Sgt Colin Evan Bayliss RAAF and crew - 103 Squadron - RAF Elsham Wolds - 1942
Failed to Return - 21st December 1942 - Avro Lancaster I - W4820 - Op Munich
Colin Bayliss was born in August 1921 in Perth, Western Australia and joined the RAAF at the age of 19. He trained as a pilot and embarked for Canada for further training and then England with a batch of Aussie aircrew. Many of these were featured in the books of Don Charlwood.
He was posted to 27 OTU at Lichfield for further training and here he crewed up with fellow Aussies Ian Robb and Jack Jefferies plus Harry Hawkins and George Kitchen, both British RAFVR On completion of his OTU this crew were posted to the 103 Sqn Conversion Flight at Elsham Wolds where they were joined by Gwlym Nichols and Arthur Jeffreys. Bayliss and his crew were posted to 103 Sqn in the September of 1942
The Bayliss crew at 27 OTU. Back row L to R- Hawkins, Robb and Kitchen. Front row - L to R Bayliss and Jefferies.
This crew flew operations on Halifaxes and Lancasters until being shot down on the night of the 21/22nd Dec 1942 during a raid on Munich. Harry Hawkins flew the first 6 but at that point was replaced by P/O IGA Faulk.
The full Bayliss crew pictured at Elsham Wolds. Back row L to R - Ian Robb, Jack Jefferies, Arthur Jefferys, George Kitchen, Harry Hawkins, Gwlym Nicols. Front - Colin Bayliss.
Bayliss and crew tour :-
15-Oct-42 - Cologne - Halifax - BB223 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF
24-Oct-42 - Milan - Halifax - DT506 - Sgt CE Bayliss - RAAF - ER
22-Nov-42 - Stuttgart - Lancaster - W4364 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF - DNTO
06-Dec-42 - Mannheim - Lancaster - W4338 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF
08-Dec-42 - Helsingborg/Kullen Sound - Lancaster - W4364 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF
09-Dec-42 - Turin - Lancaster - W4788 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF
20-Dec-42 - Duisburg - Lancaster - W4820 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF
21-Dec-42 - Munich - Lancaster - W4820 - Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF – FTR.
Bayliss' Lancaster was attacked by a night fighter and exploded. He was thrown clear by the explosion and survived, landing by parachute in the French countryside. The 6 members of his crew are all buried at Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, Meuse, France.
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Sgt Colin E Bayliss RAAF – 103 Sqn – POW – Camps 8B/4A/344 – POW No 27520.
Sgt Gwilym Nichols RAFVR – Flight Engineer - 21 – 103 Sqn - Son of Horace William and Margaret Nicholls, of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire – Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, France.
F/S John Massey Jefferies RAAF – Navigator - 23 – 103 Sqn - Son of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Sarah Jane Jefferies, of Wynnum, Queensland, Australia; husband of Daphne Lilian Jefferies, of East Ipswich, Queensland - Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, France.
P/O IGA Faulk RAFVR – Air Bomber - 29 – 103 Sqn - Son of Thomas Henry and Rhoda Catherine Faulk, of Malvern, Worcestershire. B.A. (Oxon.). Malvern - Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, France.
F/S Robert Ian Robb RAAF – Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - 23 - Son of James Mathieson Robb and Margaret Robb, of Canterbury, Victoria, Australia - Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, France.
Sgt A Jeffreys RAFVR – Air Gunner - 21 – 103 Sqn - Son of Nathan and Mary Ellen Jeffreys, of Thornton, Blackpool, Lancashire - Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, France.
Sgt George Henry Kitchen RAFVR – Air Gunner – 103 Sqn - Son of George and Mary Kitchen, of Leeds, Yorkshire - Vavincourt Communal Cemetery, France.
With the help of some courageous French civilians Bayliss was able to evade but was eventually captured in mid January 1943 and spent the rest of the war as a POW. He exchanged identities with a Cpl in the Gordon Highlanders to enable him to go on working parties outside the camp and have more opportunity for escape.
Post war he studied medicine in Adelaide, qualifying in 1951 and returned to Western Australia as a resident medical officer at Fremantle Hospital followed by 13 years as a GP in Bunbury. Colin was later to specialise in rheumatology during a 2 year stint in Edinburgh and this specialisation culminated in his rise to head of the Royal Perth Hospital Rheumatic Diseases Department, a post which he held until he retired. He was able to maintain contact and later visit the French families who had helped him whilst he was on the run in France. He was pre deceased by his wife Janet, a Clinical Psychologist.
George Kitchen grave at Vavincourt.
Bayliss crew graves at Vavincourt
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21-Dec-42 - Munich
103 Squadron detailed 11 aircraft for this attack on the German city of Munich. Unfortunately 10/10ths cloud was experienced over the target but as all the crews pin pointed on Lake Wurm and some crews saw built up areas with scattered fires it was thought the target was hit. Flak was moderate with no searchlight activity. All aircraft returned to base except F/L Rose and Sgt Bayliss and their crews.
For this attack on Munich Bomber Command detailed a total of 137 aircraft of 1 and 5 Groups and the Pathfinder Force - 119 Lancasters, 9 Stirlings, 9 Wellingtons. 12 aircraft - 8 Lancasters, 3 Stirlings, 1 Wellington - lost, 8.8 per cent of the force. 110 aircraft claimed to have bombed Munich and started fires but their photographs showed that all or most of the bombs fell in open country, possibly attracted by a decoy site.
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Lancaster W4820
This machine was lost on its second operation
20-Dec-42 – Duisburg – Lancaster – W4820 – Sgt – CE Bayliss RAAF - Undertook Sq reconnaissance over target
21-Dec-42 – Munich – Lancaster – W4820 – Sgt CE Bayliss RAAF – FTR - Night fighter victim. Crashed at Vavincourt, France.
Written by David Fell with thanks to the late Dr Bayliss for his co-operation and crew photo and the Kitchen family for the photos of George Kitchen and the graves at Vavincourt.
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