P/O Edward H Stansel RCAF and crew – 576 Sqn - RAF Elsham Wolds – 1944
Failed to Return – 21/22nd May 1944 – Lancaster - DV365 – Op Duisburg
Edward Stansel ( pictured above ) and his crew were posted to 576 Squadron from 1662 HCU in March 1944.
Their tour was as follows :-
10/04/1944 – Aulnoye – LL794 – F/O EH Stansel - Combat with twin engined night fighter. No damage. No hits claimed
30/04/1944 – Maintenon – ND362 – F/O EH Stansel
03/05/1944 – Mailly-le-Camp – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
06/05/1944 - Aubigne Racan – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
09/05/1944 – Mardyck – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
11/05/1944 – Hasselt – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
19/05/1944 – Orleans – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
21/05/1944 – Duisburg – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel – FTR – Night fighter victim. Crashed near Roosendaal-En-Nispen, Netherlands.
The crew was basically unchanged throughout apart from changes in Flight Engineer and Wireless Operator for 1 operation each.
They completed 7 operations being lost on their 8th.
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2 possible claims :-
Lt Hermann Leube 4/NJG3 - 100km WNW Duisburg: 5,5000m at 01:34.
Obstlt Gunther Radusch Stab NJG2 - Turnhout-Eindhoven - Hertogenbosch-Breda area (LK-LL-KL-KK): 6,000m at 01:56. Also Dordrecht-Breda-Tilburg-Culemborg area (JK-KK-KL-JL): 6,200m at 02:00
(Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 3 - Theo Boiten)
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4 of the crew were killed and rest at the Roosendaal-En-Nispen General Cemetery, Netherlands.
The remaining 3 were captured.
P/O Edward Howard Stansel RCAF – Pilot – 576 Sqn – POW - Camp L3 – POW No 6081
Landed by parachute on roof of house at Roosendaal.
Sgt Robert Walter Ball RAFVR ( pictured below ) – Flight Engineer – 20 – 576 Sqn - Son of Percy and Nellie Ball of Clifton, Bristol – Roosendaal-En-Nispen General Cemetery, Netherlands.
F/S Arthur Wilfred Cooper RAFVR – Navigator - 32 – 576 Sqn - Son of Arthur and Florence Susan Cooper of Harlesden, Middlesex; husband of Grace Cooper - Roosendaal-En-Nispen General Cemetery, Netherlands.
F/S H L Arrowsmith RAFVR – 576 Sqn – POW – Camp L7 – POW No 73.
Sgt Gurth Webster RAFVR – 576 Sqn – POW - Camp L7 – POW No 422
Evaded for sometime until captured in Antwerp on the 10/07/44. See below
Sgt Christopher Lister RAF – Air Gunner – 576 Sqn - Son of Robert Henry and Hannah Lister of Stanley, Co. Durham - Roosendaal-En-Nispen General Cemetery, Netherlands.
Sgt Arthur Leslie Green RAF – Air Gunner – 22 – 576 Sqn - Son of Charles and Alice Green, stepson of Grace Green of Dagenham, Essex - Roosendaal-En-Nispen General Cemetery, Netherlands.
Sgt Robert Walter Ball RAFVR
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Sgt Gurth Webster RAFVR
Gurth Webster was Wireless Operator in this crew. He thought the aircraft was hit by flak and the pilot gave the order to bale out. Before he was able to do so the aircraft exploded. He came to his senses as he was falling with his parachute loose on the straps above his head. With difficulty he pulled the ripcord and landed seconds later. He was uninjured apart from a broken thumb and deafness in one ear. He hid in a haystack as it was getting light and the following night headed for the nearby railway station but was unable to board a train and returned to the farm where he had hidden previously.
The next day Webster decided to head for the nearby town where he was spotted by a local cafe proprietor who took him in. He was taken to a safe house and interviewed and then moved across the Belgian border to a farm and then to Antwerp. He met several other evaders during this time.
On the 10th July Webster was to be moved to France with Sgt Collins, another RAF evader, and arrangements were made but they were taken to a block of flats and interrogated about their evasion by a man who was obviously a German agent.
Later Webster was taken to the local Gestapo HQ. Here he was interrogated and threatened. However, due to the rapid advance of the Allies, he was handed over the the Luftwaffe at Brussels and sent to the Dulagluft at Frankfurt for further interrogation. He was then transferred to Stalag Luft VII at Bankau, Silesia from the 27th July 1944 to the 18th January 1945 and then to Stalag IIIA Luckenwalde 8th February to 22nd April 1945. Liberated by Russians.
Courtesy of Mr P de Rooij
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21 May 44 – Duisburg – Germany - Night. 18 aircraft were detailed for this operation. 10/10ths cloud over base and on route out to target. At target it was 10/10ths and the crews bomber on Wanganui flares. On route out and back 10/10ths cloud but this cleared over England.
Wanganui flares were dropped on zero hour and crews reported to have bombed on these and the glow of them under the cloud. Results of bombing could not be seen due to the cloud.
Flak over the target was moderate to heavy barrage. Searchlights had no effect owing to the cloud and the enemy fighters were active only in the target area. F/O Stansel and crew failed to return. All other crews returned to base.
( 510 aircraft. Oboe sky marking was accurate and much damage caused to the southern areas of the city )
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Lancaster DV365
This aircraft completed 12 operations with one cancelled.
19/02/1944 – Leipzig – DV365 – P/O GAJ Wood
20/02/1944 – Stuttgart – DV365 – F/O GAJ Wood
24/02/1944 – Schweinfurt – DV365 – F/S FB Gipson
24/03/1944 – Berlin – DV365 – F/O GAJ Wood
26/03/1944 – Essen – DV365 – F/L PE Underwood
30/03/1944 – Nuremberg – DV365 – F/S DGC Thorpe
09/04/1944 – Villeneuve-St-George – DV365 – F/S DGC Thorpe
10/04/1944 – Aulnoye – DV365 – F/S DGC Thorpe – DNTO - Swung on take off. Cancelled
03/05/1944 – Mailly-le-Camp – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
06/05/1944 - Aubigne Racan – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
09/05/1944 – Mardyck – DV365 – F/O EH - Stansel
11/05/1944 – Hasselt – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
19/05/1944 – Orleans – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel
21/05/1944 – Duisburg – DV365 – F/O EH Stansel – FTR - Crashed near Roosendaal-En-Nispen, Holland.
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Compiled by David Fell with thanks to P de Rooij and Maarten Janssen
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