RCAF|AVRO LANCASTERS
http://www.britainatwar.com^53LANCASTER FINALE
March too was a month of heavy
losses, with a total of seven aircraft
failing to return from eight raids.
Two went down against Stuttgart
when 426 contributed 16 of the 850
bombers. Flt Sgt Arthur Simard and
crew were shot down and killed near
Dürnbach while WO C McIlwain’s
crew all survived as prisoners after
baling out following a total engine
failure. Two more were lost in action
on the second of two attacks on
Frankfurt on the 22nd. At 9.54pm
LW647/OW-R was intercepted over
the Ruhr at 20,000ft and crashed near
Greffen, about ten miles northwest
of Gütersloh and claimed the lives of
all but two of Flt Sgt Harold Wright’s
crew. They had possibly fallen to Ofw
LANCASTER FINALE Rudolf Frank of 3./NJG 3, while
Flt Lt Henry Bow’s crew was lost
without trace.
The last major raid on the ‘Big
City’ was by 811 bombers on the
night of March 24/25 to which
the Thunderbirds sent a dozen.
After the carnage of the previous
month, 426 escaped without loss
but high winds scattered the force
and the attack wasn’t a success. The
following night came a strike on
Essen, 426’s first visit to the Ruhr
since November, though once again,
weather prevented concentration.
The last operation of March was
the ill-fated Nuremburg raid that
cost Bomber Command 96 aircraft
shot down and ten more wrecked
on return with little damage done
to the target. Two of the losses were
from the Thunderbirds with 22-year-
old Flt Lt Walter Cracknell and all
his crew killed by a night-fighter
attack at Ermreuth while at 12.31am
on March 31 DS852/OW-Q was
shot down north of Schmalkalden at
16,500ft by Lt Paul Fehre of 5./NJG 3,
though most of WO R G S Douglas’
crew managed to bale out and became
prisoners. It was the last 426 Squadron
Lancaster casualty. It also marked the
end of the long, bloody Battle of Berlin
during which 426 Squadron dispatched
210 Lancaster IIs on the 18 raids. It
lost 13 aircraft shot down with three
more crashed, with 88 men killed,
nine captured, seven interned and
two evaded. The Thunderbirds had
participated in more Berlin raids than
any 6 Group squadron, but also paid
the highest price.
The allied strategic bombers then
switched to more tactical targets ahead
of the coming invasion of Europe.
The unit’s first raid of April was an
attack on Villeneuve in southern
France followed by Laon and Noisy-
le-Sec, but strikes on the Ruhr towns
predominated for the rest of the
month, fortunately without loss.
However, it had been decided to
equip 6 (RCAF) Group throughout
with the Halifax, with 426 receiving its
first five Mk.IIIs on April 11, making
their first sorties on the 19th. The last
raid with its round-engine Lancaster
IIs was when five participated in a raid
on Saint-Ghislain, France on May 1
after which they were withdrawn.LEFT
Groundcrew
preparing
Lancaster II
LL700/OW-X
for a sortie
to Berlin on
December 31,
1943.
(RCAF/PAC)BELOW
The Hercules
engines of
a Lancaster
II receiving
attention before
its next operation.
(RCAF/PAC)