RAF Squadron Lancaster LM755 SR-n

ktone · Corporal

RAF Squadron Lancaster LM755 SR-N

ktone · Corporal

I am new to the forum. I am trying to gather some information on my uncle Rear Gunner Richard Winchester who was aboard LM755 SR-N when it was shot down on November 29-30, 1944 over Germany. He was the only survivor and spent the rest of the war as POW. Any direction which will move me forward in my search would be greatly appreciate.

I would like to be able to get a list of the missions or sortie he was on

Would someone out there have apicture of this plane and crew.

John W · Group Captain

Hi,

It would seem that they were shot down by flak as no night fighter claims for that night match this loss. If nobody has the information on the missions they flew and you are in the UK then you can go to the Archives at Kew and look up the ORB's for 101 Sqn and that will tell you. Here is the full crew.

F/O J M lyons.

Sgt D H Scott.

W/O E H Russell.

F/Sgt A D Danson.

F/Sgt E F L Voce.

F/Sgt N R Perry RCAF.

F/Sgt R G Winchester RCAF.

If you are in Canada there are researchers who will do it for a price, but someone may have the ORB's.

Good luck.

Regards,

John.

alieneyes · Group Captain

I have the 101 Squadron Operations Record Book. If you give me a few days I can pull up all your uncle's operations and post them here for you.

ktone · Corporal

That would be great if you could do that. Would there be any chance he would have flown planes other then LM755 SR-N or were they assigned to a plane for the duration?

alieneyes · Group Captain

ktone wrote:
That would be great if you could do that. Would there be any chance he would have flown planes other then LM755 SR-N or were they assigned to a plane for the duration?

In this case absolutely. It seems their regular aircraft was PD268 SR-O. Of the 23 operations flown by this crew 19 are flown in SR-O. You'll note the first few times the serial number varies. I copied it verbatim from the ORB. Also, crew for all ops is as listed above by John with the addition of A425943 P/O Ross Kenrick, their Australian Specal Duties Operator, who flew on all operations where the aircraft was ABC-equipped.

10/09/1944 PB263 SR-O Le Havre

15/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Kiel

17/09/1944 PB237 SR-M West Kapelle

20/09/1944 PB339 SR-N Calais

23/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Neuss

25/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Calais

26/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Cap Gris Nez

27/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Kaiserslauten

05/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Saarbrucken

07/10/1944 DV298 SR-I Emmerich

09/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Bochum

11/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Fort Frederick Henrick

14/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Duisberg

15/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Duisberg

30/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Cologne

31/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Cologne

02/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Dusseldorf

09/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Wanne Eickel

11/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Dortmund

18/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Wanne Eickel

21/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Castrop Rauxel

27/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Neuss

29/11/1944 LM755 SR-N Dortmund

John W · Group Captain

Hi Alieneyes,

Could you look up R J Sexton who was a pilot with 101 Sqn before going to 7 Sqn. He joined 101 in July 1943. I have a photo of him taken in Canada at 4 SFTS with 27 other Aussies. Could you contact me on harley.158ATbigpond.com replace the AT with the usual if you would like a copy of the photo and the fates of the people in the photo.

Regards,

John.

alieneyes · Group Captain

Hi John,

Email sent.

Regards,

Dave

ktone · Corporal

Thanks Alieneyes. This is amazing!!! Now I can seek out what the purpose of each of those missions might have been.

All I was ever able to find was the Lancaster LM755 SR-N. I take it the ORB for 101 Squadron you have is different from a log book. Would the ORB be online somewhere? In your opinion, do you think a log book for PD268 SR_O might be out there somewhere. I would assume since LM755 SR-N was shot down one would not be available.

alieneyes · Group Captain

Some of the 101 Squadron ORB is online but not the parts you would want:

http://www.156squadron.com/101Sqn/default.htm

Not sure what you mean by "log book". This is something that each airman had. It was never carried aboard an aircraft.

The purpose of each mission was to drop a bombload on the enemy. But as 101 Squadron also carried a German-speaking 8th crewman to man the ABC jamming equipment, they were a busy squadron sometimes putting up as many as 28 aircraft each night.

Date: Feb 16, 2012

Perry, Nelson Robert

ktone · Corporal

RE: RAF Squadron Lancaster LM755 SR-n

alieneyes · Group Captain

The airman's logbook would be filled in after an operation, when all crew were back safely. Then it would be signed off by the Flight Commander. There are many examples online. The Operations Record Book (quoted above) was the Squadron's record of operations, duties and training carried out

Not knowing where else you have posted requests for information I'm not sure what you mean about the crew. Several veterans who are still with us have their own logs and have posted details from them. I also know that in 1947 the RCAF made offers to return flying logs to the families of deceased airman. I have seen these letters on file in Ottawa.

Dave_Richardson · Flight Sergeant

You will get some more information on the individual operations from "The Bomber Command War Diaries an operational reference book 1939-1945" by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt isbn 978 1 85780 335 8. The information however likely to be brief.

You may also be interested to know that The National Archives at Kew have recently made the ORB's available for downloading in pdf form. They are charging £3.50 for an individual month. So the 3 months Sept to November 1944 will cost approx 16.50 Canadian Dollars. For the details of indivdual operations remember to select the "Records of Events" files. Here's the link: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/squadron-operations.asp

HTH

Dave

Date: Apr 10, 2012

I am the older of 2 daughters of EH Russell and do have a photo of the plane and crew. Our mother went to visit your uncle but was unable to get any information from him. We have tried without success to find details of other missions they undertook.

ktone · Corporal

Sheila,

Nice to hear from you. I have been searching for information regarding my uncle and his experiences for a while now. I have found some information with the help of the members on here.

Even as a kid I never remembered Dick speaking of his wartime experiences. After he died I was given a short audio tape where he mentions being shot down and taken prisoner of war.

I would love to see the the photo you have. I did comeup with a copy of one but not with LM755. That was a rather new plane for that crew. PD268 SR-O was the plane they flew most often. If you wish to share information with me, my email address is ktone@nbnet.nb.ca.

I have been trying to locate alog book but have not been able to find one yet.

Bob

alieneyes · Group Captain

alieneyes wrote:
ktone wrote:
That would be great if you could do that. Would there be any chance he would have flown planes other then LM755 SR-N or were they assigned to a plane for the duration?

In this case absolutely. It seems their regular aircraft was PD268 SR-O. Of the 23 operations flown by this crew 19 are flown in SR-O. You'll note the first few times the serial number varies. I copied it verbatim from the ORB. Also, crew for all ops is as listed above by John with the addition of A425943 P/O Ross Kenrick, their Australian Specal Duties Operator, who flew on all operations where the aircraft was ABC-equipped.
10/09/1944 PB263 SR-O Le Havre
15/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Kiel
17/09/1944 PB237 SR-M West Kapelle
20/09/1944 PB339 SR-N Calais
23/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Neuss
25/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Calais
26/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Cap Gris Nez
27/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Kaiserslauten
05/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Saarbrucken
07/10/1944 DV298 SR-I Emmerich
09/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Bochum
11/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Fort Frederick Henrick
14/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Duisberg
15/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Duisberg
30/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Cologne
31/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Cologne
02/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Dusseldorf
09/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Wanne Eickel
11/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Dortmund
18/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Wanne Eickel
21/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Castrop Rauxel
27/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Neuss
29/11/1944 LM755 SR-N Dortmund

Having now had a second trawl through the ORB here are the operations which I could locate for the Lyons crew (ops in red are since my post of 15 February) :

10/09/1944 PB263 SR-O Le Havre

12/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Frankfurt

15/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Kiel

16/09/1944 PB237 SR-M Hopsten

17/09/1944 PB237 SR-M West Kapelle

20/09/1944 PB339 SR-N Calais

23/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Neuss

25/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Calais

26/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Cap Gris Nez

27/09/1944 PD268 SR-O Kaiserslauten

05/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Saarbrucken

07/10/1944 DV298 SR-I Emmerich

09/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Bochum

11/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Fort Frederick Henrick

14/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Duisberg

15/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Duisberg

29/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Domburg

30/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Cologne

31/10/1944 PD268 SR-O Cologne

02/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Dusseldorf

09/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Wanne Eickel

11/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Dortmund

16/11/1944 no serial given Düren

18/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Wanne Eickel

21/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Castrop Rauxel

27/11/1944 PD268 SR-O Neuss

29/11/1944 LM755 SR-N Dortmund

I have attached the 29/11/1944 page of the ORB showing the non return of this crew.

Date: Jun 25, 2012

Do you have any details of my father (and or his crew)

Joseph Prendergast Lancaster Bomb Aimer 101 Squadron Ludford Magna 1943 & 44 I think

alieneyes · Group Captain

brian(at)bp-mp(dot)net wrote:
Do you have any details of my father (and or his crew)
Joseph Prendergast Lancaster Bomb Aimer 101 Squadron Ludford Magna 1943 & 44 I think

Hi Brian,

I can most likely help you but you will have to narrow down the dates a bit. From September 1943 until war's end they were probably the busiest squadron in BC. The Operations Record Book is almost 1800 pages in length. If you can narrow down the dates I can tell you who he flew with.

Dave

Date: Jul 8, 2012

RE: RAF Squadron Lancaster LM755 SR-n Joe Prendergast

alieneyes · Group Captain

RE: RAF Squadron Lancaster LM755 SR-n

alieneyes · Group Captain

Not a problem, Nick. I shall post them here after looking them up.

Do you have the citation for your dad's DFC?

Regards,

Dave

-- Edited by alieneyes on Monday 9th of July 2012 02:17:27 PM

Date: Jul 9, 2012

Good to hear from you.

Dad flew from July 1944 until Dec 29th 1945

MikeH · Air Vice Marshall

Hi,

a group photo of the crew and information regarding Nelson Perry RCAF can be found at the links below:-

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem/photoview/2041067/74283

http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem/photos/2041067

Regards,

Mike

-- Edited by MikeH on Monday 9th of July 2012 11:52:49 PM

ktone · Corporal

Mike,

Thank you for posting that link. I am doing research on my uncle Dick Winchester who was the only survivor when the plane was shot down. Dick was a POW for the remainder of the war.

Bob

alieneyes · Group Captain

Anonymous wrote:
Dad flew from July 1944 until Dec 29th 1945

Both Sgts Hopton and Prendergast flew on the crew of P/O JB Donaldson. First op I can find is 11 August 1944 to Givors on DV245 (SR-S aka The Saint).

Op was a bit of scrub. Up at 2048, mission abandoned at 2054, down at 2177(sic). Diverted to Wickenby at 2141 hrs "P/O u/s, P/I u/s"

I'll get the rest of them added here later.

Regards,

Dave

Date: Jul 12, 2012

Yes ... A bit of a scrub says it all ! Engine failure outward and second engine failure coming back to Ludford... Instructed to drop bombs in North sea to gain height but couldn't quite make it back to Ludford Magna. Some first op ! Dad remembered that the weather was nice ... And that the "special" wrung his shirt out on the Tarmac when they landed !

alieneyes · Group Captain

Anonymous wrote:
Instructed to drop bombs in North sea to gain height

And that bombload was dropped at 5310N 0018W......should anybody want to go get them. 9,000 lbs worth.

I have found 25 operations for the Donaldson crew. I will start a new thread as we have hijacked the LM755 one that Bob started. Before I post them, do you have your father's flying so we can find out which ones are missed in the Operations Record Book?

Dave

Date: Jun 17, 2013

I havelots of info on this crew as John Lyons was married to my grandmother. pkeefe7481@aol.com

Date: Jun 17, 2013

Hi Sheila,

My Grandmother went with your mother to meet Dick. She was married to John Lyons, the pilot.Your father was good friends with John. I can tell you what I know. My nan is still alive (92) and still going strong. Please feel free to contact me. pkeefe7481@aol.com

DenysL · Aircraftsman 1st Class

Hi Sheila,

John Lyons was my father's brother and, although I have photos of him, and have visited the crew's war grave in Kleve, I don't have any photos of the crew. Would you by any chance be able to scan a photos for me? I would be most grateful if you could. Thanks and best regards, Denys Lyons

Date: Jul 18, 2017

It was recorded in my Uncles log book (Nelson Perry) that PD268 was flown Aug 29, 1044 - air firing - day

Date: Jul 18, 2017

I have photos of the crew

Date: Nov 13, 2017

I am the daughter of Dick Winchester....

I assume that you have family info and are looking only for wartime info.

My brother has his files and could be of help.

DenysL · Aircraftsman 1st Class

Hi J Eddy - (sorry I don't know your first name)
I am always interested to hear from relatives of my uncle's crew - could you by any chance email me? denyslyonsgmail.com

DenysL · Aircraftsman 1st Class

(denys.lyons - not as above)

Date: Nov 17, 2017

Judy,

This is Bob McDevitt. My Mon is Marion McDevitt.

I am trying to put together our family tree on the Winchester side including the story of the five brothers who all served during World War Two. I am hoping you can help fill in some blanks. I tried to contact you before but had no luck.

If you are interested, my email address is ktone03@gmail.com.

Hope to hear from you,

Bob

Date: Nov 17, 2017

Judy

this is Bob McDevitt. My Mom is Marion McDevitt your Dad's sister.

i am trying to put together our family tree on the Winchester side including the story of the five brothers who served during World War Two. I am hoping you can fill in some of the blanks. I tried to contact you a while back had no luck.

if you are interested, my email is ktone03@gmail.com.

hope to hear from you.

Bob