Can anybody point me in the right direction,i am looking for info on andrew syme adger who served with the RAFVR during ww2. I believe he was shot down early in 1943 but the plane was not found till after the war had ended,he is buried in berlin war cemetary and i have seen the info on his grave but i am looking for the info on his last flight and where his lancaster was found,somebody please help as i have no idea where to look. many thanks rod
Lancaster serial number W4825, coded OF.H took off from Woodhill Spa at 18:49 hours to attack Berlin. Unconfirmed report has the Lancaster crashing in the sea off Biarritz. Hope that helps a little.
Have a look at my reply to a post on Sgt. David Al Banks RCAF. John
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- Winthorpe 1661 HCU - 630 Squadron " Nocturna Mors " East Kirkby - The LE-K for Kitty Crew - " There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly " stirlingaircraftsoc.raf38group.org/
Unconfirmed report has the Lancaster crashing in the sea off Biarritz. Hope that helps a little.
Kiwi.
Biarritz seems an awfully long way off course for a plane attacking Berlin. If that was the case, it also seems unlikely to me that all the bodies would be recovered and buried in the cemetery at Berlin. W4825 is not listed as being shot down by nightfighters, so its probable loss was by the considerable amount of flak over "The Big City". Max
-- Edited by ME453 on Thursday 6th of May 2010 09:16:51 AM
My thoughts exactly, I visited my Great Uncles grave in Berlin War Cemetry when I was serving in the army in 1989. It does seem highly unlikely that the plane was lost in the Bay of Biscay if the airmen were buried in Berlin. If that was the case and the plane crashed in the sea, I would suspect bodies would not be recovered. I was told by an aunt that the plane had crashed in Germany on the way back from Berlin...so this is a mystery. The RAF dont seem to have updated any records as we are led to believe the aircraft remains were recovered from a field several years after the crash occured in the 1950s.
Can anybody point us in the right direction of where to look next for any records? Perhaps there is somewhere in Berlin where records would be held of crash information??
The document that MAY shed some light on it is the Casualty Report Rod. If you there was an Australian crew member, seeing it would be easy - many are already digitised and can be viewed instantly online at the Australian National Archives. Many of these Casualty Reports (A705s) contain reports from the Missing Research and Enquiry Service (MRES) whose job it was post-war to try to investigate, identify and recover missing aircrew and (usually) have their remains interred in War Cemeteries.
However, Britain being Britain, our MoD take a different stance on public access to these records which they say may contain sensitive material which could prove upsetting to relatives of those missing. Yes, I have seen reports on aircrew where it has been stated that only fragments of bodies were found, but NOT knowing anything never gives families (and we're talking 60+ years on now) closure.
The best that you can do is to write a pleading, friendly letter to Susan Dickinson at the Air Historical Branch, address is:
Air Historical Branch (RAF) and Publications Clearance Branch (Air) Building 824 RAF Northolt West End Road Ruislip Middlesex HA4 6NG.
thanks for that info,hopefully i might get somewhere now,if you hear of anything else please let me know. keep up the good work gents,those who sacraficed with their lives should never be forgotten. rod
Hi, I appreciate your post was made a few years ago, but I wonder if you found out any information? I am currently researching another crew member of the Lancaster W4825, the flight engineer Ronald Unwin. I'd appreciate to hear any information you found about the aircraft and crews' fate. Thank you.
I have the following in my notes about Lancaster W4825 : From a German researcher via David Layne; shot down over Berlin-Kopenick around 22:30 hours local time by flak. Crew buried 15 March 1943 at Doberitz-Standortfriedhof.
I hope this is of some help.
Wayne.
