LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB407), Germany, 7 October 1944
To hamper the effectiveness of possible enemy counter-attacks against the flank of the Twenty-first Army Group, Bomber Command in daylight on 7th October attacked Emmerich and Kleve. Thirty-one Lancasters of No. 460 (9 per cent of the attacking force) bombed Emmerich in good weather marred only by a slight haze and reported many fires and pillars of smoke. The centre of the town was devastated and damage was widespread in all suburbs; storage sidings and harbour facilities were particularly affected.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 313
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster PB407 near the Emmerich target area on 7 October 1944 and all seven crew members baled out and became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of PB407 were:
Flying Officer Cecil Edward Metcalfe Agg DFC (415211) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged: 9 January 1946
Flying Officer George Cairns (178032) (RAF) (Observer) PoW
Flying Officer Robert Charles Coveny DFC (412914) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged: 22 November 1945
Flight Lieutenant Eris Ross Greenacre DFC (403217) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged: 26 October 1945
Flying Officer Keith Edwin Harris (420189) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged: 30 October 1945
Flight Sergeant Henry Walter Marchant (1547845) (RAF) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flying Officer John McKean DFC (413881) (Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged: 26 October 1945
On 7 October 1944, three crew members from No. 460 Squadron were lost from Lancaster PB254 (Warrant Officer Keith George Potter (417313) (Bomb Aimer)) when they were forced to bale out over enemy territory on 7 October 1944.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War – Volume 5 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1944, Midland Counties Publications, 1997
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985