Date:	Tuesday 16 January 1945
Time:	22:30 LT
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	100 Squadron RAF
Registration:	PA189
MSN:	HW-P
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Questenberg, Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Grimsby, Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk. I PA189/HW-P of 100 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when crashed on combat operations on 16 January 1945 with the loss of all seven crew on board

Took off at 17:31 on 16 January 1945 from Grimsby to bomb the Braunkohle-Benzin synthetic-oil complex. Crashed at Questenberg, Mansfeld-Südharz district, Saxony-Anhalt, some 4km North East of Rossla on the Nordhausen to Sangeerhausen road. As stated above all seven crew were lost

The “history” page of the 100 Sqn Assocation website gives more detail:

"The raid on Merseburg was followed on 16th [January] with a raid against the oil refineries at Zeitz where the attack was pressed home despite heavy flak over the target. 100 Squadron lost one aircraft, and this loss brings home to us the feelings of gloom amongst the survivors when such a loss was experienced. Arthur White recalls this particular loss with some poignancy. It was just shortly before the raid on Zeitz that Flt Lt Quigley came into the hut occupied by Arthur and other members of his crew, asking could he and his crew ‘bunk down’ with them. Of course there was ample room, and so Quigley and his crew moved in. On the 16th it was Quigley’s crew that failed to return from the raid on Zeitz. During the morning of the 17th a very grim-faced officer and two very quiet clerks from the Squadron Orderly Room came in and quietly removed all of the personal possession of the young Canadians. Other Lanc veterans also recall the feelings when mates failed to return.

Crew of Lancaster PA189
Flying Officer Herbert Otto BERGER RAFVR (169506) Flight Engineer
Flying Officer William Merton CHAPMAN RAFVR (J/38421) Air Bomber
Pilot Officer James David GIBBONS RCAF (J/95299) Air Gunner
Sergeant John Humphries GUY RAFVR (1819148) Wireless Op
Pilot Officer Malcolm Stalker McMASTER RCAF (J/95358)
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Thomas QUIGLEY RCAF (J/25448) Pilot
Flight Sergeant Ray Calvin ROLLER RAFVR (R/210007) Navigator

F/O William Chapman is buried in a separate grave alongside the communal grave of the six others in Berlin War Cemetery. The Germans recovered the body of Chapman and he was buried in Grave 1 in the Public Churchyard at Dittichenrode, near Nordhausen.

The body of P/O James Gibbons was buried in Grave 13, and two unknowns in Graves 11 and 12, in the Public Churchyard at Wickerode, near Nordhausen/Harz. In addition, the Germans recovered parts of bodies by the aircraft but it is not clear what happened to these.

The MRES recovered P/O William Chapman from Dittichenrode, but exhumation at Wickerode revealed only remains described as "almost ashes" buried in a single box (although the Germans registered three graves).

Thus, the remains from Wickerode were reinterred at Berlin Heerstrasse and correctly registered as the six outstanding (after Chapman) members of the crew.

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
3. The Lancaster File (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985)
4. The Hornet's Nest: A History of 100 Squadron Royal Air Force: 1917-1994 by Arthur White
5. https://forum.rafcommands.com/forum/general-category/13612-pa189-100-sqn-john-guy-crew-lost-16-jan-1945
6. 100 Squadron Operational Record Book (Record of Events for the period 1 January to 31 December 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/798 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503436
7. Aircraft Movement Card (Air Ministry Form AM.78): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/PA158-PA262/mobile/index.html
8. Aircraft Accident Record Card (Air Ministry Form AM.1180): https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-1180/Lancaster/1945/February/prt1/1.html
9. https://www.100squadronassociation.org.uk/contact-us/
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._100_Squadron_RAF#Second_World_War
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Grimsby
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questenberg

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Aug-2013 16:19	JINX	Added
27-Nov-2014 16:46	wilbur	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, ]
26-Jan-2025 02:18	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
26-Jan-2025 02:19	Dr. John Smith	Updated
26-Jan-2025 14:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Narrative, ]