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.