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F/S Derrick G C Thorpe RAFVR and crew - 576 Sqn - RAF Elsham Wolds - 1944
Failed to Return - 24/25 May 1944 - Lancaster III - NE171 - Op Aachen
Derrick Thorpe must have been posted to 576 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds in late February or early March 1944. This will probably have been from 11 Base. Thorpe flew 2 second pilot ops in the crew of P/O H M C Thomas. The first was to Stuttgart on the 15 March 1944. This was an early return due to an unserviceable engine.
He flew a second with P/O H M C Thomas to Frankfurt on the 18th March 1944 which was completed satisfactorily.
Thorpe took his own crew on their first operation to Nuremberg on the night of the 30/31 March 1944. This was an exrtemely tough baptism but they survived that and were detailed for 145 operations before being lost on their 15th. On 2 occasions they did not take off and 2 more were early returns due to technical issues.
Thieir tour was as follows :-
30/03/1944 - Nuremberg - DV365 - F/S DGC Thorpe
09/04/1944 - Villeneuve-St-George - Railway yards - DV365 - F/S DGC Thorpe
10/04/1944 - Aulnoye - Railway yards - DV365 - F/S DGC Thorpe - DNTO - Swung on take off. Cancelled
18/04/1944 - Rouen - Railway yards - LL796 - F/S DGC Thorpe - ER - Rear gunners electrical heating US
20/04/1944 - Cologne - LL796 - F/S DGC Thorpe
22/04/1944 - Dusseldorf - LM439 - F/S DGC Thorpe - DNTO - Cancelled
24/04/1944 - Karlsruhe - LL800 - F/S DGC Thorpe
26/04/1944 - Essen - LL800 - F/S DGC Thorpe
27/04/1944 - Friedrichshafen - LL800 - F/S DGC Thorpe - ER - Engine U/S.
09/05/1944 - Mardyck - Coastal gun batteries - LL799 - F/S DGC Thorpe
11/05/1944 - Hasselt - Railway yards - LL796 - F/S DGC Thorpe
19/05/1944 - Orleans - Railway yards - ME792 - F/S DGC Thorpe
21/05/1944 - Duisburg - ME792 - F/S DGC Thorpe
22/05/1944 - Dortmund - NE171 - F/S DGC Thorpe
24/05/1944 - Aachen - Railway yards - NE171 - F/S DGC Thorpe - FTR - Night fighter victim. Crashed at Berescheid, Germany.
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Back L to R - White, Smith, Thorpe, Mundy. Front - L to R Tremblay, Labelle, Green
All 7 of the crew were killed. Thorpe, White, Mundy, Tremblay and Smith are missing and commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. Labelle and Green rest in the Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany.
F/S Derrick Gordon Cobley Thorpe RAFVR - Pilot - 22 - 576 Sqn - Son of James Sidney Thorpe and Laura Susannah Thorpe of Peterborough, Northamptonshire - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt David White RAFVR - Flight Engineer - 23 - 576 Sqn - Son of William White, and of Agnes White of Blyth, Northumberland - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Hector MacDonald Mundy RAFVR - 23 - 576 Sqn - Son of Benjamin and Jane Mundy; husband of Freda Jessie Mundy of Bierton with Broughton, Buckinghamshire - Runnymede Memorial
W/O Alfred Arthur Joseph Tremblay RCAF ( pictured below ) - 21 - 576 Sqn - Son of Joseph Onezime Tremblay and Jeanne Marie Tremblay, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Robert Eric Smith RAFVR - 20 - 576 Sqn - Son of Robert and Phoebe Smith - Runnymede Memorial.
Sgt Joseph Willie Conrad Labelle RCAF - Air Gunner - 23 - Son of Napoleon and Yvonne Labell of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada - Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany
Sgt Noel William Green RAFVR - Air Gunner - 30 - 576 Sqn - Son of William and Beatrice Anne Green; husband of Georgina Green of Benwell, Newcastle-on-Tyne - Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany
W/O Alfred Arthur Joseph Tremblay RCAF
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24 May 44 - Aachen - Germany - Railway Yards - Night 15 aircraft detailed. Weather en route was 7/10ths at base clearing to nil over the coast and the North Sea. Hazy to the target. Clear on return to English coast then 7/10ths. Target clear but hazy.
Moderate heavy flak with 5 search lights active. TIs dropped on zero hour were well concentrated.
Crews reported good bombing on these but could not observe results due to haze and occasional this patches of cloud. Fighters active in target area.
F/S Thorpe and crew and P/O Langford and crew failed to return.
All the other crews returned to base.
( 442 aircraft. An accurate attack which hit both railway yards and in particular the east yard. Much bombing also fell in the city itself and surrounding villages )
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Lancaster NE171.
This machine was lost on its 3rd operation
21/05/1944 - Duisburg - NE171 - F/O GE Stockdale RCAF
22/05/1944 - Dortmund - NE171 - F/S DGC Thorpe
24/05/1944 - Aachen - Railway yards - NE171 - F/S DGC Thorpe - FTR - Night fighter victim. Crashed at Berescheid, Germany.
Compiled and written by David Fell. Many thanks for the photo to Susan Carlisle together with other input.
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