laboratoryqueen
Dr Midget Midgetson
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Still not working for me, dunno why, al the others do
Thanks for all the reading up
DT_Xtremez_14:-
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Lancaster crash 14/03/1945 (227 Sqn)
- Thread starter laboratoryqueen
- Start date
Still not working for me, dunno why, al the others do
Thanks for all the reading up
DT_Xtremez_14:You just know that your grandfather must have been to the top of this clock tower which was part of the hospital 'cos you know what us lads and high places are like
A few more pictures here on this forum/thread --> http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=4640&highlight=Balderton
This is a satellite view of the site of the tower (the white + is on the roof of it) --> http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=53.048302&lon=-0.771143&z=20&r=0&src=ggl (You may have to install a small program to view the location but it's safe to do so)
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Bomber Comand Losses 14-15 March 1945
Bomber Comand Losses 14-15 March 1945
Unfortunately LQ, your grandfather happened to be part of the biggest slaughter of manned aircraft by a single night fighter in one sortie in the whole history of air warfare ever. Martin "Tino" Becker and his crew gained this distinction against the 5 Group attack on Lutzkendorf when they shot down 9 RAF heavies, 8 Lancaster’s of 5 Group and one Fortress (B-17) of 100 (SD) group that was supporting the attack in the Jostle 'Comms Jamming' role. Bomber Command lost 16 aircraft that night, 10 Lancaster I's of 5 and 6 Group, 3 Halifax III's of 4 Group, 2 Mosquito night fighters and the aforementioned Fortress of 100 Group in three major raids on Lutzkendorf, Homberg and Zweibrucken.
On the first of these raids against Zweibrucken, one Lancaster I, NN777 QB-F of 424 (Canadian) Sqn (6 Group) crashed on landing at Dishforth after running out of fuel (two crew minor injuries).
The 4 Group raid on Homberg resulted in the loss of the three Halifax’s, one from 51 Sqn, (Crashed while attempting to land at Snaith, near Pollington, Yorkshire, killing all eight onboard) and two from 347 (Free French) Sqn which both crashed in France killing ten of the sixteen crew in total aboard the two aircraft.
The big attack was the Lutzkendorf one which resulted in the loss of twelve aircraft, 9 Lancaster’s, the two Mossies and the Fortress.
The Mossie’s were both from Swannington and were tasked to keep the German night fighters away from the bomber stream attacking Lutzkendorf. They were a NF Mk XIX (MM650 RS-J) of 157 Sqn which crashed in Germany, killing both crew and a NF Mk 30 (MV541 VY-B) of 85 Sqn which was shot down by US Anti-aircraft guns while crossing the allied front line, killing the navigator.
Of the 5 Group Lancaster’s involved in the attack, One Lancaster (LL902 EM-A) of 207 Sqn based at Spilsby crashed into high ground in poor visibility while trying to divert to Little Rissington in Gloucesterhire after the raid killing all seven on board, The other 8 were the victims of guns of Becker and Johanssen, Becker killing six with his forward firing 20mm cannon, while Johanssen got a further 2 with the rear facing MG, most of this killing was done without the use of the JU-88’s SN2 radar due to the heavy window (Chaff) cloud the Lancaster’s were putting out.
Becker managed to get into the window cloud and flew along the stream picking off any bomber he found, his attempts to contact the rest of his unit to tell them where the bombers were was however defeated by heavy comms jamming being done by 100 Group heavies supporting the attack.
The Lancaster’s shot down by Becker and Johanssen were as follows:-
RF153 EA-K – 49 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – Six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner), who evaded capture.
NG177 VN-L – 50 Sqn RAF Skellingthorpe – All seven crew killed.
NG398 DX-N – 57 Sqn RAF East Kirkby – All seven crew killed.
LL948 ZN-V – 106 Sqn RAF Metheringham– six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner) and was captured.
NX567 CA-Q - 189 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – three crew killed, four bailed out and captured.
NG399 EM-O - 207 Sqn RAF Spilsby - two crew killed, five bailed out and captured.
PA214 9J-P – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – All seven crew killed
RA546 9J-J – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – two crew killed outright in resulting crash, two died of their injuries within a month, the rest while POW’s were still in hospital by VE day.
The last kill by Johanssen gun was the Fortress III, HB802 BU-O from 214 (SD) Sqn based at RAF Oulton in Norfolk which had been jamming the German’s VHF night fighter frequencies with a powerful bomb bay mounted comms jammer called Jostle. This aircraft was most likely the reason that the rest of NJG6 didn’t get a look in on the slaughter done by Becker and Johanssen. All of the ten man crew on the Fortress survived and were captured.
Bomber Comand Losses 14-15 March 1945
Unfortunately LQ, your grandfather happened to be part of the biggest slaughter of manned aircraft by a single night fighter in one sortie in the whole history of air warfare ever. Martin "Tino" Becker and his crew gained this distinction against the 5 Group attack on Lutzkendorf when they shot down 9 RAF heavies, 8 Lancaster’s of 5 Group and one Fortress (B-17) of 100 (SD) group that was supporting the attack in the Jostle 'Comms Jamming' role. Bomber Command lost 16 aircraft that night, 10 Lancaster I's of 5 and 6 Group, 3 Halifax III's of 4 Group, 2 Mosquito night fighters and the aforementioned Fortress of 100 Group in three major raids on Lutzkendorf, Homberg and Zweibrucken.
On the first of these raids against Zweibrucken, one Lancaster I, NN777 QB-F of 424 (Canadian) Sqn (6 Group) crashed on landing at Dishforth after running out of fuel (two crew minor injuries).
The 4 Group raid on Homberg resulted in the loss of the three Halifax’s, one from 51 Sqn, (Crashed while attempting to land at Snaith, near Pollington, Yorkshire, killing all eight onboard) and two from 347 (Free French) Sqn which both crashed in France killing ten of the sixteen crew in total aboard the two aircraft.
The big attack was the Lutzkendorf one which resulted in the loss of twelve aircraft, 9 Lancaster’s, the two Mossies and the Fortress.
The Mossie’s were both from Swannington and were tasked to keep the German night fighters away from the bomber stream attacking Lutzkendorf. They were a NF Mk XIX (MM650 RS-J) of 157 Sqn which crashed in Germany, killing both crew and a NF Mk 30 (MV541 VY-B) of 85 Sqn which was shot down by US Anti-aircraft guns while crossing the allied front line, killing the navigator.
Of the 5 Group Lancaster’s involved in the attack, One Lancaster (LL902 EM-A) of 207 Sqn based at Spilsby crashed into high ground in poor visibility while trying to divert to Little Rissington in Gloucesterhire after the raid killing all seven on board, The other 8 were the victims of guns of Becker and Johanssen, Becker killing six with his forward firing 20mm cannon, while Johanssen got a further 2 with the rear facing MG, most of this killing was done without the use of the JU-88’s SN2 radar due to the heavy window (Chaff) cloud the Lancaster’s were putting out.
Becker managed to get into the window cloud and flew along the stream picking off any bomber he found, his attempts to contact the rest of his unit to tell them where the bombers were was however defeated by heavy comms jamming being done by 100 Group heavies supporting the attack.
The Lancaster’s shot down by Becker and Johanssen were as follows:-
RF153 EA-K – 49 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – Six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner), who evaded capture.
NG177 VN-L – 50 Sqn RAF Skellingthorpe – All seven crew killed.
NG398 DX-N – 57 Sqn RAF East Kirkby – All seven crew killed.
LL948 ZN-V – 106 Sqn RAF Metheringham– six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner) and was captured.
NX567 CA-Q - 189 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – three crew killed, four bailed out and captured.
NG399 EM-O - 207 Sqn RAF Spilsby - two crew killed, five bailed out and captured.
PA214 9J-P – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – All seven crew killed
RA546 9J-J – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – two crew killed outright in resulting crash, two died of their injuries within a month, the rest while POW’s were still in hospital by VE day.
The last kill by Johanssen gun was the Fortress III, HB802 BU-O from 214 (SD) Sqn based at RAF Oulton in Norfolk which had been jamming the German’s VHF night fighter frequencies with a powerful bomb bay mounted comms jammer called Jostle. This aircraft was most likely the reason that the rest of NJG6 didn’t get a look in on the slaughter done by Becker and Johanssen. All of the ten man crew on the Fortress survived and were captured.
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G
gemarriott
Guest
laboratoryqueen
Dr Midget Midgetson
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Below is what I've seen as his (Becker) list of kills for that night, number of kills, date, time, plane, location etc
49 15.3.1945 2153 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 SE Erfurt
50 15.3.1945 2159 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Weimar-Naumburg
51 15.3.1945 2203 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Naumburg
52 15.3.1945 2205 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Naumburg
53 15.3.1945 2206 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Naumburg
54 15.3.1945 2215 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Jenna
55 15.3.1945 2300 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 NE Schwabisch Hall
56 15.3.1945 2315 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Near Unterschlauersbach
57 15.3.1945 2337 B-17 Stab IV./NJG 6 Near Crailsheim
Couple of things I'm unsure of, 1) I know the date was 14/03 so why are they listed for him as the 15th. 2) Did the Lancasters have anyway to defend themselves? There seems to be a very small time scale between the early kills, almost as if it were just a matter of in, kill and off.
Gem, even back then, no surprise.
49 15.3.1945 2153 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 SE Erfurt
50 15.3.1945 2159 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Weimar-Naumburg
51 15.3.1945 2203 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Naumburg
52 15.3.1945 2205 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Naumburg
53 15.3.1945 2206 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Naumburg
54 15.3.1945 2215 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Jenna
55 15.3.1945 2300 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 NE Schwabisch Hall
56 15.3.1945 2315 Lancaster Stab IV./NJG 6 Near Unterschlauersbach
57 15.3.1945 2337 B-17 Stab IV./NJG 6 Near Crailsheim
Couple of things I'm unsure of, 1) I know the date was 14/03 so why are they listed for him as the 15th. 2) Did the Lancasters have anyway to defend themselves? There seems to be a very small time scale between the early kills, almost as if it were just a matter of in, kill and off.
Gem, even back then, no surprise.
laboratoryqueen
Dr Midget Midgetson
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Just been looking on the maps and it appears the last three
were shot down quite some distance from the others. The first 6 seem to all have gone down in close proximity to each other, so why not the last three. I'd have thought, if they were on the same mission/sortie, they'd have all been together.
With there being a 45 minute time difference between kills, and the distance between crash sites etc, could that be because the first 6 were shot down on the way to the target and the final 3 whilst on the way home?
were shot down quite some distance from the others. The first 6 seem to all have gone down in close proximity to each other, so why not the last three. I'd have thought, if they were on the same mission/sortie, they'd have all been together.
With there being a 45 minute time difference between kills, and the distance between crash sites etc, could that be because the first 6 were shot down on the way to the target and the final 3 whilst on the way home?
The sorties done on the raid took off on the evening of the 14th, and were due to land in the early hours of the 15th, All losses would have been recorded by the British as the 15th, due to the fact as far as the RAF knew at the time, the aircraft was reported overdue on the morning of the 15th.
The standard armament of a Lancaster at the time was eight .303 Browning machine guns, two in a front turret (not usually manned on a normal night raid), two in a upper fuselage turret and four in the rear turret (all of the turrets were hydraulically powered). Some Lancaster’s had a different turret at the rear, which was armed with 2 Browning .5 machine guns, which had a longer range than the .303’s. All of the main armerment of the German night fighters out ranged the .303, as did the 13mm gun in the back of the Ju88.
The main defence for the crew was to avoid getting detected by the night fighter in the first place and to do this, the bomber force flew in what was called the ‘Bomber Stream’, in which all aircraft would fly by a common route and at the same speed to and from the target. Each aircraft being allotted a height band and a time slot in the stream to minimise the risk of collision (made possible to the electronic navigation aids fitted to the aircraft).
The Bomber Stream came about as a counter to that the German’s main night air defence system known as Himmelbett (four poster bed). This system was known the Kammhuber Line by the British.
The Himmelbett system was made up of a line of ‘boxes’ each of which used a long range radar to find the target, and two smaller radars, one to track the target, and the other to track the fighter. Using the plots from the two radars, the German ground controller vectored the fighter to a point where the radar on the fighter could pick up the target. The radar operator in the fighter then talked the pilot into a position where he could see and attack the British aircraft. The system could only handle 6 interceptions an hour and by using the Bomber Stream, the British overwhelmed the line a one point, which allowed a lot of bombers to get though. To conter this which the German’s then made the line deeper with more ‘boxes’ (though the Germans were never going to be able to build enough radars to cover the whole of the area they had to cover).
When in the stream, the Bomber’s flew a weaving flight path to allow the gunners to look out for other aircraft, if the gunners saw a night fighter, they would tell the pilot to carry out a manoeuvre called the ‘Corkscrew’ which was a rapid diving turn, followed by a climbing turn in the opposite direction and then back into the dive and so on until they lost the fighter. The purpose of this was to take the bomber out of the small field of view of the German’s fighter radar. Most times the gunners saw a German, the corkscrew worked.
The Bomber Stream was enhanced from mid 1943 onwards by the use of metal foil strips (codenamed Window, now known by the US term of Chaff) which were dropped by the bombers and gave a mass of radar echo’s that hid the radar returns of the bombers from both the ground based radars and the radars in the Nightfighters.
The Germans overcame some of the problems of 'Window' by broadcasting a running commentary of the position of the chaff cloud / bomber stream from radar stations and ground observers. The night fighters listened to this and use the information to get into the stream, flew up its route and pick the bombers off visually as they found them. By early 1944 they got very good at doing this, especially if they saw though the diversions that Bomber Command threw in. Four or five kills in a short period by one night fighter were common in the first half of 1944, especially if the night fighter pilot had the guts to follow the stream into the target area at the height of the attack, where the fires on the ground lit every thing up (though he had to run the risk of being seen himself, plus the fact that his own side's Flak would be shooting at him).
By late 1944 two other defensive measures to protect the stream were in place, both carried out by 100 (Special Duties) Group. The groups badge motto was ‘Confound and Destroy’, and that motto summed the group’s mission to a tee.
The confound bit being done by the Heavies of the group (Special Stirlings, Halifaxs, Liberators and Fortresses) which were fitted with a number of different radio and radar jammers to stop the German’s from seeing what the main force bombers were doing, along with cutting off the radio communications between the German fighters and the ground (what is now called ECM, though in those days was called RCM (Radio Counter Measures)). Another role of the group’s heavies were to break away from the main stream, laying a heavy trail of ‘Window’ to spoof the German’s that the bombers were attacking somewhere else.
The Destroy bit being done by the group’s Mosquito night fighters which were fitted with homing receivers that allowed them to find the German fighters from their radar transmissions and kill them before they got into the stream, usually by attacking the Germans in the areas where they waited for the stream to pass.
A little bit more on the night of 14/15 march 1945.
Bomber command sorties 14/15 March 1945
255 aircraft - 244 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Wintershall synthetic-oil refinery at Lützkendorf. 9 Lancasters were lost.
230 aircraft - 121 Lancasters, 98 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups to Zweibrücken. 1 Lancaster lost.
161 aircraft - 127 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups to Homburg. 3 Halifaxes lost.
8 Group - Light Night Striking Force - 75 Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 each to Bremen and Brunswick,
100 Group - 52 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos and 1 Fortress lost.
The last Stirling operation of Bomber Command was flown on this night when Stirling LJ516, from No 199 Squadron at North Creake, flew a Mandrel screen operation (Mandrel was a Radar jammer); Squadron Leader JJM Button, the Australian pilot, and his crew landed safely.
Total effort for the night: 812 sorties, 17 aircraft lost.
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This would be a good starting point. BBC programme by Richard Holmes on Bomber Command (haven't seen it myself yet, though I do rate Holmes as a Historian).
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
B
bruceernest
Guest
106 Squadron LL948 lost 14 3 1945
106 Squadron LL948 lost 14 3 1945
Quote=bruceernest Martin Becker claims the above plane as a hit. He didn't. My father in law was the rear gunner who survived this crash. He came down in the woods near Karslrhue near the Rhine. Nowhere near Lutzkendorf - which was the target area. After capture Father in law was taken to Stalag 5a and spent several weeks in hospital there. He was offered a Purple Heart by the visiting American general, but this was retracted when they realised he was British.! We have several letters from him at that time and he most definitely came down south of Karlsruhe. The RAF got it right. If anyone knows how to access German records to give more information of his caputre, we would be grateful for any advice.
106 Squadron LL948 lost 14 3 1945
Quote=bruceernest Martin Becker claims the above plane as a hit. He didn't. My father in law was the rear gunner who survived this crash. He came down in the woods near Karslrhue near the Rhine. Nowhere near Lutzkendorf - which was the target area. After capture Father in law was taken to Stalag 5a and spent several weeks in hospital there. He was offered a Purple Heart by the visiting American general, but this was retracted when they realised he was British.! We have several letters from him at that time and he most definitely came down south of Karlsruhe. The RAF got it right. If anyone knows how to access German records to give more information of his caputre, we would be grateful for any advice.
Hi. Im also doing research into my wifes uncle who was KIA on Lancaster L-SU (PB137), Just a thought! have you written to : - Air Historical Branch (RAF), Ministry of defence, Room G1, Building 266, RAF Bentley Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 3HH (they were very informative and even supplied copies of the Bomber Command Intelligence Narrative of the operation my wifes uncle was on) You can also glean some Information from His Squadrons Operation Record Book (ORB) This document is held with the RAF Records transfered to the National Archieves, Sorry if im repeating info you already have. Best of Luck with your search.
T
Tony T
Guest
Hello all. My name is Tony Topliss and I am in the process of researching an uncle of mine by marriage Leonard Sidney Smith who was killed in action 14/15 March 1945. He was in Lancaster 9J-P which had taken off from RAF Balderton at about 1700 hours on Operation Lutzkendorf to attack Wintersall synthetic oil refinery. Their aircraft was presumably shot down and crashed at Illesheim about 4km S W of Bad Windsheim and there wer no survivors. The crew are all buried at Durnbach war cemetery.
Leonard was a member of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force and came over here to become a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was a Flying Officer (Flight Engineer) and was 32 years old when he died. He married my an aunt of mine and she is listed as Gracie Gwendoline Smith and that they lived in Parkstone Dorset. I can no record of record of his death on a war memorial but there is of another member of the same crew.
If anyone can help with any further information I would be most obliged, I do have a crew photo with names and their aircraft was 'Polly Peppermint' Dr. Pimms Remedy (Very Hot).
Best regards, Tony Topliss
Leonard was a member of the Royal Rhodesian Air Force and came over here to become a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. He was a Flying Officer (Flight Engineer) and was 32 years old when he died. He married my an aunt of mine and she is listed as Gracie Gwendoline Smith and that they lived in Parkstone Dorset. I can no record of record of his death on a war memorial but there is of another member of the same crew.
If anyone can help with any further information I would be most obliged, I do have a crew photo with names and their aircraft was 'Polly Peppermint' Dr. Pimms Remedy (Very Hot).
Best regards, Tony Topliss
D
David P. Williams
Guest
Lutzkendorf Raid March 1945
Lutzkendorf Raid March 1945
Hi,
My name is David Williams. My main area of interest is the German Night Fighter Force and Bomber Command. I have written 4 books so far and am working on my fifth at the moment.
This book is a biography on Hauptmann Martin 'Tino' Becker who flew with Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 and was credited with 58 victories and was a holder of the Knight's cross with Oak Leaves.
Before he passed away in Feb 2006, i interviewed Martin becker on a number of occassions, as well as his radar operator, Karl-Ludwig Johanssen, who passed away last August.
I am extremely interested in the Lutzkendorf raid, about which much has been written here. I have traced surviving air crews shot down by Becker and Johanssen and obtained a lot of personal accounts.
I am most interested in exchanging information with other members, particularly LaboratoryQueen, who may have had family members involved in the attack on the synthetic oil plant.
many thanks in anticipation,
David P. Williams
Lutzkendorf Raid March 1945
Hi,
My name is David Williams. My main area of interest is the German Night Fighter Force and Bomber Command. I have written 4 books so far and am working on my fifth at the moment.
This book is a biography on Hauptmann Martin 'Tino' Becker who flew with Nachtjagdgeschwader 6 and was credited with 58 victories and was a holder of the Knight's cross with Oak Leaves.
Before he passed away in Feb 2006, i interviewed Martin becker on a number of occassions, as well as his radar operator, Karl-Ludwig Johanssen, who passed away last August.
I am extremely interested in the Lutzkendorf raid, about which much has been written here. I have traced surviving air crews shot down by Becker and Johanssen and obtained a lot of personal accounts.
I am most interested in exchanging information with other members, particularly LaboratoryQueen, who may have had family members involved in the attack on the synthetic oil plant.
many thanks in anticipation,
David P. Williams
R
rctpete
Guest
RAF Balderton
RAF Balderton
Hi I thought you might like to know that I have done quite a bit of research into RAF Balderton and have letters and Photo's from all the squadrons that were stationed their.
Regards
Pete
RAF Balderton
Hi I thought you might like to know that I have done quite a bit of research into RAF Balderton and have letters and Photo's from all the squadrons that were stationed their.
Regards
Pete
C
COOKIE47
Guest
Re squadron 227 raf balderton
Re squadron 227 raf balderton
Hello Tony
We have just this minute joined E- Goat and noticed your post.
Our Uncle Ray Wells was on the same plane we have lots of information if you havent got it already, if you would like to email us or reply to this thread if you need our email address it is jubencli@googlemail.com. From what you say you have crew picture and names and was wondering if we have the same photo . we hope you get this e-mail and look forward to exchanging information, we were at Balderton on Rememberence Sunday and have been going there for the past 6 or 7 years . We look forward to hearing from you.
Clive
Re squadron 227 raf balderton
Hello Tony
We have just this minute joined E- Goat and noticed your post.
Our Uncle Ray Wells was on the same plane we have lots of information if you havent got it already, if you would like to email us or reply to this thread if you need our email address it is jubencli@googlemail.com. From what you say you have crew picture and names and was wondering if we have the same photo . we hope you get this e-mail and look forward to exchanging information, we were at Balderton on Rememberence Sunday and have been going there for the past 6 or 7 years . We look forward to hearing from you.
Clive
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Welcome to the Goat Cookie...Tony T hasn't visited the Goat since February 2010 so his chances of seeing your thoughtful reply are slim...perhaps if you PM him he may have his account set up to alert him of such things straight to his email.
Have a look around whilst you are here mind!
Have a look around whilst you are here mind!
K
kiwiazza
Guest
Another relative
Another relative
Hello All - This is my first post on this forum.
My Grandmothers cousin was Flight Lt Maurice Hunt RNZAF who flew the Lancaster 9J -J RA 546 mentioned in this thread. I have written an account of Flt Lt Hunts time in the war during his service with both 61 and 227 Squadron's RAF. Flt Lt Hunt was wounded as a result of his Lancaster being attacked - he parachuted out of the plane then he was then picked up by members of the Hitler Youth and was given a severe beating. He died without receiving Medical attention on the 18th of March 1945. This story has been confirmed to me by another member of 227 Squadron Pilot Merv Croker. Flt Lt Hunts navigator another New Zealander was with him when he died and relayed the story to Merv Croker.
I am very intrigued with Mainjafad following post in this thread as per the following.
"The Lancaster’s shot down by Becker and Johanssen were as follows:-
RF153 EA-K – 49 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – Six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner), who evaded capture.
NG177 VN-L – 50 Sqn RAF Skellingthorpe – All seven crew killed.
NG398 DX-N – 57 Sqn RAF East Kirkby – All seven crew killed.
LL948 ZN-V – 106 Sqn RAF Metheringham– six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner) and was captured.
NX567 CA-Q - 189 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – three crew killed, four bailed out and captured.
NG399 EM-O - 207 Sqn RAF Spilsby - two crew killed, five bailed out and captured.
PA214 9J-P – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – All seven crew killed
RA546 9J-J – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – two crew killed outright in resulting crash, two died of their injuries within a month, the rest while POW’s were still in hospital by VE day."
I wish to know or find out who conducted this research and confirmed that Martin Becker shot down these aircraft. As you can see my relatives aircraft was apparently shot down by Becker - however I would like someone to confirm this and state thier source of confirmation.
I would also like to make contact with Tony Topliss and LabratoryQueen. Also David P Williams if he is still interested in making contact with relatives of 227 Squadron.
Thanks and regards KiwiAzza.
Another relative
Hello All - This is my first post on this forum.
My Grandmothers cousin was Flight Lt Maurice Hunt RNZAF who flew the Lancaster 9J -J RA 546 mentioned in this thread. I have written an account of Flt Lt Hunts time in the war during his service with both 61 and 227 Squadron's RAF. Flt Lt Hunt was wounded as a result of his Lancaster being attacked - he parachuted out of the plane then he was then picked up by members of the Hitler Youth and was given a severe beating. He died without receiving Medical attention on the 18th of March 1945. This story has been confirmed to me by another member of 227 Squadron Pilot Merv Croker. Flt Lt Hunts navigator another New Zealander was with him when he died and relayed the story to Merv Croker.
I am very intrigued with Mainjafad following post in this thread as per the following.
"The Lancaster’s shot down by Becker and Johanssen were as follows:-
RF153 EA-K – 49 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – Six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner), who evaded capture.
NG177 VN-L – 50 Sqn RAF Skellingthorpe – All seven crew killed.
NG398 DX-N – 57 Sqn RAF East Kirkby – All seven crew killed.
LL948 ZN-V – 106 Sqn RAF Metheringham– six crew killed, one bailed out (Tail Gunner) and was captured.
NX567 CA-Q - 189 Sqn RAF Fulbeck – three crew killed, four bailed out and captured.
NG399 EM-O - 207 Sqn RAF Spilsby - two crew killed, five bailed out and captured.
PA214 9J-P – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – All seven crew killed
RA546 9J-J – 227 Sqn RAF Balderton – two crew killed outright in resulting crash, two died of their injuries within a month, the rest while POW’s were still in hospital by VE day."
I wish to know or find out who conducted this research and confirmed that Martin Becker shot down these aircraft. As you can see my relatives aircraft was apparently shot down by Becker - however I would like someone to confirm this and state thier source of confirmation.
I would also like to make contact with Tony Topliss and LabratoryQueen. Also David P Williams if he is still interested in making contact with relatives of 227 Squadron.
Thanks and regards KiwiAzza.
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You can always PM them? That way you won't have to hope they read this Thread