JU88 carry a crew of 3? Heinz Rokker provided Dad with some faster methods of communicating, other then regular mail.

I have recorded some conversations with my father about that period from July 28, 1944 while he was an evader in France. During the summer of 1944 dad joined a large group of allied flyers, all down behind enemy lines, in Freteval Forest, not far from Le Mans France. The French underground supported these flyers and it is a fascinating, and not well known, story. I have started recording some of Dad's recollections from that period and have them posted here:
http://hila-store.webcentre.ca/ww2/

These are audio, mp3, files. We will add more as they become available.

E. Wayne Campbell

 

E.Wayne :

Leutnant Straßners Bordfunker was Feldwebel Hans Hahn, Bordmechanik was Gefreiter Pareidt

Hans Hahn has passed away. Pareidt . . ? no idea

wonder if the two of you could send me a private with the additional info that Heinz sent in regard to the July 44 downing ?

thanks E

 

Erich,

That was the complete message, very short.
The only additional information was a fax and phone number - you may already have these. Dad is planning to continue the communication with Heinz Rokker. We will certainly keep you informed.

All the best, E.Wayne Campbell

 

Erich,

I assume Bordmechanik was the equivelant of a Flight Engineer what role did the Bordfunker have?

E. Wayne

 

thank you

as I stated earlier, Heinz is a great guy and will do his best to help out . . .

yes Bordmechanik is flight engineer taking care of other duties within the cockpit and using the single mg 131 rearward armament if need be.

Bordfunker is radar operator

E

 

Hello Mr Campbell, I live near Orleans and Chateaudun. I have traced most crashes from the Stuttgart Operations and can confirm several things. Strassner shot down JI-C2 near St Cloud en Dunois at 00.01. I am certain of this because I organised a commemoration for the crash near Orleans at 00.14 (claimed by H. Rokker ) I have a copy the fighting report, and eye witnesses to confirm that the 00.14 claim on July 29th (some sources say 28th but we now know it was just after midnight). a summary of the story of this crash can be read here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/26/a4342826.shtml.
I would love to share my info with you

 

Willkomme Skipper and am sure E.A. Campbell would like to hear from you further .......

I am assuming you have been able to plot the RAF losses then on a map for the evening we have been talking about in the thread ?

E ~

 

Skipper your link provided does not work and is dead. you mentioned an after crew report-German by Heinz Rökker for his 00.14 Lancaster downing. Who was it, meaning the squadron and code please

thank you

Erich

 

The aircraft shot down by H. Rökker is lancaster SRV2 from 101 squadron. if the link doesn't work type the word "Rebrechien" on your search engine, you should get the BBC site with the article. I am still working on the Raf losses but I have pinpointed most losses in France for that evening , although I am not positive for the claims for several crash sites.

 

I got the new link. I tried it out and it worked. I hope I got it right this time:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/user/87/u721287.shtml

 

Hello Skipper,

I'm sure my father will have some questions and comments.

Very interesting post and story. Lovely photograph with caption: "Memorial Service Held in Rebrechien Church for Lancaster Crew 28th July 2004" A Canadian flag prominently displayed.

Do you know if there is anything left of the wreckage of Lancaster A2-C close to St. Cloud?
Do you know any of the families involved in hiding these airmen and moving them to the refuge in Freteval Forest?
I have been recording and posting some of Dad's recollections about this period, so far we have recorded the 2 or 3 days after he was shot down.
http://hila-store.webcentre.ca/ww2/

The audio files are rather large, but I have a brief text outline of each one.

Minutes after he abandoned his parachute, dad approached a group of people standing outside a farm home (apparently awakened by the crash of his plane) announcing "Je suis Canadienne" he was immediately ushered into a home. Within minutes German soldiers arrived and searched the home, they probably knew that someone had survived the crash. Two searches were conducted, but they didn't find him. Dad had a copy of the attack route in his flight jacket, if the Germans had found this map hours before the main group arrived at Stuttgart, this could have been disastrous. While hiding in the barn attached to this house he concealed the map under a wooden box in the barn - wonder if it is still there?

This family clearly risked their lives to hide this young pilot, it would be nice to know who they are.

The next day, Dad was taken to the home of the Arthurs by someone he believes was named Roger or Rogier. At the Arthurs they were very close to an airfield and watched JU88s taking off, possibly aircraft flown by Rokker and Strassner.

Any information you could add about the people and circumstances around the events of July/August 1944 would be appreciated.

E. Wayne Campbell

 

Guten Abend all !

I./NJG 2 was based at Chateaudun till August 8th, the following day the move to Dijon with their Ju 88G-1's

E ~

 

You are right Erich and also welcome to Skipper 67.
Thanks for confirming the events of midnight on July
28/44. I will be watching intently for any more details you may have to offer. Skipper of Lancaaster
"C" Charlie. E A Campbell