hello Grandad was with the 166 latter part of the war 44-45 P/O Stanley Mackenzie M/U his pilot was a New zealander

My Father was a pilot of Lancaster bomber 'L for Love'  166 squadron, Kirmington 1943.

Walter Oakman John (Oakie) Walker from Auckland, New Zealand. If anyone has any info I would be grateful if they might contact me. I have names of crew members also.

Many thanks,

David O. Walker

email: bandaroo22@gmail.com

Alan,

Although the 166sqdn ORB does not show NCO postings, one of the crew on their first op in February 43 was a Pilot Officer, and the ORB shows him as coming from 142sqdn on 27/01/43. So on a hunch, i looked in the 142sqdn ORB, and have found Jack Stock in one of the crews.

 As this is Barnsley's thread, i'll leave the 166 info to him, but i will look at the 142 ORB for details of Jacks ops with them.

Alan.

Hi Barnsley,

Thanks for your kind offer , i was wondering if you had any info on any of my late Dad's flights, previous to the one he was shot down on.

Sgt A.C Smith, Navigator

Last flight aboard LancasterMk.III  JA865, Shot down 24/11/43

Any info would be great,thanks Clive.

Hi Regarding the crew of Wellington bomber He631 AS-V, SGT Henry Radbourne was my great uncle (I have a picture) I would be interested in any information you might have about him, his crew and their last mission, Please. Any help would be great fully received. Also I have been contacted by a lady in France who lives in the Moelan-sur-Mer area and is a member of the local military medal society. Who is currently up grading Arthur's grave and hopes to hold a ceremony for him next veterans day. She is very interested in contacting any relatives of the whole crew. If anyone is interested I will provide her email address Cheers Chris

About the crash of the WELLINGTON X  HE 631  AS-V, 3rd april 1943, off the coast of Brittany.

Hello Barnsley,

I am a retired Air France cabin crew and the lady in Moëlan-sur-Mer, Brittany, "Croweater" told you about shortly.

I found Sgt Arthur RADBOURNE's decaying grave in our communal cemetry last Remembrance day 2011 (11.11.2011). As a member of a local Veteran's association (on behalf of my father who is a WWII veteran) I advised the President of this association. (He is a retired Submarine Officer). He was the one to decide of an official Commemoration Ceremony on next year's Victory Day, May the 8th 2013, because we need much time to get hold of as much information material as possible.

After months of painstaking research, I "landed" on the "Findagrave" website showing a photo of Sergeant Radbourne + a virtual flowers page where his great nephew had left 2 messages.  That is how I got in touch with him and could find many useful information concerning Arthur RADBOURNE.

Though, in order to treat all members of this crew on an equal basis, we must find out a minimum of information relating to the four other young men, possibly a photo of each of them :

They were : Eric William ALDRIDGE,  Obs/M, 32 years old //  Wallace CARTER, Nav/B, age unknown  //  Thomas LUSCOMBE, Mit, 22 years old // 

 Arthur Henry RADBOURNE, Pilot, (the only information about him was his service number : 1385949, until we found out more via his family) //  Jack STOCK, Rad/M, age unknown.

I found some information about them on the french site (english version available) :

 "France-Crashes 39-45".  (fiche n° 3702)

I'm aware you can't have all records. I received a letter from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission suggesting I write to the R.A.F. HISTORICAL BRANCH  in   RUISLIP.

I will do that, "Croweater" (with whom I have regular contacts) knows it, too. If I can obtain any useful information about this crew, their flight datas (we look for their flying path trying to figure out where they have been shot down in order to try and locate the WELLINGTON wreck) I will path them on to you.  

I have been contacted by Malcolm BALDWIN, Secretary of the R.A.F. Birmingham Branch Newsletter, who will publish this rather incredible story when it is written ; for the time being, I am still investigating eye-witnesses of the dramatic but "colorfull" 1943 events here in Moëlan, where the local population defied in mass the Germans and gave poor Sergeant RADBOURNE a beautiful burial ceremony.

I will tell you when this story is published in the Birmingham newsletter.

Thank you for your patience,

Blackforest ... is the place where I was born.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Clive,Ive written a message on your white board.Please get in touch.Did you know his pilot had flown Wellingtons with 166 in 1943 but was taken of ops due to sickness.When he had recovered he returned to 166 to fly Lancasters. Cheers,barnsley

My uncle, Lionel Reginald Castellari was posted missing in action on 11/4/43. He was the wireless operator/air gunner in Wellington BK464 that was shot down over Le Harvre. I would appreciate any assistance in enabling me to obtain a photograph of him and his crew.

Hi, My uncle , Sgt. Joseph Carter was the Flight Eng on LM581 shot down near Epe, Holland. I am visiting his grave this August. Are there any accounts of this operation or photos of this crew.  Any help much appreciated.

Email: lynnegooch26@hotmail.com

Hi Barnsley, thank you for your offer. I am looking for photographs of the following crewmembers of the Lancaster ND956 which belonged to RAF 166 Sqn which crashed in the night of 21-22 may 1944 near the dutch village Goudriaan, Holland. It concerns photo's of Flt.Sgt. Trevor Gordon Franklin from Nottingham, UK; Sgt. James Kiltie fromMaybole, Ayrshire, UK and Sgt. B.F. Bird who became a POW, no further details known. The photo's will be used for a memorial at Goudriaan which is being made ay he moment for these bravery crewmembers.  T.I.A.

Corin

Message from "Black forest" to Alan :

A first British Commemoration ceremony for Sergeant Arthur RADBOURNE  and  HIS  FOUR  CREWMATES  was held last september 6, 2012 at the communal cemetery of Moëlan-sur-Mer.

It was led by Royal British Legion Chairman Rodney CURTIS. The funeral oration was prepared and read by Wing Commander Gordon RAYFIELD. The name of Jack STOCK, as well as the three other crews were insistently honored.

About 40 British persons, many of them from the R.A.F.  (retired, living in the close region) attended this very moving ceremony, in the presence of Sergeant RADBOURNE's nephew, from Australia.

You can access the private photo report on the following site : (if you have the right software program !)

www.scaviner-photo.com

Identifiant : CS28-060912

Mot de passe : RADBOURNE

The Military Medal's Section in Moëlan-sur-Mer is now desperately looking for a photo of these four other young men. Any chance (possibility ?) you would have one of Jack ?

 

 

 

 

Hi,my grandad,Alan pea****,served with 166 squadron and was a rear gunner. I think he served from 1944-45. Unfortunatly my grandad passed away in 1984 and I've been told that most of the crew he served with are no longer with us.
I was wondering if anyone knows of the names of the crew he served with and some of the bombing raids etc he took part in and what Lancaster he was in. I do know for a fact he was involved in operation manna.
Any info will be gratefully recieved.
Regards
Simonj

Hello ,

Can someone help me with info/pictures of the crew off Wellington HF-595 lost over Belgium on july 1943 .

S/L Cookson Arthur Alan

Pilot 40984      RAF 

 F/Sgt Clark James Crichton  DFM

Navigator  1343392   RAF          

F/Sgt Scarlett William  DFM

Bombaimer  1027850      RAF          

P/O Rich Ronald Stanley

W/Ops-Gunner  139952   RAF          

W/O II Pym William Harold

Gunner  R/99568            RCAF

 

Regards

Moon

         

Barnsley Hello, wondered if I can ask you about 166 and my father, Mike Vickerman who was navigator on the jock Lawson crew (A flight, U- uniform , 'Lucky Seven', NG115). Wondered if you could tell me anything about that crew, other members or relatives etc ? My understanding is that he joined 166 but not sure if thisw was straight from training or via another squadron - I am pretty sure the entire crew went on to 9 squadron as Pathfinders as I believe they picked entire crews for the role. He also flew with 97 sqdn but not sure in what sequence. At end of WW2 Europe, he was assigned to Tiger Force, and ended up in India at RAF Salbani when the war finally ended, and stayed there for around 6mths before return and demob. Grateful for any light shed, or any photos - I do have a copy of the 'Lucky Seven' which is in photobucket, but if any others are around woudl be good to hear. rgds John

Barnsley,

I am trying to determine what happened to Lancaster NG391 from the 166 Squadron, lost 1-2 February 1945 on a mission to Ludwigshaven Three of the crew were captured, Pilot: D M Smithers, E A Bradshaw and R D Story, Four of the crew are buried next to each other in Durnbach War Cemetery, John Desmond Craig, Sydney Willis, Jack Allman and Bernard Charles Long. There is information that Craig was initially buried in Leutershausen, Germany which is a long way east of Ludwigshaven. Do you know the full names of the three captured airmen, any details of where the plane actually crashed and exactly what happened that night?

Regards,
RSwank

Moon, Thanks for the reply.

So the plane was most likely one of these (4?).

Helmuth Schulte, Stab II./NJG6, Lancaster 19:30, Mannheim
Peter Spoden, StabII./NJG6, Lancaster 19:34, SW Mannheim
Johannes Engels, Stab II./NJG6, Lancaster 19:20, Mannheim
Gerhard Freidrich, Stab I./NJG6, Lancaster 19:20, Ludwigshafen

What prompts part of the mystery is this link:

http://scottishwargraves.phpbbweb.com/scottishwargraves-post-21051.html

which has Craig first interred in Leutershausen (written incorrectly as "Leuterschausen") here (search for 5th Craig on page).

http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-ftopic641.html

Leutershausen is near Nuremburg. Since the Germans generally buried dead crew members close to the "crash site", this lead to questions about what happened. I wonder where the other 3 crew members were first interred?

Regards, RSwank

I can confirm the target was Ludwigschafen that night, from the 166sqdn ORB. Consideration must be given to the fact that there may be a possibility that the information as to the burial of Craig at Leutershausen could be wrong.

-- Edited by AW on Monday 22nd of October 2012 11:45:31 PM

Fritzelblitz, Thanks for the clarification on Leutershausen. That location would make sense for the original internment. I wonder if the other crewmen were also first buried there and that is the area of the crash, I would suspect so.

I still don't know the full names of the three survivors, D M Smithers, E A Bradshaw and R D Story and whether or not there is any record of their post war statements on exactly what happened that night.

Hello, Joseph Read was a Flight Engineer in the crew of Johnny Double.Posted in to 166 Squadron 29.3.44 and went on to complete a Tour of operations.The DFM was a non immediate award (in other words for a sustained period of service rather than a single incident-although the pilot got the DFC for 2 operations in July 1944)They were posted out in Nov 1944.Email me direct on MJC41uK At YAhoo DOT CO Dot Uk (all Lower case).I can send you so info from the Operations record book and may have copy of the DFM recommendation.Do you have any photos of Sgt Read ?B

Hello sawdust,

http://www.lostaircraft.com/database.php?lang=en&e=525&mode=viewentry

http://www.156squadron.com/display_crews.asp?pCrewid=1334

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2102118/

http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2008700/DURNBACH%20WAR%20CEMETERY

Lancaster III ND446 GT-P was airborne 23:57 on 1 Mar 1944 from Warboys. Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at Hausen, 24 km S of Tübingen, where the entire crew was initially buried. They since have been reinterred in the Dürnbach War Cemetery.

Sgt. Ernest Kenyon, Mid Up AG, 642691, DURNBACH WAR CEMETERY, Coll. grave 4. H. 17-19.

I'll be visiting there on Remembrance Day. Would be glad to pay my respects and send you a picture of the grave then.

With kind regards, Anthony Whitworth aka fritzelblitz

AW wrote:

---

Chris,

Ernest Kenyon flew with 166, 460 and finally 156. I have the ORB's for these squadrons, and will send you scans of any pages that list him and his crew. As far as i can see at the moment, he flew eleven ops with 166, five with 460, and five with 156. Have also found a combat report for him in the 166sqdn Appendices.

Alan.

-- Edited by AW on Saturday 3rd of November 2012 03:58:21 AM

---

 

Hello, I am looking for any info or photos of HE923 and its crew. My great uncle was Flight Sgt. George Armstrong, tail gunner. ted.yeomans@aandc.gc.ca Thank you.

I'm researching my great-uncle - P.O. Stanley Mackenzie - for a television project. He had previously served as a mid-upper gunner

with the 'Berlin Kid' - Roger Coulombe CREW - 426 Thunderbird Squadron RCAF - 6 Group, but I believe finished his RAF career with 166 Squadron

as a navigator. Just trying to clarify this and his possible participation in the bombing of Berchesgaten and the Dutch relief drops.

All assistance greatly appreciated.

 

Best

David Mackenzie

Toronto, CANADA

Alan,

This is a "check e-mail" from Blackforest to make sure you do get my message. (I am not bilingual, so, sorry if my english "sounds" funny !)

I'm also researching infos, details,  POSSIBLY  A  PHOTO  of Jack STOCK, as I belong to a Franco-British group of people in Moëlan-sur-Mer who "work" on the crash of the Wellington Bomber in which jack STOCK was shot down with the whole crew on april 3rd 1943, the pilot being Sergeant Arthur RADBOURNE.

I have some non negligeable infos partly from Sgt Radbourne's family, partly form Barnsley (ORB  166 squadron) 

We (re)discovered Sgt R. 's decaying grave just one year ago, on Remembrance day 2011.  Since then, the grave has been up-graded, a plate reminds the names of the four other crews. The Municipality is offering a heritage board to recall their story. This is one of the reasons why we are desperately trying to gather information material about these five young men, to tell their story and get them out of this anonimity (hence, the need of a photo) and senseless death. 

I'll attach three elements to this e-mail, provided they are not too big. Otherwise, I'll send a separate mail extra. 

Hope you'll be interested, 

Best regards

Dominique JURAY (retired Air France Flight Attendant)