Lancaster Bomber 514 Squadron

Many thanks again Mr Campbell for your help. I will email Wendy. Not wishing to sound over familiar but I must say I do like the photo of you that now appears on the Forum.
Kind regards
Path Finder

 

Hello Mike,

Dad forwarded the "Report on Loss of Aircraft on Operations" and the other documents you have copied. Thanks so much for those.
My sister noted that the report was created August 26, 1944 - Dad's 21st birthday.

Should we post these for all to see?

Wayne

 

Hello Mike, Wayne and Alex .

Mike, just wanted to acknowledge I have received your email with the mentionned document and wanted to apologize for my delay in responding. I will answer your email a.s. a.p. . I see you and the Campbells are already in touch, that's great . Thanks again for your contribution. I'll be in touch.

 

Hi all,
Another newbe joins the club. I very interested in information about the Suttgart raid on the 28th July. My Uncle was the WO/AG member of the crew piloted by F/Lt A F Fowke RCAF. Their Lancaster LM206 JI-C was shot down on the during this mission. Any help in pointing me in right direction to finding out more information would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

 

Welcome Keef.

LM206 was piloted by F/O Jones ( crashed near Coussey, Vosges) .
I believe F L Fowke flew DS813 (crashed at Deinvillers Vosges) . Both crews were from 514 Squadron.

 

Many thanks. It looks like the RAF historical branch provided my family with some incorrect information. I have just found a record on DS813 at www.lancaster-archive.com

 

I have copied and posted the text from the "Loss of Aircraft" report that Mike sent to us.
I will post the next page ASAP

Wayne

----------------------------------------------

SECRET
REPORT NO. K.215.
COPY NO. 15
REPORT ON LOSS OF AIRCRAFT ON OPERATIONS

Aircraft: Lancaster ll No. 692 "C2" of No. 514 Sqdn.
Date of Loss: 28/29 July 1944. Target: Stuttgart
Cause of Loss: Fighter attack followed by fire.
Position of Loss: Chateaudun area outwardbound.

Information from:

F/Lt. Campbell, E.A. Captain & Pilot
F/O Chapman, J. Bomb Aimer
Sgt. Lyons, A.R. Wireless Operator
Sgt. Donaldson, W.A. Flight Engineer
F/Sgt. Jones, F.R. Mid Upper Gunner
F/Sgt. Harvery, S.A. Rear Gunner

Remainder of Crew.

Navigator: F/Sgt. Garland, E.F. Baled out. Fate unknown.
2nd Pilot: F/O Giffin. Killed
This crew (except for second Pilot who on his 1st Operation) were on their 25th Operation.

Briefed Route: Base-Reading - 4900N.0000 - 4810N.0100E - 4750N.0400E - 4855N.0730E - 4854N.0820E - Target

Narrative:

1. The Lancaster took off from Waterbeach at about 2145 hours. The night was dark with some low cloud, but above the cloud visibility was good. The enemy coast was crossed at 15,000 ft. and the Pilot then descended to 8,000 ft. to seek cloud cover according to instructions.

2. Just before midnight the Lancaster had broken cloud which had become patchy and was flying straight and level at 7,500 ft. when it was attacked without any warning by a night fighter. The Rear Gunner was watching another aircraft which had crossed from port to starboard below and astern, when the fighter, which was twin engined, came in from the port quarter below and opened fire with tracer at about 350 yards range. It passed under the stern of the Lancaster and broke away to starboard and below. As it passed the Rear Gunner got in two short bursts and observed his tracer scoring hits on the enemy, but he makes no claim. The Mid Upper Gunner did not see the enemy aircraft.

3. The Lancaster sustained numerous hits in the port wing and a number of gaping holes appeared extending from the root to beyond the outboard engine. A big fire started in the wing immediately behind the inboard engine and spread along the leading edge to the fuselage. Both port engines were on fire and flames seemed to be coming from the region of Nos. 2 and 3 Port fuel tanks. The fuselage was hit, probably on the Starboard side near the Mid-Upper turret as fragments hit and cut the gunners legs. The turret was rendered unserviceable, the Perspex holed and the gunner’s intercom was put out of action. He depressed his guns manually and got in a 5 second burst towards the direction in which he believed the fighter to be.

4. The Pilot at once executed a diving turn to port and attempted to reach cloud. He feathered the port inboard engine and pressed the extinguisher bar but his had no effect on the fire. He therefore gave the order to put on parachutes.
……./5

 

This is the second page of the lost aircraft report we received from Mike.
Wayne

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Lost Aircraft Report - page 2

5. Before they could reach cloud a second attack developed. The Mid Upper Gunner had by this time left his turret and the Rear Gunner was engaged in getting his parachute from the fuselage at the time, and so neither saw anything of the attack, but it probably came from the same direction as the previous attack. The Wireless Operator again saw tracer entering the port wing and one or two bullets entered the cockpit, but without causing any serious damage. The port outer engine cut and stopped just as the second attack developed, but whether this due to hits sustained in the first or second attack is not certain. The pilot had again dived to port when attacked but the port wing now began to drop and even after he had put on full rudder and trimmed the aircraft to fly on starboard engines she seemed to very heavy and the rudder may have been damaged. One starboard engine was racing so he throttled right back while he got the Lancaster on to an even keel and then advanced the throttle slowly. As the fire in the wing showed no signs of diminishing Ft./Lt. Campbell now gave the order to abandon air-craft. As the crew came forward to bale out each one seemed to knock against the elevator trimming wheel as they passed him and this added considerably to his difficulties in keeping the Lancaster level.
6. The Air Bomber opened the hatch and stowed the cover in the nose. He then baled out from 7,500 ft. After he had gone the hatch cover fell back and jammed in the hatch but the Flight Engineer managed to manoeuvre it so as to leave room to get through although he could not remove it altogether. The 2nd Pilot is thought to have been wounded, but acted normally until about to jump when he apparently lost his head and moved back in to the aircraft. His parachute opened and caught on the bombsight, etc. but the Ft./Engineer disentangled his ‘chute, gathered it up together with the 2nd pilot and managed to assist him through the hatch. Meanwhile the Ft./Engineer’s parachute had come open and he sat on the edge of the hatch and slid out clutching the parachute under his arm. Meanwhile the Mid Upper Gunner had left from the rear door by bending down and rolling forward and the Rear Gunner from his turret which he rotated to port and went out backwards on the starboard side. Flames appeared to be coming all down the port side of the Lancaster and past the tail.

7. When all his crew had gone the Pilot, who was wearing a Pilot type parachute and K type dinghy, left his sear. The parachute straps twice got entangled in the throttle controls and it took him several seconds to get free. When he reached the hatch the cover had again got jammed and he had to manoeuvre it to make an aperture large enough for him to pass through. He then began to wriggle out head first. As he did so his parachute harness was pulled off his shoulders and down from his waist but became entangled round his knees and legs. He eventually found himself falling free head first and could see the rip cord on the pack about two feet from his body. He managed fairly easily to bend his knees and then climbed up his own body hand over hand until he could reach and pull the ripcord. When the parachute opened his body was jerked out straight and his neck ricked violently. He found himself suspended upside down by the legs and in this attitude made his descent. It was now much more difficult to bend his body, but when he saw a cottage roof below he managed to raise himself just enough to prevent his head striking the ground first and so landed on his shoulders in a field without serious injury.

8. The other informants all made comfortable landings in fields about 10 miles S.E. of Chateaudun; The Mid Upper Gunner and Flt. Engineer landed very close together in the same field. The Lancaster was seen to crash and explode, the pieces covering a wide area. The 2nd Pilot is said to have died next morning, and to have been buried at St. Cloud (presumably St. Cloud en Dunois)

21844/4
14844/5
18844/6
19844/5
BC/S.30270/ORS
26th August, 1944

 

This is a 3rd page provided by Mike that appears to be more comments from Earl Jones and Jock Donaldson.
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We came down in the same wheatfield and joined up immediately. We buried our harness in the field. We walked for most of the night, going S.W. About 0600 hours we got into a village, and at the second house at which we asked for help we were sent to an English-speaking woman. She, however, was too scared to help us. We then went to a farm, where each of us was given a pair of civilian trousers. The people at the farm also gave us general directions to CHERBOURG.

Help at Farm We walked through the fields to another farm where the people were in touch with the Resistance Movement. We were given food and civilian clothes and shoes. At night we were taken in a trap to another farm where we spent the night.

31 Jul – 13 Aug 44, Camp near CHATEAUDUN

Next morning (30 Jul) we were taken to a wayside cottage on the ORLEANS-CHATEAUDUN road. Here we met CAMPBELL and LYONS, two members of our crew, as well as F/O GRIMSLEY, F/Lt KEMLEY (?), and KEMLEY’S Flight Engineer. We remained at this cottage till next day (31 Jul) when we walked to a camp near CHATEAUDUN. We remained at a subsidiary camp till 13 Aug when American forward troops arrived.

 

Well Mike the documents from Kew are amazing to read. It is a strange feeling indeed to be living those times over again especially in the very words of those who were with me.
Welcome Keef and thanks for the link to the Lancaster serial numbers. Although I did not know F/O Jones that well I remember "Fletch" Fowke as we trained together on earlier stations. Isn't it nice to have"Skipper" leading the way with his wealth of information.
Wayne the reprints you have done of the documents make them so easy to read, thanks.
Cheers everyone- Skipper of Lancaster LL692 Alex Campbell.

 

great to have these documents online , they are certainly nice confirmations of the story.

 

Hi all,
Thanks for the very interesting reading. Early next year my family and I intend to visit the crews (DS813) grave early next year to pay my respects to my Uncle and the rest of the guys. Then we will move on to Deinvillers. Does anyone have an idea of the best place to hunt for pictures of 514 Sqn?

regards

Keef

 

Keef I will forward the email address of Wendy Flemming who has been of great help to the "514" folks. "deno11*shaw.ca" She has attended a reunion at Waterbeach as well.
Good luck Keef and thanks for your interest. Skipper of LL692 Alex Campbell

Note of moderation: replace "*" by "@" in the email address.

 

Alex I took the liberty to slightly alter the email address to avoid spam robots from picking it up

 

Skipper it seems I'm forever saying thanks to you and your helpful ways. Greatly appreciated Alex Campbell

 

Hello Mr. Campbell, first and foremost I'd like to thank you for being on this forum. I've just recently joined on behalf of my Great Uncle, F/O Leslie Flack. He was also with the 514, but unfortunately didn't return home. He and his crew were lost during an operation at Salzbergen, 06Mar45. Perhaps you may have known him or of him. Again, thank you. D.Flack.

 

D.Flack
Thanks for your posting. Good to hear from interested people. It is unlikely that we would have crossed paths with your uncle but hope you find out some more. You might check with Wendy Flemming mentioned in a previous post. Good luck to you.

Alex Campbell Skipper of LL692.

 

Hello Alex, just wanted to let you know I received a nice letter from Skipper Mr Thomas Harvell, 514 Squadron, last week, he is okay , although suffering from health problems.

 

Hello Alex, sorry for the delay, but I haven't forgotten about this fine thread.

Some more news ! I only just realized that the story of PB265 on this forum was Robert T Gordon, RCAF's aircraft. Rob was shot down by friendly AA over Orleans on July 24th 1944. His aircraft crashed further north in Normandy but he was eventually taken to Freteval!

I don't know whether you remember about Rob Gordon, he came back to France after the war.
http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/38101-lancaster-pb265-found.html

 

Skipper my password is finally straightened out. No I can't recall Rob Gordon. On the 24th July I was at Methwold ferrying a MKlll Lanc. Have gone over the names on my 100 franc note but no luck there either. Thanks for keeping in touch and I see you keep busy all the time. All the best from Alex Campbell Skipper of A2 C.