ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 52765
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| Date: | Friday 26 June 1942 |
| Time: | 06:00 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk Ic |
| Owner/operator: | 15 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | DV935 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Waddenzee S of Harlingen, Friesland -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Harwell |
Took off at 22:44 hrs from Harwell. Using every available aircraft in RAF Bomber Command and some of other commands, a thousand bomber raid was mounted against Bremen. 1,067 aircraft (472 Wellingtons, 124 Halifaxes, 96 Lancasters, 69 Stirlings, 51 Blenheims, 50 Hampdens, 50 Whitleys, 24 Bostons, 20 Manchesters and 4 Mosquitos), 102 Hudsons and Wellingtons of RAF Coastal Command, and 5 RAF Army Cooperation Command. Those of No. 5 Group RAF - 142 aircraft u2013 bombed the Focke-Wulf factory; 20 Blenheims were allocated to the AG Weser shipyard; the RAF Coastal Command aircraft were to bomb the DeSchiMAG shipyard; all other aircraft were to carry out an area attack on the "town and docks". The limited success was entirely due to the use of GEE, which enabled the leading crews to start marker fires through the cloud cover. 696 Bomber Command aircraft were able to claim attacks on Bremen.
572 houses were completely destroyed and 6,108 damaged. 85 people were killed, 497 injured and 2,378 bombed out. At the Focke-Wulf factory, an assembly shop was completely flattened, 6 buildings were seriously damaged and 11 buildings lightly so. The Atlas Werke, the Bremer Vulkan shipyard, the Norddeutsche Hütte, the Korff refinery, and two large dockside warehouses were also damaged. 48 Bomber Command aircraft were lost - 5% of those dispatched, including 4 which came down in the sea near England from which all but 2 crew members were rescued. This time, the heaviest casualties were suffered by the OTUs of No. 91 Group RAF, which lost 23 of the 198 Whitley's and Wellingtons provided by that group, a loss of 11.6 per cent. 5 of the 102 Coastal Command aircraft were also lost.
DV935 was shot down on return, by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Hermann Greiner of the II./NJG 2 based at the Leeuwarden and De Kooy airfields.
The tail gunner is still missing in action:
Pilot:655486 Sgt James Stewart Leather - Harlingen General Cemetery Plot E. Row 1. Grave 6.
Co-Pilot:1381609 Sgt Harry Bloor - Harlingen General Cemetery Plot E. Row 3. Grave 4.
Observer:1371746 Sgt John McKelvie Dunn Oliver - Harlingen General Cemetery Plot E. Row 2. Grave 1.
Wireless operator/Air Gunner:1286358 Sgt Ronald Thomas Fage - Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery 32. B. 5. (Body found at sea 2 July 1942)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner:1065713 Sgt David Thomson Stanners - Ferwerderadeel (Hallum) Protestant Churchyard Row 32. Plot 1B. (Washed up Hallum 12 July 1942)
Air Gunner:518299 Sgt Gordon Lake - Runnymede Memorial Panel 87
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
Google Maps
http://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/item2.php?SGLO=T1639
http://www.aircrewremembrancesociety.com/raf1942/leather.html
CWGC
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 20-Dec-2009 23:01 | Tim Broome | Updated |
| 20-Dec-2009 23:01 | Tim Broome | Updated |
| 28-Jun-2017 12:07 | TigerTimon | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Jan-2018 12:37 | Red Dragon | Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative] |
| 20-Feb-2018 17:41 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport] |
| 04-May-2020 10:43 | TigerTimon | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 14-Jun-2022 21:35 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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