Lancaster Bomber 514 Squadron

We visited Dad over the weekend. In the image he is logged into WW2f.com and comparing Strassner's log book account with his own. We noticed the entry "Biblis" in Strassner's log book for the night of July 28. Was Biblis an airfield? If so did he leave from Biblis the night of July 28, 1944? The only Biblis I could find in Google Maps appears to be in Germany, 400 miles from Chateadun.

 

hi Wayne. Biblis was the landing place on July 29th. Strassner took off from Chateaudun where he had landed two days before . He had a night "Off" . On July 28/29 he flew to Stuttgart and stayed near that place (at Bilbis) there after his operation. This was called "Wilde Sau" The wilde Sau pilots could follow the bomb streams and land at different bases if they wished to do so. This allowed them to follow their prey on long distances.

The take off from Chateaudun is clearly marked (ABFLUG line 647)

 

http://www.lancastermuseum.ca

if you have spare time on tuesday nights, and it appears you are handy...working on restoring a Lanc gives one a sense of accoplishing sonmething

 

Well bf109 thanks for the interesting updates on the lancasters. I have seen a number of them in the past but not with so much detail except "882" in Edmunston. That is the one we used in making Doug Harvey's film "Thousands Fell" for which Wayne posted a link on the "forum". Good luck. Alex Campbell

 

I found this fascinating thread about a week ago and have spent that time reading through it. The internet is amazing in that it can be full of garbage and yet there are also forums and threads such as these that can bring people together to put together the events of a night or week, or month, from over 60 years ago. This thread has been riveting reading.

I was drawn to this thread as my father's cousin served as navigator on 514. Sgt George Knight was the navigator in Flt Lt L.J. Kingwell's crew. They failed to return (LL681 JI-J) from Leipzig on the night of 19/20 February 1944 and were lost without trace.

 

michammer- am glad you found this thread and enjoy it. Thanks to the widespread team making this all possible. Welcome aboard. Alex Campbell

 

Welcome on this thread and on this forum michammer!

 

Welcome michammer,

I agree with you comments re. the Internet. The details of this story would have remained unknown to all of us if the Internet and forums like this did not exist.
Contributions have come from all over the world. With the recent, and amazing, appearance of Strassner's log book courtesy of Staffelied in Ireland we now have Strassner's account of the night of July 28/29 1944. Apparently Staffelied met Strassner, in his e-mail to us he said "During 1996 I was in contact with Johannes Strassner, I can tell you that he was a very nice and kind man, he helped me with my research regarding his unit NJG2."

E.W. Campbell

 

Skip, small correction: Strassner was not flying Wilde Sau but a Zahme Sau ops in July of 44, in fact during this time only single engine Fw 190/Bf 109G-6 NJGr 10 were flying them and even then they were not termed as such

 

Cheers Erich

 

Skip there still is some differentiation though as NJGr 10 had some FuG 217 and FuG 218 Neptun equipped Fw 190A's along with un-radar'd birds in their line-up, so in this case both short range with aid of search-lights and star-burst plus the longer range we are speaking of with running battles and the useage of on-board radar set even if it was extremely limited run by the pilot. NJGr 10 was a weapons but primarily a radar test gruppe, but still pursued RAF heavy bombers as well as Mosquitos in 44-45.

 

Thank you all for the welcome. I am looking forward to my time here.

 

July 29th 1944-July 29th 2008. 64 years have passed. TodayI have a very special thought for Alex Campbell, his crew members (especially Bob who was kia) , those who flew in other Lancasters that same night of July 28th/29th whether they survived or made the ultimate sacrifice.
64 years may seem long, but I'm certain that for those who were there and who are still with us today it is as it was yesterday. This thread has been going on for several years now and is becoming a valuable source of information for the new generations. So I just wanted to say thank you. I'm glad I made it home just on time to write this little paragraph, I would have felt miserable if I had missed this opportunity to express my gratitude to Alex for still being with us after all these years and come up with new details all the time. I hope we will share posts many other years.

 

Hello Michammer,
Like you I was drawn to this fascinating thread and in my case also, a relative was lost in action in 1944 and I have been searching for a long time now for all the relevant information about him and the rest of the crew of Lancaster ME 858.JI-J for Johnny. His name was Norman Derham and he was a Flight Engineer. I have had brief contact with relatives of other members of his crew and I am hoping that by posting here I can extend his story still further.
I have left a message for Mr. E.Campbell, as I have read that he may have some items relating to the Pilots log book and this may help me to identify some members of the crew in a photo posted elsewhere by Ton Bosmans.
If any one is interested in sharing details I could use E-Mails or Forum messaging to explain further and post the picture if that would help.
The incredible bravery of all the Bomber Command in the face of terrible losses must never be taken lightly, it still shocks to see the ages of the aircrews who carried out such a demanding task for so long and one wonders if such ability and dedication could ever be found again in men so young. They were all heroes and if critics of the morality of what they did had ever spent nights in an air-raid shelter (as I did) while German bombers droned overhead they too just might have thought it was a good idea to fight back in the same way.
I now realise the enemy bomber crews were just as young and brave in their turn and this forum has shown the human side of the conflict, the likes of which we all must hope will never again occur.
A final thought, as a ten year old I seem to recall Lancaster’s taking off from an airfield near Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire where I was recuperating from nervous exhaustion, could I have been mistaken? It was probably about 1943 or 4. Maybe my N.E. was playing tricks with my mind. Perhaps some one could throw some light on this for me.
Ibrows

 

Hello ibrows, welcome on this forum. I hope you will be able to identify the crew members of the Hunsel crash. Feel free to create a thread on this forum if you wish to tell their story.

 

Skipper I'm not at all surprised at the wonderful tribute you have posted. My mind does many reruns of past events. Thanks to you and all the folks for the the interest that has been shown. Sincerely Alex Campbell

 

Welcome ibrows,
I have not received the images that Stevin mentioned - perhaps you could contact him directly.
I came across this:
Do you recognise one of these brave faces? - News - Stockport Express

Skipper, I thought you were wrong when you said this thread has been running for two years - you are right, over 2 years!

 

You are welcome Alex, It's a shame I don't have the opportunity to go to St Cloud to tend Bob's grave, I however took my little son to the local grave (Hyland crew) . I should really get in touch with the St Cloud people again, maybe there are other leads to follow there, not to mention that there is a quarry to explore in the nearby village....

For Ibrows: it's hard to tell from your picture. There are however a few hints. Knowing that Millar is on the right, that means Brown is the only other F/O left (and the only RCAF) . All the others have Sgt ranks (half wing insignia with their position. AG = gunner . N = navigator. If you have a better quality picture you could possibly recognize these on their uniforms.

 

Thank you Mr Campbell for the link to the press cutting, that is indeed the photo to which I referred.I know nothing of its origins save that it came from Ton Bosnans via my cousin,I have attempted to give it greater clarity by using software but maybe the origanal scan was low resolution.I will post a copy into the gallery for viewing so that more information may be forthcoming from others.
I have left a message for Stevin as you suggested and will post here if I get any new leads.


For Skipper, thank you for the tips,see above re the photo,

Ibrows

 

Hi Ibrows,

Got your PM. Sorry it took such a long time. I haven't been here in a while.... I also have been in contact with another crew member's family.

I'll get in touch with you.

Regards,

Stevin