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| Date: | Sunday 23 April 1944 |
| Time: | 01:38 claim |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 156 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | ND349 |
| MSN: | GT-C |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Huckingen, Duisburg, Nordrhein-Westfalen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire |
Takeoff at 21:20 hrs for an operation to Düsseldorf in Nordrhein-Westfalen.
The aircraft was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Johannes Werth of the Stab/NJG 2, who had taken off from Deelen airfield in the Netherlands, in a Ju 88.
Crew:-
Pilot : Warrant Officer Albert John Higgs RAF 1334188 [PoW]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Maurice Fowler RAFVR 1623556 [Killed]
Navigator : Pilot Officer Derek John Chase RAFVR 175174 (NCO:1324530 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 06 June, 1944) [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Warrant Officer Albert Edward Thomas RAAF Aus/415697 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Flight Sergeant Walter Reginald Parissien RAF 1389267 [PoW]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Flight Sergeant George Frederick Woodhead RAF 962733 [PoW]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant William Albert Webb RAFVR 1890518 [Killed]
All lie at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany (51.740880 / 6.082017)
F/S Chase was a Member of the Pharmaceutical Society.
The crew had completed 16 operations with 626 Sqdn, Wickenby, arriving there after completing training at HCU Faldingworth. Thereafter they were posted to 156 Sqdn at Warboys.
F/S Woodhead believes that although the rear gunner was killed in the engagement, and the other six members of the crew baled out, the bomb-aimer, navigator and flight engineer were lynched by enraged German civilians soon after they landed.
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part two
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=ND349
Google Maps
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Apr-2020 15:12 | TigerTimon | Added |
| 27-Jun-2025 06:58 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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