RCAF|AVRO LANCASTERS
ABOVE
Lancaster II
DS713/OW-J
in August 1943.
(E C B JONES)LEFT
Wg Cdr Bill
Swetman (right)
with his navigation
leader Flt Lt
Ted Ratcliffe.
(RCAF/PAC)LEFT
Lancaster II
DS763/OW-O
flew seven
ops to Berlin.
(L MILBERRY)http://www.britainatwar.com^51“A FORCE OF ALMOST 450 LANCASTERS, INCLUDING A DOZEN FROM THE
SQUADRON, REVISITED THE TARGET ON THE 26TH AND CREWS COULDSEE THE GLOWS OF THE FIRES FROM OVER 100 MILES AWAY”
ABOVE
Lancaster II
DS713/OW-J
in August 1943.
(E C B JONES)LEFT
Wg Cdr Bill
Swetman (right)
with his navigation
leader Flt Lt
Ted Ratcliffe.
(RCAF/PAC)Bloeme, was hit by flak over the city,
which knocked out the starboard outer
engine and inflicted further damage.
They flew back on three, but off track
and in poor weather they crashed into
a hill near Maldon, Yorkshire, killing
two of the crew and injuring the
others.
A force of almost 450 Lancasters,
including a dozen from the squadron,
revisited Berlin three days later and
crews could see the glows of the fires
from more than 100 miles away.
However, fighters and flak over
the city were intense with two of
426’s aircraft coned by searchlights,
while a Ju 88 shot down Sqn Ldr
Alfred Hughes’ crew. The
Thunderbirds’ next raid again
took them back to Berlin on
December 2 when a dozen Lancs set
out and again the fires were visible
from a great distance. However,
over the city Plt Off Malcolm Shaw’s
aircraft was coned by searchlights
then hit by the guns of Flak Abt
513, exploding before crashing in
the Uhlenhorst district at 8.30pm.
Two other 426 Squadron machines
were badly hit. Plt Off Berry’s plane
limped home on two engines, while
Flt Sgt Coulcombes’ aircraft was
damaged by several night-fighter
attacks though his air gunner Sgt
MacKenzie hit a Ju 88 in the belly.CONTINUED OPS
The following night six aircraft
joined a raid by more than 500
bombers to Leipzig but at 18,000ft
near Braunschweig at 2.15am,
DW733/OW-L, flown by 19-year-
old Flt Sgt Ross Sturley, became the
penultimate victim of the ace Werner
Streib, Kommandeur of NJG 1. Only
three of the crew survived as PoWs.
The next raid, once more against
Berlin, was on December 16 when a
dozen aircraft from 426 joined almost
500 bombers. Four aircraft were lost
with DS846/OW-X being shot down
by the guns of Flak Abt 231 and Flak
Abt 185, crashing at Hoya, 30 miles
northwest of Hanover and killing Plt
Off Lewis Archibald and most of his
crew, with just Plt Off J L Wilson
baling out. Flak also hit DS762/OW-V
and, unable to get home, the crew
headed for neutral Sweden where they
were interned. Two more crashed on
return costing the lives of most of thecrews. Despite the losses eight aircraft
headed for Frankfurt on the 20th with
AVM Cliff McEwan the AOC flying
with the CO. Plt Off Griffin’s crew
were hit and had to jump from their
aircraft while at 8.20pm Lancaster II
LL630/OW-D piloted by the now
commissioned Fg Off Fred Stuart
CGM was shot down near Koblenz
by a night-fighter flown by Ltn Ludwig
Wirtz with the loss of all the crew.
Eleven Thunderbird Lancs returned
to the Big City three nights later; all
bombed and returned safely.
Bad weather then forced a break for
a few days but on the 29th Berlin was
attacked again, followed by another
raid on the night of New Year’s Day
when ten aircraft participated, though
the target was blanketed under thick