March 25 1945
99 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 425, 426, and 432 Squadrons were ordered
on an attack of the rail yards and supply routes at Munster. The crews
were over the target at between 17,000 and 19,000 feet, releasing 192,000
lbs of high explosives and 460,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports,
the target was covered with smoke and dust.
F/Lt A. Bossenberry from 408 Squadron landed at Dalton on return.
F/O F. Reain, F/Lt L. Richards, F/O K. Blyth, W/O2 J. Fitzsimmons,
F/Lt F. Smith, F/Lt H. Bracken, F/Lt W. Austin, W/O1 R. Herringer, S/Ldr
H. Saunders, W/Cdr F. Sharp, P/O L. Carahan, F/Lt G. Gross, and F/Lt J.
Baird landed at Leeming on return.
F/O M. Monahan landed at Croft on return.
F/O B. Burrows RCAF
and crew, flying Halifax VII NP-804 coded EQ-K, failed to return from this
operation.
Sgt R. Hamilton RAF
F/O W. Lay RCAF
F/O F. Shantz RCAF
F/O J. Marchant RCAF
F/Sgt L. Cofield RCAF
F/Sgt W. Dyer RCAF–POW
6 crew were killed and 1 POW after being shot down by flak.
F/O J. McKenzie, F/O G. Hyland, F/Lt W. Goodwin, F/O J. Patterson, F/Lt
A. Cruikshank, F/Lt F. Cahill, F/O E. Millbank, F/Lt E. Wilkinson, F/O
J. Addison, F/O L. Minkler, F/O V. Clothier, F/O J. Hechter, and P/O C.
Ensom from 415 Squadron landed at Wombleton on return due to poor
weather at base.
P/O R. Pallin landed at Croft on return due to poor weather at base.
F/O V. Clark landed at Carnaby on return due to poor weather at base.
F/O R. Evans was hit by flak, not serious .
F/O J. McCollum RCAF
and crew, flying Halifax III MZ-907 coded 6U-P, failed to return from this
operation.
Sgt S. Lowe RAF
F/O R. Aylesworth RCAF–POW
P/O R. Paul RCAF
F/Sgt A. Knight RCAF–POW
P/O J. Jones RCAF
P/O L. Brennan RCAF
5 crew were killed and 2 POWs after being shot down by flak.
F/O L. Simonson from 420 Squadron was hit by flak, there were holes
in the port wing and fuselage. They landed at Carnaby on return.
F/O R. Lepp was hit by flak, not serious. They landed at Carnaby on
return.
F/Lt D. McIntyre, P/O R. Bagnell, F/Lt R. Close, F/O J. Fawcett, F/O
D. Hill, and F/O R. Kane were hit by flak, not serious. They landed at
Dishforth on return.
F/O D. Gordon had the port outer go u/s on return. They landed safely
at Carnaby on return.
F/Lt R. Flynn and P/O G. Mills were hit by flak, not serious. They
landed at Snaith on return.
P/O T. Ford, F/O N. Toderan, F/Lt N. McHolm, F/Lt D. Rush, F/Sgt J.
Bryan, P/O J. MacKenzie, F/O H. Fawcett, and P/O M. Callahan landed at
Dishforth on return.
F/O M. Chappel and P/O A. Belanger from 425 Squadron were hit by flak,
not serious. They landed at Dishforth on return.
F/O L. Dumais landed at Croft on return.
F/O J. Violette, F/Lt C. Lesesne, P/O G. Turcotte, and P/O J. Kolisnek
landed at Dishforth on return.
W/O2 M. Lavoie RCAF and crew, flying Halifax III NR-194 coded KW-J,
had the stbd inner running poorly outbound. On return the stbd outer was
u/s. On landing at Riccall, they overshot the airfield and did a wheels
up landing in a field.
The crew was not injured.
F/O F. Alward RCAF and crew from 426 Squadron, flying Halifax VII NP-818
coded OW-M, swung on takeoff. They hit a ditch, wiping off the undercarriage
and the aircraft burned and blew up.
Sgt N. Jackson RAF
F/O M. Wright RCAF
Sgt O. Phillips RCAF
F/O F. Dickinson RCAF
F/Sgt L. Peck RCAF
F/Sgt J. Titus RCAF
All the crew escaped without injury.
P/O D. Black was hit by flak, not serious. They landed at Leeming on
return.
F/lt J. Barr, P/O F. Berg, P/O E. Parcher, F/Lt A. Davies, F/Lt D.
Hamilton, P/O A. Hutchins, F/O R. Swift, P/O J. MacFarlane, P/O A. Wilkinson,
P/O H. Mercer, F/O J. MacDougall, and F/Lt G. McMonnies landed at Leeming
on return.
F/O S. Levis RCAF–POW and crew, flying Halifax VII NP-811 coded OW-J,
failed to return from this operation.
Sgt J. Rattigan RCAF–POW
F/O W. Jarvis RCAF–POW
P/O L. Branston RCAF
Sgt R. Eyre RCAF–POW
Sgt S. Ross RCAF–POW
Sgt K. Montagano RCAF–POW
6 crew were POWs and 1 killed after being shot down by flak.
P/O D. Brown from 432 Squadron returned early as the stbd outer was
u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
P/O J. Daly, W/Cdr K. France, P/O H. Kearl, and F/O R. Ritchie were
hit by flak, not serious. They landed at Wombleton on return.
P/O S. Allen was hit by flak, the hydraulics were u/s. They landed
at Wombleton on return.
P/O J. Bigland was hit by flak, there were holes in the fuselage, port
wing and flap. The aileron was also damaged. They landed safely at Wombleton
on return.
P/O J. Turner, F/O R. Proud and P/O J. Bain landed at Croft due to
poor weather at base.
F/O A. Smith, F/O S. Raymond, F/O J. Paul, W/O2 W. Gelineau, F/O A.
King, and F/O R. Martindale landed at Wombleton on return due to poor weather
at base.
While the Halifaxes went to Munster, 100 Lancasters from 419, 424, 427,
428, 431, 433, and 434 Squadrons were ordered on an attack at Hannover.
The crews were over the target at between 17,000 and 19,000 feet, releasing
392,000 lbs of high explosives and 571,000 lbs of incendiaries. According
to reports, bombing was accurate and serious damage was caused.
F/O G. Smith from 419 Squadron was hit by flak, not serious.
F/Lt W. Armstrong had the port outer u/s before the target. They bombed
and returned safely to base on 3 engines.
F/Lt J. Matheson from 424 Squadron returned early as the port caught
fire after takeoff. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
F/O F. Kaye from 427 Squadron was hit by flak, there were holes in the
windscreen.
F/O W. Inch bombed Langenhagen as the load hung up over Hannover.
S/Ldr J. Hudson, F/O G. Johnson, F/O D. Walsh, F/O D. Varden and F/O
A. Mutch from 428 Squadron were hit by flak, not serious.
P/O J. Keates RCAF and crew from 431 Squadron, flying Lancaster X KB-874
coded SE-C, was hit by flak and seriously damaged over the target. They
crash landed at Manston on return.
Sgt R. Westman RAF
F/Sgt J. Simmons RCAF
Sgt A. Paige RCAF
F/Sgt W. McLean RCAF
F/Sgt D. Jardine RCAF
F/Sgt G. Petrie RCAF
2 crewmembers were slightly injured.
F/O R. Johnstone from 433 Squadron returned early as the stbd outer
was u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
P/O J. O’Neil and F/Lt R. Paterson were hit by flak, not serious.
F/O A. Heathcote had the stbd inner u/s over the target. They landed
safely at base on 3 engines.
F/Lt D. Rogers was hit by flak, the port inner was u/s, front turret
badly damaged, and 2 fuel tanks were holed. They returned safely to base
, although the crew was on standby to bail out.
F/Lt I. Andres, F/Lt T. Coghlan and F/O J. Dawson from 434 Squadron
were hit by flak, not serious.