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207 SQUADRON ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORY

The loss of the Perez crew NE168 EM-F, 5-6 Jan 1945

5-6 Jan 1945
207 Sqn Lancaster III NE168 EM-F Op: Houffalize

Pilot: F/O Miguel Louis Perez RAAF age 20 +
F/Eng: Sgt Edwin Deller RAFVR age 20 +
Nav: Sgt George Eric Patterson RAFVR age 27 +
B/A: F/Sgt William Laurence Cleary RAFVR age 23 +
W/Op: Sgt John Kennedy RAFVR age 35 +
Mid Up AG: Sgt John Graham Shepherd RAFVR age 19 +
Rear AG: Sgt Kenneth Alfred William Ottewell age 19 pow

T/o 0052 Spilsby to attack supply channels in the Belgian Ardennes. Presumed crashed* in the target area. Those who died rest in Houffalize Communal Cemetery. At 35, Sgt Kennedy was over the age of airmen associated with Bomber Command airmen. Although described as a wireless operator air gunner, F/S Cleary was carrying out the duties of air bomber. RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, WR Chorley, & CWGC

* according to Frank Cleary, Ken Ottewell said that the aircraft blew up over the target.

Those who died are buried in Houffalize Communal Cemetery. The CWGC have been asked to assist in the naming of the 10 CWGC headstones L-R in the photo that can be seen via the cemetery link.

The small town of Houffalize is 69 kilometres south-south-east of Liege, and 17 kilometres north-north-east of Bastogne. The cemetery is about 2 kilometres north of the town on the rue de Liege, opposite a Ford garage. The Commonwealth war graves of the airmen are close to the entrance.

Sir Arthur Harris in his Despatch on War Operations: 23rd February, 1942, to 8th May, 1945 (Routledge, 1995) p28, on Rundstet's Counter-offensive, states: "Troop concentrations at the road junction of Houffalize were also bombed on 30/31st December and again on 5/6th January. The town was virtually destroyed and a wide area heavily cratered."

According to the RAF website "131 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked Houffalize, a bottleneck in the German supply system in the Ardennes. The target was bombed with great accuracy. 2 Lancasters lost."

Ken Ottewell died 23 March 2007.
Frank Cleary writes: Ken was the sole survivor, was captured by the Germans and mentioned in a broadcast by Lord Haw Haw. Thankfully he was well looked after being very badly injured when the plane blew up. Even though he lost one of his legs, on his return to the UK he lead a very full life. I came into contact with Ken in April 1998 whilst tracing the record of my Uncle Bill Cleary who was the Bomb Aimer on EM-F. Ken was a remarkable and modest man, I was privileged to know him.

We are in touch with:
Frank Cleary, nephew of F/Sgt Cleary, Caerphilly
Sandra Markham, daughter of Sgt Ottewell, Derbyshire
Cecilia Preston, NSW Australia, niece of F/O Perez, and through her, his siblings


The aircraft - Lancaster III NE168 EM-F

From available records it appears that NE 168 arrived on 207 Squadron at RAF Spilsby on 23 May 1944. The editor's father's crew were among the many that flew in it.

Its luck held on the St Leu d'Esserent raid of 4/5 July 1944. To quote the Squadron History, Always Prepared by John Hamlin, p111:

"To support the launch sites, the enemy had set up three assembly and storage sites for V1 s in France: St. Leu d'Esserent, a town in the Oise valley about thirty miles (48 km.) north of Paris where more than 70% of all V 1 s launched against England were prepared; Nucourt (in a limestone cavern west of St. Leu); and Rilly-la-Montagne, a railway tunnel south of Rheims.

July 1944 was a month of mostly fine weather, and 207 Squadron was kept very busy attacking these assembly sites and transport targets, beginning with a raid on St. Leu d'Esserent by fifteen aircraft on 4/5 July, a mission from which two crews, headed by Plt. Off. J. H. Wilson (LM125 EM:G) and Flt. Sgt. J. W. Gibbs (ND570 EM:Z), did not return. This time 207 Squadron formed part of a force of 229 Lancasters and twelve Mosquitos. Fighter opposition was predicted, as there was a full moon and little cloud cover, and soon after dropping its bombs, Plt. Off. Peter McIntosh's Lancaster [NE168] was attacked by a Bf 109, which damaged the tailplane and holed the starboard outer fuel tank, as well as severely injuring the rear gunner, Sgt. Burton.

The aircraft became very difficult to control, and while attempts were being made to stabilise it the Luftwaffe fighter made another pass. This time the mid-upper gunner, Sgt. Barker [? other sources say Bateman], fired a continuous burst, hitting the fighter, which went down in flames. After a time Peter McIntosh found cloud cover and made his way homeward to land at Woodbridge, having warned the crew that they might have to bale out if the situation worsened."

The aircraft was declared Category AC (repair is beyond the unit capacity, but can be repaired on site by another unit or a contractor) and it was repaired on site, 5/7-21/8/44. It is believed that NE168 did a total of 53 ops.


aircraft information: Raymond Glynne-Owen
page last updated 18 August 2008: correction to Ken's date of death