Hello,

You don't mention your grandfather's name but as only one airman aboard R5621 was awarded the DFM:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34915/pages/4809/page.pdf

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Pilot Officer Angus ROBSON (41471).
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal.
551385 Sergeant Wallace STOCKPORT.
One night in July, 1940, Pilot Officer
Robson carried out a bombing attack on
warships in the harbour at Wilhelmshaven.
Undeterred by a terrific barrage of enemy
gunfire, he swept down to the very low
level of twenty feet above the buildings, and
with conspicuous courage crossed the harbour
and pressed home his attack on an enemy
warship. Sergeant Stockport as wireless
operator air gunner fired continuously at the
enemy defences and searchlights with his
machine guns. Pilot Officer Robson has consistently
shown great daring and devotion to
duty, and Sergeant Stockport by his courage
and skill, has on many previous occasions
contributed to the success of attacks on the
enemy, often under the most trying weather
conditions.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/all-anniversaries/22664-memoriam-those-air-force-pilots-crews-who-died-day-ww2-61.html#post508456

RAAF FATALITIES IN SECOND WORLD WAR AMONG
RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT
IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS

404902 Sergeant ENGLAND, Kenneth Hayne

Source:

AWM 237 (65) NAA : A705, 163/107/102 Micro Film No 463 OAFH
Commonwealth War Graves records, W R Chorley : RAF Bomber Command Losses
of the Second World War, Page 125, Volume 1942
Aircraft Type: Lancaster
Serial number: R 5621
Radio call sign: OL R
Unit: ATTD 83 SQN RAF

Summary:

Lancaster R5621 took off from RAF Scampton at 2216 hours on the night of 11/12th June
1942, detailed to carry out a gardening operation in the Baltic. Nothing was heard from
the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base.

Crew:

RAF FO Sproule, M A Captain (Pilot) (POW)
RAF Sgt R C Driver, (2nd Pilot) (POW)
RAF PO Williams, D G (Observer) +
RAF Flt Sgt W Stockport, (1st Wireless Air Gunner) +
RAAF 404902 Sgt K P England, (2nd Wireless Air Gunner) +
RAF Sgt R H Dominy, (Mid Upper Gunner) +
RAF Sgt R R Vernon, (Rear Gunner) (POW)

The aircraft was hit by flak from a flak ship moored in the target area and exploded. Four
of the crew were killed and FO Sproule, Sgt Driver and Sgt Vernon were POWs.
Those killed are buried in the Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland. The city of Poznan
is located in the west of Poland, on the main E30/2 road. The cemetery is in the north of
the town in the district of Winogrady.

Sgt Vernon a POW lost consciousness as the aircraft broke up but was rescued an hour
later by a German vessel searching for survivors.

There is an undigitized file on the RAAF member of this crew which would give you far more information than you would ever get from the RAF.

Go to http://www.naa.gov.au/

and use 404902 as your search parameter. A new window will open. You want the A705. Click and a new window will open. Click on "request copy" and follow instructions.

There was a Wallace Stockport born July 1920 quarter in Northumberland. Ring a bell?

Name	Wallace Stockport
Year of Registration	1920
Quarter of Registration	Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District	Castle Ward
Registration County	Northumberland
Mother's maiden name	Thompson
Volume Number	10B
Volume Page	735

Regards,

Dave

-- Edited by alieneyes on Sunday 2nd of December 2012 11:10:27 PM

-- Edited by alieneyes on Sunday 2nd of December 2012 11:11:12 PM

Hi Lee,

          Adding to what Dave has already given you. I have the 83sqdn ORB (Operations Record Book) for 83sqdn, and would gladly go through it for  operations flown by this crew previous to their last one.

Alan.

Lee,

      You'll have to let me have your email address for when i've found anything. You can leave it on my "whiteboard" in my profile.

Alan.

Hi Lee,

        It would have been safer to let me have it via my whiteboard, but i've written it down now. So now you need to delete it by editing your post, to lessen the risk of spammers getting hold of it.

Alan.

Hi Alan,

 

I have no idea if this thread is still active at all.

 

My wife's uncle was Mike Sproule, the pilot on this mission.

 

I'm struggling to find any more records for him, aside from a trip in a Manchester on 8.4.42 when he was shot down the first time. do you have anything you could share, please? Or any suggestions where I could continue looking, please?

 

Thanks

Nick

He told of hearing the voices of crew mates slip away in the fog.

Yeah, I've been with my wife twenty years, and he was gone before I knew him. They've just released, as I'm sure you know, a bomber command medal, which has promoted this search. She was fond of him, so I thought I'd surprise her. I'm told, but I cannot corroborate, that mike kept a diary of every day of the war, and it is the only full record from bomber command. It is in the imperial war museum in London somewhere. The result of this is we have no records! Thank The Lord for the Internet, otherwise I'd be lost. :)

Are there records of POWs anywhere, as this is where he ended up for at least some time.

Mike,

 

  Thank you, the cemetary is very well maintained to be seen on all saint s day!

  If ever you found some photos of the crew  it would be something.

 

         Regards,          Lee.

Is it one of the two on the flight mentioned above? Or 'just' someone else who flew the same plane at a different time?

-- Edited by NickHowe on Saturday 11th of May 2013 10:26:40 AM

The survivor was on the plane when it was shot down.

Best wishes

AF

 

 

 

Just to let you know that Flight Seargent Robert C. Driver, the co-pilot on R5621 when it was shot down on 12th June 1942, died on 25th May 2014 aged 93 years. His funeral service was held at St Davids Cathedral on 6th June 2014.

After ditching in the Stettin estuary he was picked up by the Germans and, following treatment, was held at Stalag Luft VI and later transfered to Stalug Luft IV.

see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_VI

and

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_IV

He was on the "Black March" during which prisoners were made to march west as the Russians made their advances on Germany. The following is a relevant part of Robert's obituary (given at the funeral service) which he had himself dictated a few month's earlier:

"When the Home Guard was formed after Dunkirk, there was a question of whether he should join up or go into the Air Force to train as a pilot. This he achieved in late 1941 and was the posted to 83 Squadron stationed at Scrampton. The night he arrived there was their last raid in Manchesters, and there followed six weeks of getting to know the Lancaster, after which he was involved in the first Thousand Bomber Raid on the 30th May 1942, on Cologne. On the night of 11th and 12th June, he was on a mine dropping raid on the estuary in Stettin, in which the aircraft was shot down.

He became a prisoner of war, mainly in the hands of the Luftwaffe, until January 1945. There was a certain comradeship between them and the RAF, so his treatment was generally fair. In 1945 he and others were taken to a Luftwaffe camp not very far from Memel by lorry, then transferred to a coal carrying ship and taken to Stettin (ironically) where they were shut up in cattle wagons. There was, almost immediately, a bombing raid which was very upsetting. Fortunately the RAF was aiming more for the port of Stettin.

Then followed various methods of travelling, on foot, or if they were lucky, some form of transport, until they arrived at a farm near Lake Zarentin, where they were released by members of the 4th Airborne Division and told to make their way back to the British Line as best they could. So, next morning, he and five others started to walk and came across a farmer who had a horse and cart which they took over and made their way to Lauenberg where all the German forces were surrendering.

There they came upon a very smart coach and one of the party said "Oh Yes I can drive that!". This coach had obviously belonged to some high officials of the Luftwaffe and contained several uniforms, pistols and a case of Champagne. They drove that day as far as Celle where they reported to the local RAF police station who put them up for the night in a purpose built Luftwaffe barracks.

Next day they were flown to Brussels where they spent the day and night. Robert and one or two others went to the cinema to see a film called Arsenic and Old Lace. They also bought quite a lot of chocolates, which made Robert, unaccustomed to rich food, feel very unwell.

The next day they were flown back to the UK where they were put up for the night, this time in an RAF camp. It was now about the 3rd or 4th May 1945 and Robert eventually arrived home at his mother's flat on the 8th May which was VE day. He and his mother heard Churchill announcing that the war was over."

Robert was a wonderful person and it was a privilige knowing him. He will be greatly missed by family and friends.

Hi Nick,

 Thanks for your email address, will be in touch when i've got the ops for you. I see that he was very lucky on the 8th April. Out for the first time with his own crew, after being 2nd Pilot for prthey were hit by flak, and ditched in the sea. ORB says that he was the only one to find the dinghy, all the rest were lost. It appears that it was only the accurate fix, given by the W/Op, that enabled him to be eventually found.

Alan.

-- Edited by AW on Tuesday 16th of April 2013 11:27:12 AM

-- Edited by AW on Sunday 15th of June 2014 02:55:26 AM

Hi Nick, Nice photo Thank You.    Radio code is 5621    . I don't know how old the craft was but I guess just a couple of weeks to check on the list here above.

Robert Driver was the real breakthrough in this query , how lucky we where to be able speak with the man.

for ever he will be a sincere profound memory.

Good luck and please share anything relevant. The thread is quiet but informs are sent out when it's added to.

Wayne,

Thank you for your information. I do not have a copy of Nachjagd War Diaries but I have found reference to a Lancaster being shot down on 06/12/42 on this sight, http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/aces.php?PilotID=413 

Let me ask you, bearing in mind that two Lancasters, R5636 OL-K and R5621 OL-R were lost during that mission, is it possible for a night fighter pilot to identify a specific aircraft. I appreciate that the Call Sign markings on the aircraft are large but it would have been dark and I would have thought specific aircraft identification difficult. I am new to all this so please excuse my ignorance. I have read that R5621 was hit by anti-aircraft fire from a boat and that she exploded, though 3 of her aircrew did manage to bail out, if this could be confirmed then that would almost certainly mean that it was R5636 that the night fighter pilot shot down. I apologise if I appear sceptical but I want to feel as certain as possible before I relay the information back to the living relatives of P/O William Kenneth Williams in Australia.

Thanks again.....Keith Parry 

 

Dear Lee
I have been reading the emails on the Lancaster crew with interest.
My uncle (my mother's brother)was called sergeant Wallace Stockport and I know he died in a bombing raid and is buried in Pozion. I also know that he was a radio gunner and was awarded the DFM.
I am aware that he was married but did not know he had any children. I have photos of my uncle and early family history and would be happy to exchange information.
Best wishes
Nigel

Hello Nigel

I am Lee's mother ...my mother Margaret married Wallace Stockport...

I would like to know about Wally's life and family..

Kind regards

Kathleen