Date:	Monday 19 March 1945
Time:	04:20
Type:	Avro Lancaster B Mk III
Owner/operator:	405 (Vancouver) Sqn RCAF
Registration:	PB451
MSN:	LQ-C
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Merklinde, 4 km SSE of Castrop-Rauxel, Ruhr, North Rhine Westphalia -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Gransden Lodge, Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B Mk. III PB451/LQ-C of 405 (Vancouver) Sqn RCAF. Missing (presumed destroyed) on mission to bomb Witten, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Took off from RAF Grandsen Lodge at 01:32 hours local time on 19 March 1945. Aircraft failed to return and reportedly came down at Merklinde, 4 km South South-East of Castrop-Rauxel, Ruhr, North Rhine Westphalia. All eight crew posted as missing in action, presumed killed in action. This turned out to be the final operations loss of WWII for 405 (Vanciuver) Squadron RCAF.

Crew:
Pilot: Flying Officer George Ernest Peaker RCAF J/35687 [Killed]
Flight Engineer: Sergeant Alexander Kirkcaldy RAFVR 1001793 [Killed]
Navigator: Flying Officer Ernest Hayes RCAF J/40061 [Killed]
Bomb Aimer: Flying Officer Robert Stuart Butterworth RCAF J/38675 [Killed]
Visual Bomb Aimer: Sergeant Roy Peter Smith RAFVR 1395145 [Killed]
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: Warrant Officer Class II Ralph Murray Baker RCAF R/198093 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner: Flight Sergeant Ernest Francis Perrault RCAF R/215508 [Killed]
Rear Gunner: Pilot Officer Joseph Paul Hector Adam RCAF J/95443 [Killed]

All eight crew are buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery.

NOTE: Some sources state that Lancaster PB451 was shot down by a Luftwaffe night fighter (Hptm. Fritz Lau of 4/NJG 1) who claimed to have shot down a "British four-engine heavy bomber" at 04:20 hours local time on 19 March 1945. However, it was never confirmed if the aircraft that was claimed to have been shot down was Lancaster PB451 or Handley Page Halifax RG529 of 77 Squadron, RAF (with the loss of seven crew from the Halifax). Both aircraft came down in the same locality (within 100 yards of each other) and at approximately the same time. Post war inquires stated that the two aircraft collided with each other during evasive manouvres and were not shot down, qoute:

"Report 1st August 1950, reporting Flt. Lt. W.R. Lott (NAA: A705, 166/9/572)

“...The crash list for Dortmund showed that on 19/03/1945 two aircraft (Halifax RG529 and Lancaster PB451) crashed close to each other at the same time in circumstances, which indicated a mid-air collision.

Fifteen bodies were recovered from the wreckage and were transferred to the mortuary of the military hospital at Luetgendortmund.

Our investigations located the place of crash, but no wreckage remained from which the aircraft could be identified and no-one could give any information as to what had happened to the bodies after their removal from the place of crash.

Local opinion was that the bodies had been taken to the main cemetery in Dortmund, but the cemetery Lists there made no mention of these bodies...“.

“...In the early part of June 1950. I went again to Dortmund Cemetery and opened an unmarked part of Plot 17. The result was the recovery of 15 bodies which proved to be the crews of Halifax RG529 and Lancaster PB451, both missing on 19/03/1945 after attacking Witten, a Kreis bordering on Dortmund (Germany)...“

Castrop-Rauxel often simply referred to as Castrop by locals, is a former coal mining city in the eastern part of the Ruhr Area within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
3. 405 Squadron RCAF Operational Record Book (Summary of Events for the period 1 to 31 March 1945): National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 27/1790/6 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8403087
4. https://aircrewremembered.com/peaker-george.html
5. https://wartimes.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1023
6. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2032382/george-ernest-peaker/
7. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2047794/alexander-kirkcaldy/
8. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2047463/ernest-hayes/
9. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2042619/robert-stuart-butterworth/
10. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2032838/roy-peter-smith/
11. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2042313/ralph-murray-baker/
12. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2032406/ernest-francis-perrault/
13. CWGC: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2042205/joseph-paul-hector-adam/
14. https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/canadaairwar/canadaairwar1945.pdf
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/405_Long_Range_Patrol_Squadron#World_War_II
16. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2032382?George%5C%
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gransden_Lodge_Airfield
18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witten
19. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrop-Rauxel

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-Aug-2013 08:28	JINX	Added
24-May-2015 20:38	Zeeland	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, ]
18-Mar-2024 07:33	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]
16-Jan-2025 17:45	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]