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207 SQUADRON ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORY49 Squadron & The Wesseling Raid
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49 Squadron Roll of Honour
The Wesseling Raid 21/22 June 1944
49 Sqn Lancaster I LL900 EA-T
Op: Wesseling t/o 2317 Fiskerton - W/C M Crocker DFC & Bar
Outbound, shot down by a night-fighter and crashed in the general area of Julich-Mersch. All, including their British Broadcasting Correspondent, Kent Stevenson, are buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery. Both DFM recipients had their awards published on 25 January 1946. It is believed P/O Creighton RCAF had recently arrived from 619 Squadron. The parents of W/C Crocker lived in Boston, Massachusetts.
Pilot W/C
Malcolm Crocker DFC & Bar RAFVR age 27
F/E F/L
Albert Edward Anderson Matthews DFC RAFVR
age 30
Nav P/O
Leslie Bernard Benson DFM RAFVR age 24
B/A F/O
Kenneth Dutton RAFVR
W/Op F/O
James Robert Worthington DFC RAFVR age 30
M/U P/O
Allan David Creighton DFC RCAF age 26
R/G P/O
David Hounsell Carr DFM RAFVR
War Correspondent Mr
Kent Stevenson, BBC Reporter
49 Sqn Lancaster I ME675 EA-E
Op: Wesseling t/o 2303 Fiskerton - F/L JR Hill
Crashed near Lage Mierde (Noord-Brabant), a Dutch village close to the border with Belgium and roughly 23 km WSW from the centre of Eindhoven, where all are buried in Woensel General Cemetery. F/L Hill held a Bachelor of Science degree.
Pilot F/L
John Rowland Hill RAFVR age 29
F/E Sgt
George Frederick Witty RAFVR age 34
Nav F/O
Kenneth Walton Jones RNZAF age 27
B/A Sgt
David McFarlane Forsyth Bell RAFVR
W/Op Sgt
Thomas Birtwhistle Whewell RAFVR age 21
M/U Sgt
Thomas Albert Hall RAFVR age 23
R/G
F/S George Frederick Wood RAFVR
49 Sqn Lancaster I ME808 EA-D
Op: Wesseling t/o 2314 Fiskerton - S/L LE Cox
Crashed at Loenhout in the province of Antwerpen, 24 km NNE from the centre of Antwerpen, where all are buried in Schoonselhof Cemetery. F/O Freckleton had served previously with 100 Squadron, while F/O Mather had flown with 97 Squadron, their awards being Gazetted on 19 October and 15 June 1943 respectively.
Pilot S/L
Leonard Edgar Cox RAFVR age 30
F/E F/O
John Herbert Ingram RAFVR age 29
Nav F/O
James McGregor Freckleton DFM RAFVR
B/A F/O
Mervyn James DFC RAFVR age 34
W/Op F/O
William Mather DFM RAFVR
M/U F/O
William Edward Day RAF age 25
R/G F/O
Alfred Hambly RAFVR age 30
49 Sqn Lancaster III ND683 EA-K
Op: Wesseling t/o 2311 Fiskerton - P/O AW Shinn DFC
Crashed in the sea off the coast of Holland. Four bodies were later washed in by the tides and now rest in various Dutch cemeteries. Three others are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. P/O Shinn had been involved in a crash late in March while engaging on operations to Essen.
| Pilot P/O
Albert William Shinn DFC RAFVR age
30 F/E Sgt Norman George Valentine Pettit RAFVR age 20 Nav F/O John Bottomley Stanley RAFVR age 26 B/A WO2 Victor Charles Cully RCAF W/Op Sgt Stanley Hawes RAFVR age 22 M/U Sgt Albert Edward Dicken RAFVR age 19 R/G Sgt Arthur Armstrong RAFVR age 20 |
Bergen-op-Zoom War
Cemetery Runnymede Memorial Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery Runnymede Memorial The Hague (Westduin) General Cemetery Hook of Holland General Cemetery Runnymede Memorial |
49 Sqn Lancaster III ND695 EA-B
Op: Wesseling t/o 2318 Fiskerton - P/O AR Ross
Lost without trace. All are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Pilot P/O
Alexander Robert Ross RAFVR age 23
F/E Sgt
Dennis William Palmer RAFVR age 23
Nav F/S
Charles Gregory Morton RAFVR
B/A F/S
Gordon Fraser MacGregor RCAF age 24
W/Op Sgt
Clifford Charles Holden RAFVR age 31
M/U Sgt
Arthur Desmond Griffin RAFVR
R/G Sgt
Douglas William Edward Hardy RAF age 22
49 Sqn Lancaster III NE128 EA-J
Op: Wesseling t/o 2322 Fiskerton - F/O LN Simpkin
F/O Simpkin and Sgt Maton are buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery.
Pilot F/O
Leslie Norman Simpkin RAFVR age 24
F/E Sgt AH Ladkin pow
Nav F/S TAF Wilson pow
B/A WO2 EN O'Reilly RCAF pow
W/Op W/O RS Phillips RAAF pow
M/U Sgt W Watson pow
R/G Sgt
James Alfred Thomas Maton RAFVR age 20