Date:	Saturday 8 July 1944
Time:	00:59 claim
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk III
Owner/operator:	49 Sqn RAF
Registration:	LM541
MSN:	EA-N
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Le Chesne, Marbois, Eure département -   France
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Fiskerton, Lincolnshire (takeoff at 22:13 hrs)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
7/8 July, 1944; ST-LUE-D'ESSERENT (CRIEL): 5 Group paid a second visit to the V1 storage dump at St Leu on the 7th. A slightly smaller force of 208 Lancasters led by Pathfinder Mosquitoes, accurately bombed the tunnels in which the flying bombs were stored. But the cost in men and aircraft was to be high; 29 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitoes were lost as German night-fighters again took their toll.

What did shock and sadden many at Fiskerton was the loss of one very experienced crew; F/Lt George Ball DFC (LM541) was flying his 30th operation, and most of his crew their 29th. Crew on their 29th operation.

This Lancaster was shot down by Leutnant Siegfried Elsässer of the Stab II./NJG 2 using Schräge Musik armament, while flying a Ju 88 C-6 from Coulommiers airfield.

Crew:-
Pilot : Flight Lieutenant George Edward Ball DFC RAFVR 170964 (NCO:958928 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 29 February, 1944) [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Eric Wardman RAFVR 1451760 [Killed]
Navigator : Pilot Officer George Millar RAFVR 177977 (NCO:1554426 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 08 August, 1944) [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Pilot Officer George Arthur Rae RCAF J/88120 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Pilot Officer John Kernahan RAFVR 177752 (NCO:1559338 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 01 August, 1944) [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant John Anthony Kirwan DFM RAFVR 1067998 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Gordon James William Parkinson DFM RAFVR 1873911 [Killed]

All lie at the Le Chesne Communal Cemetery, France (48.893725 / 0.950132), where the seven Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones are easily seen on Google Earth Street View

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. http://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Ball_G
3. https://francecrashes39-45.net/page_fiche_av.php?id=1159
4. Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part three
5. Google Maps
6. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Aug-2013 10:55	JINX	Added
10-Nov-2014 15:46	Ivan Lother	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ]
30-Dec-2014 23:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Source, Narrative, ]
30-Dec-2014 23:59	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Departure airport, Narrative, ]
06-Jun-2015 10:04	Cliford	Updated [Operator, ]
07-Jun-2021 15:56	TigerTimon	Updated [Date, Time, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
14-Aug-2025 06:37	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]