LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations: (No. 466 Squadron Wellington aircraft HZ269), Germany, 30 May 1943
Date: 29-30 May 1943
Target: Wuppertal (Barmen-Elberfield)
Total Force: Dispatched – 719, Attacking – 644
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 12, Attacking – 11; No. 466 Dispatched – 14, Attacking – 13; No. 467 Dispatched – 22, Attacking – 19
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,822
Total Aircraft Lost: 33
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2; No. 466 – 3
More suitable targets were found during this period in three cities on the fringe of the Ruhr—Wuppertal, Krefeld and Remscheid. None of these contained industries of first magnitude, but each supplied a proportion of the components, special steels, machine tools and textiles on which depended the heavy industry of the Ruhr. Wuppertal consists of the twin towns of Barmen and Elberfeld lying together in a deep, narrow valley. These were attacked separately, one heavy raid laying each section of the city in ruins. Krefeld (June 21-22) and Remscheid (July 30-31) suffered the same fate when attacked in clear weather, for fires, once they had gained firm hold, raged unchecked through the innumerable workshops and small factories within the residential area of these cities.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 488
Wellington HZ269 took off from RAF Leconfield at 2211 hours on the night of 29/30th May 1943 to bomb Wuppertal, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed, and that all the crew members had survived and were taken Prisoner.
The crew members of HZ269 were:
Sergeant Ian Farquhar (710102) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Sergeant Frank Leslie James Hall (1311799) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) PoW
Pilot Officer Robert Hutton (145729) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Pilot Officer John Charlwood Launder (160037) (RAFVR) (Pilot) PoW
Sergeant R Willis (1337450) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
The route for the mission was: Base – Goole – Cottesmore – Orford Ness – 51.34N 03.30E – 50.59N 06.26E – Target – 51.20N 07.21E – 50.33N 0723E – 50.38N 06.00E – 51.22N – 03.20E – Orford Ness – Cottesmore – Goole – Base.
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster ED759 (Flight Sergeant Harry Ellis Bull (413924) (Pilot)) on 30 May 1943.
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4985 (Flight Sergeant Tom Taylor (413803) (Bomb Aimer)) on 30 May 1943.
No. 466 Squadron lost Wellington MS494 (Sergeant Lindsay Oliver Howard Upjohn (411972) (Pilot)) on 30 May 1943.
No. 466 Squadron lost Wellington HE212 (Pilot Officer Henry Simon Raoul Lloyd (147904) (RAFVR) (Pilot)) on 30 May 1943.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))