ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 208238
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| Date: | Saturday 27 March 1943 |
| Time: | 23:50 |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk II |
| Owner/operator: | 419 (Moose) Sqn RCAF |
| Registration: | DT634 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Escheburg near Bergedorf, Schleswig-Holstein -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Middleton St George |
Damaged by Flak and shot down by night fighter pilot Oblt. Ulrich Wulff of the 1./NJG 5, flying a Bf 110 from Stendal airfield.
Although attempts were made to set course for Sweden, the aircraft started to go out of control and the order to bale out was given. The rear escape hatch was jammed due to the release handle having been shot away, and the nose hatch was both iced up and jammed by shrapnel damage. F/O Sweanor opened the canopy top (dinghy) escape hatch but found it was not a suitable way to exit. Sgt Bishop took the fire axe and having made his way aft, the door was chopped open. The crew then baled out at low altitude, but the pilot was killed in the crash, north of Hamburg. He is buried in Hamburg War Cemetery, Ohlsdorf.
F/O Sweanor, suffering from stomach flu prior to the flight, landed safely but with a minor leg wound and aided by his escape compass, attempted to evade capture; however a couple of days later he was captured and later was in Stalag Luft III, Sagan. In summer 1943 he was advised of a promotion to F/Lt, and was congratulated by Hptm Pieber, who shook his hand.
Sgt Budinger was commissioned whilst at Luft III and transferred to the Officers' part of the camp. Sgt Taylor, whilst under interrogation met an Me110 night fighter pilot by the name of Moloers, who claimed to have shot them down. F/S Taylor was with a group of PoWs sheltering in a barn at the end of the war, when the building was shot up by a Mosquito. Taylor survived "after slithering through brains and guts".
By January 2020 George Sweanor was into his 101st year. He died on January 3rd 2021, aged 101.
Target: Berlin
Call Sign: VR-E
Takeoff time: 20:02
Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer Charles Edward Porter MiD RCAF J/9668 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Murray Winston Bishop RCAF R/65139 [PoW]
Navigator : Sergeant Alan Thomas Budinger RAF 143991 [PoW]
Bomb Aimer : Flying Officer George Joseph Sweanor RCAF J/11114 (NCO:R/19705 : Commission Gazetted Thursday 09 July, 1942) [PoW]
Wireless Operator : Sergeant Joseph Gerald (Jerry) Lanteigne RCAF R/55933 [PoW]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant Daniel London RAF 1247844 [PoW]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Albert Henry 'Scottie' Taylor RCAF R/97354 [PoW]
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part One
http://www.419squadron.com/DT634.html
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Nachtjagdgeschwader/NJG5.htm
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 26-Mar-2018 18:02 | TigerTimon | Added |
| 26-Mar-2018 18:04 | TigerTimon | Updated [Narrative] |
| 06-Oct-2018 15:32 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 27-Mar-2022 07:27 | Rob Davis | Updated [Narrative] |
| 27-Mar-2024 08:59 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 27-Mar-2024 09:01 | Rob Davis | Updated [Narrative] |
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