F/O William J Havell RAFVR and crew – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1945
Failed to Return – 7/8th March 1945 – Avro Lancaster III – JA857 – Op Dessau
William Havell and his crew were posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds from 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit on the.9th January 1945 They were lost on their 8th operation. See below :-
13-Feb-45 - Dresden - Lancaster - ME475 – P/O WJ Havell - Landed at Hemswell
20-Feb-45 - Dortmund - Lancaster - ME698 – P/O WJ Havell
21-Feb-45 - Duisburg - Lancaster - LM132 – P/O WJ Havell
23-Feb-45 - Pforzheim - Lancaster - LM131 – P/O WJ Havell
01-Mar-45 - Mannheim - Lancaster - ME475 – F/O WJ Havell
02-Mar-45 - Cologne - Lancaster - LM132 – F/O WJ Havell
05-Mar-45 - Chemnitz - Lancaster - NF913 – F/O WJ Havell
07-Mar-45 - Dessau - Lancaster - JA857 - F/O WJ Havell - FTR - Crashed near Grossneuhausen 3km from airfield at Kolleda, Germany.
..........
F/O William James Havell RAFVR - 24 – 103 Sqn - Son of James William Havell and of Kate Jubilee Havell (nee Thompson) of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt James Roy RAFVR - 23 - 103 Sqn - Son of James Roy and of Catherine Roy (nee Kidd) of Glasgow - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Joseph Gerard Smith RAFVR - 23 - 103 Sqn - Son of James and Catherine Smith of Liverpool - Runnymede Memorial
F/S Norman George Mayo RAFVR - 22 - Son of Albert E. P. and Annie Mayo of Finchley, Middlesex - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Geoffrey Harry Burch RAFVR - 103 Sqn - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Arthur Hugh Whyte RAFVR - 103 Sqn - Husband of Doris Ethel Whyte of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Arthur George Fry RAFVR – Air Gunner - 103 Sqn - Died in Captivity - Berlin 39-45 War Cemetery, Germany - Murdered by Polizist Kohle on the 8th March 45.
Interestingly both Havell and Whyte are shown as RAFVR although they clearly had family connections in Canada. This may be an error in the CWG Register.
..........
07-Mar-45 - Dessau
103 Squadron detailed 15 aircraft for this attack on Dessau. All took off in poor weather. F/L Anderson returned early with wireless and navigational aid problems. En route and over the Ruhr some trouble was encountered with defences and several aircraft were seen to go down. On arrival in the target it was found to be covered in 10/10ths cloud although it was fairly light and some ground detail and target indicators could be made out. On the Master Bomber's instructions all crews bombed the Wanganui sky markers. These were fairly well concentrated and results were thought to be good. Many explosions and fires were seen. Bombing took place from between 13000 ft and 15000 ft. Defences were quite active a moderate heavy flak barrage and also many fighters. Some were thought to be armed with rockets as several were observed by various crews. S/L Butler was attacked by a fighter but sustained no casualties or damage. F/O Saxe, F/O Nightingale and F/O Havell are missing from this operation. All remaining crews returned to base.
For this attack on Dessau Bomber Command detailed a total of 526 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups. 18 Lancasters lost, 3.4 per cent of the force. This was another devastating raid on a new target in Eastern Germany with the usual town centre, residential, industrial and railway areas all being hit.
..........
Lancaster - JA857
This machine gave good service and was lost on its 39th operation. It was first flown operationally by F/O R A Evans and crew in September 1944. See below :-
27-Sep-44 - Calais - Lancaster - JA857 – F/O RA Evans
Compiled by David Fell
..................
|