Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Bombercrew.com Forum -> Bombercrew.com Forum -> 218 Squadron-help needed
Post Info TOPIC: 218 Squadron-help needed
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
218 Squadron-help needed
Permalink   

Seeking information on the following Sergeant Ernest Thomas Raymond HOWARD, No 1167366, Wireless Operator, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Bomber Command 218 Sqdn. Date of Death 29/03/1943, Age 20.  (Details as per CWGC)

Thanks in advance



__________________
PeteT


Wing Commander

Status: Offline
Posts: 147
Date:
Permalink   

I would suggest that you visit the following site 218squadron.wordpress.com/ and contact Steve Smith who is in the process of documenting the history of the squadron.

Good luck with your search

Regards

Pete

__________________

Researching:

- CA Butler and the loss of Lancaster ME334

- Aircrew Training WWII (Basic / Trade / Operational)

- No. 35 Squadron [From Thetford to Scampton]

 

[Always looking for COPIES of original documents / photographs etc relating to these subjects]
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Hello Pete

Thanks for the advice; done, will wait and hope.

Regards Roy



__________________
PeteT


Wing Commander

Status: Offline
Posts: 147
Date:
Permalink   

Roy

I have e-mailed him for you to highlight this thread.

You may, or may not, already have this information:

BK702 (HA-O) was one of two 218 Sqdn Stirlings lost on this operation. Airborne 21.43 29th March 1943 from Downham Market. Shot down by Flak and crashed 03.42 near Syke, 18 km S of Bremen.

All crew were buried at Vechta 1st April 1943 and subsequently re-interred in the Sage War Cemetery.

Sgt W.G. Hoar RCAF KIA
Sgt J.E. Turnbull KIA
Sgt R.E. Jeffreys KIA
Sgt R.A. Mears KIA
Sgt E.T.R. Howard KIA
Sgt W.M. Robertson KIA
Sgt J.H.M. Fraser RCAF KIA

I have a copy of the Bomber Command Loss Card if you would like a copy.

Regards

Pete

 

 



-- Edited by PeteT on Saturday 8th of February 2014 07:09:42 AM

__________________

Researching:

- CA Butler and the loss of Lancaster ME334

- Aircrew Training WWII (Basic / Trade / Operational)

- No. 35 Squadron [From Thetford to Scampton]

 

[Always looking for COPIES of original documents / photographs etc relating to these subjects]
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Pete
Thank you so much for the information; that is exactly what I have been trying to find.

Kind Regards
Roy

__________________
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Yes please I would appreciate a copy of the Bomber Command Loss Card

Roy


__________________
PeteT


Wing Commander

Status: Offline
Posts: 147
Date:
Permalink   

Can you e-mail me petetresadernATbtinternetDOTcom (usual symbol changes) and I will send it to you later today.

Regards

Pete

__________________

Researching:

- CA Butler and the loss of Lancaster ME334

- Aircrew Training WWII (Basic / Trade / Operational)

- No. 35 Squadron [From Thetford to Scampton]

 

[Always looking for COPIES of original documents / photographs etc relating to these subjects]
MikeH


Air Vice Marshall

Status: Offline
Posts: 309
Date:
Permalink   

Hi,

a photo of Sgt Fraser RCAF can be found at the link below, 

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=FRASER&GSiman=1&GScid=2210114&GRid=18427142&

 

Mike,

 



__________________
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Hi Mike

Thanks for the link; although a sad event, its always nice to put a picture to the name.

Roy



__________________
John W


Group Captain

Status: Offline
Posts: 177
Date:
Permalink   

Hi Roy,

 

There does not seem to be a matching claim by a German night fighter, so it may have well been a flak victim.

 

Regards,

 

John.



__________________
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Thanks John

__________________
Cornishcream


Aircraftsman 1st Class

Status: Offline
Posts: 2
Date:
Short Stirling BK 702 (HA-0)
Permalink   

Dear Pete

I have just found and registered on this site. I wonder if you would be kind enough to let me have a copy of the Bomber Command Loss Card mentioned in a previous post as my father's cousin, P/O William George Hoar was the pilot on BK 702 (HA-0) which was sadly hit by flak on its return from Berlin, with the loss of all the crew. I have found the attached photo on the i/net which purports to be the crew of this ill-fated aircraft and, indeed, one crew-member has a striking resemblance to my father, his cousin. I wonder if there is any way of verifying this.

With kind regards

Gail



Attachments
__________________
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
RE: 218 Squadron-help needed
Permalink   

Gail

This is what I have put together from details I received from members of this site.  Hope it is of use.  Kind Regards Roy

Sergeant Ernest Howard, wireless operator of 218 Squadron, stationed at RAF Downham Market, was killed on a bombing operation to Berlin March 29/30 1943.

Airborne at 21.43 hours, Stirling Mk III serial no BK702 Code HA-O, skippered by Canadian pilot William Hoar, was part of a Bomber Command force of 329 aircraft sent on this raid. Twenty one aircraft were lost. BK702 HA-O was one of two 218 Squadron Stirlings that failed to return. It was shot down by flak on its return route and crashed at 03:42 hours near Syke (18 km south of Bremen). All the crew were buried at Vechta April 1 1943 and subsequently re-interred in Sage War Cemetery, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The two Canadian crewmembers (Hoar and Fraser) were buried in individual graves while the remainder were laid to rest side by side in a collective grave (14. B. 1-5.)

The crew memebrs were :-

  • Pilot: Sgt William George Hoar, RCAF, age 27 (Calder, Saskatchewan, Canada)
  • Flt Eng: Sgt James Edward Turnbull, RAFVR, age 30 (Stanley, Co Durham)
  • Navigator: Sgt Ronald Eric Jeffreys, age 22 (Canvey Island, Essex)
  • Bomb Aimer: Sgt Ronald Albert Mears, age 24 (East Ham, Essex)
  • Wireless Operator: Sgt Ernest Thomas Raymond Howard, age 20 (Bargoed)
  • Mid Upper Gunner: Sgt William Mitchell Robertson, age 25 (Montrose, Angus)
  • Rear Gunner: Flt Sgt John Murdock Hugh Fraser, age 20, RCAF


Research by Roy Smith. Information from members of Bombercrew.com.forum 



__________________
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Gail
Out of interest which is the crew member in the image you say has a resemblance to your father?

__________________
Cornishcream


Aircraftsman 1st Class

Status: Offline
Posts: 2
Date:
Permalink   

Dear Roy

I am most grateful for your reply which is full of information. I had tracked down William's gravestone at the Sage War Cemetery and was interested to read more details about the other members of the crew. I am presuming that Sgt Ernest Howard was a member of yr family. So sad that all these brave young men all lost their lives. I think the Short Stirling was rather a death-trap as, I understand it was prevented from flying high out of flak's way because of its foreshortened wings.

The crew member who looks most like my Dad is third in from the left and smiling cheerily, but I am wondering who is sitting in the ****pit and grinning out of the window. Could it be the Flight Engineer who I think may have sat next to the pilot? I wonder if you are able to identify Sgt Howard from that photo?

Yes, William's family was from Calder, Canada, which so far out in the sticks that it is hard to imagine what life must have been like there. His father left Cornwall for this new life and William must have felt a great urge to go to a country he did not know in its time of need as did so many others.

Kindest regards 

Gail



__________________
Dannemois


Corporal

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:
Permalink   

Gail
Pleased the information was of help. Thanks to Pete, Mike and John. Going from my own experience working on a modern day flight line, I imagine the Flight Engineer would be the first crew member to arrive at the aircraft carrying out pre-flight checks on the engines and oil levels. Sadly I am not able to identify Sgt Howard from the photo.

Regards, Roy

__________________
Anonymous

Date:
Permalink   

Dannemois wrote:

Gail
Out of interest which is the crew member in the image you say has a resemblance to your father?

Gail,

 

If you can visit my site,  http://218squadron.wordpress.com  I will be able to supply a crew photo and full squadron history.

 

Kind regards

 

Steve



__________________
hiyou007


Aircraftsman 1st Class

Status: Offline
Posts: 2
Date:
Permalink   

Hello Pete

Thanks for the advice; done, will wait and hope.

Regards Roy



__________________
FARASAT
xl500doktor


Aircraftsman 1st Class

Status: Offline
Posts: 1
Date:
Permalink   

Hello,
yesterday I located and explored the exact crash site of Stirling BK702 near Schorlingskamp-Syke. I found some parts of the airplane. Before this we have maked a meeting with the eyewitness Mr. Hinrichs 88years and he showed me the pasture land and the crash site. The aircraft has come up flat on the pasture land. According to statements made by witnesses was supposedly only the nose in the ground.I'm searching for photos of the crew. I'm happy for any help. Thanks and friendly regards
Volker Urbansky from Germany,
email: v.urbansky@t-online.de



-- Edited by xl500doktor on Thursday 16th of April 2015 07:15:56 AM



-- Edited by xl500doktor on Thursday 16th of April 2015 07:16:38 AM

__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Bombercrew.com Forum -> Bombercrew.com Forum -> 218 Squadron-help needed
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard