LEST WE FORGET

Air Operations (No. 466 Squadron Wellington aircraft HE506), North West Europe, 10 April 1943

Date: 10-11 April 1943
Target: Frankfurt
Total Force: Dispatched – 502, Attacking – 436
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 7, Attacking – 7; No. 466 Dispatched – 13, Attacking – 13; No. 467 Dispatched – 6, Attacking – 5
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,037
Total Aircraft Lost: 18
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 466 – 1

Both attacks on Stuttgart (March 10-11) and that on Frankfurt-on-Main failed as a result of poor marking. At this period the standard of H2S (radar) operators was not high and the apparatus itself was subject to frequent failure during flight, so that unless a visual check was possible on ground detail, navigation was seldom precise enough for long-range raids. However, these attacks to some extent served their secondary purposes of gaining experience and of preventing further transfers of guns to the Ruhr. They were comparatively inexpensive, although at times determined opposition was met. Crews felt that they were maintaining air initiative over all enemy territory.

Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 496

Wellington HE506 took off from RAF Leconfield at 2315 hours on the night of 10/11th April 1943 to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Post war searches found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew. The names of the missing crew are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey, UK.

The Operations Record Book records crew reports as follows “Strato-Cu cloud 10/10ths. Base 3,000ft tops 6,000 feet. Visibility good. Wind north west 15mph at take off. Navigation was accurate but 10/10ths cloud at target made observation impossible. Path Finder Force technique employed did not produce a good concentration.”

The crew members of HE506 were:

Pilot Officer Frank Edward Booy (141711) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Donald Francis Gage (1385897) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Gilbert Morgan (41993) (RNZAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant George Myers (1023525) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant David Winston Williams (553822) (RAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)

References:

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records

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