Looking for crew families

SWISS RESEARCHERS ARE LOOKING FOR HELP IN FINDING RELATIVES OF CREWS WHO CRASHED IN SWITZERLAND.

We are a group of historically interested Swiss people who remember the stories and events surrounding the Royal Air Force between 1940 and 1945. We do this in various ways, such as through exhibitions, public lectures, but also through commemorative events and historical presentations. We have already held various memorial events on behalf of Swiss communities and are occasionally in contact with descendants and survivors of British crews who landed or died in Switzerland.

We have been running a website for years on which we publish various data, documents and photos in connection with the RAF and Switzerland. For example, all British bombers dropped over Swiss territory or crashes and emergency landings. We became aware of your site through current research.

We are still looking for information and, above all, contact with the survivors and relatives of crews who were buried or interned in Switzerland. We hope you can help us. Our goal is to continue the story about the RAF and Switzerland. We are the only German-language website with information on this topic.

We would be happy to hear from you.

Patrick Schlenker
Rosenbergweg 9
CH-4123 Allschwil
+41 (0)79 315 29 41

contact email:  kontakt@durham-light-infantry.ch

 
The ROYAL AIR FORCE over Switzerland 1940-45
https://raf.durham-light-infantry.ch

HENGRAVE LANCASTER PROJECT

Below is the the second and latest newsletter from the Hengrave Lancaster project. You will see there is a plea for help in funding towards the end. This project has been on the go, on and off, since 2011 and was reported in our 2011/12 newsletter (pages 27 & 28) that year. Following on from many refusals to dig the site, because it remains a 'War Grave', the members of the committee involved are determined to erect a memorial near the site.:

The Golaten Lancaster

The Loss of W4355 LS – A of XV Squadron

I was recently contacted by Daniela Baumann, a young lady who lives in the small Swiss village of Golaten, Canton of Bern. She told me that her father, Fritz, had witnessed the crash of a Lancaster in March 1944. Now, as he’s retired, he wishes to find out more about the crew, who all miraculously survived, some evading internment, others to be eventually repatriated.

The Lancaster had been tasked with bombing Stuttgart on the night of 15/16th March 1944. The raid planners had routed the attack far to the south over France, turning near Vesoul to cross the Rhine between Basle and Strasbourg to avoid flying over neutral Switzerland. It was here that numerous Luftwaffe attacks took place on the bomber stream. W4355 was attacked by a Me109 and severely damaged. The pilot, Flt Lt Blott, was injured and the cockpit was rendered virtually useless.

It looked like they were doomed. By engaging the auto-pilot, Flt Lt Blott and the whole crew; Flight Engineer: Sgt G. Mattock; Navigator: P/O Cedric Nabarro; Bomb Aimer: W/O John Millard; W/Op: Sgt Gordon Gill; Mid-upper Gunner: Sgt William Forster; Rear Gunner: Sgt Denis Murphy were able to exit the stricken aircraft and parachute to safety. They all appear to have landed around Kallnach about 5Km from Golaten. The aircraft continued in a semi controlled descent, eventually crashing to ground in an orchard near the farmhouse of Fritz’s father.

The story rang a few bells, but I couldn’t remember why. After a weeks holiday I returned refreshed and recalled a story written by member Malcolm Gill about his father’s escape from Switzerland.

That was it, the key and finding this led me to another member, Sophie Kaminarides, whose father was none other than Flt Lt Blott. I immediately contacted Daniela with the first two bits of good news and put Sophie and Malcolm in touch with her.

I’m now posting this on here to see if we can locate more family.

If you can help, please contact me and I’ll put you in touch with Daniela and her grateful family.

for further information:- http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?23401-Lancaster-W4355-loss-circumstances-internment-questions

More photos to follow. See photos received so far below. The photos of Sgt Blott come courtesy of Sophie Kaminarides, and they are given with her permission to publish.

:

Ken McLeod, whose Great Uncle, Ernest Tastard Christie (a wireless operator and gunner) and Bas Bruls, a Dutchman were referred to us by a member, Terry Mobley, whose father served for some time at Feltwell.

Here is their story:

My interest in 57 Squadron and Feltwell began whilst researching the RAF history of my Great Uncle Ernest Tastard Christie (a wireless operator and gunner) a few years ago. This research led me to meeting Bas Bruls who lives in a small town on the River Meuse in the Netherlands called Grevenbicht. Bas grew up in Grevenbicht and has always been fascinated about the local story of the British Bomber, a Wellington 1c registration code X9978 that was shot down one night in 1941 over their town, and over a period of time has accumulated many parts from the aircraft, other artefacts relating to the crash, and has researched the events of that night.

On the night of 15th October 1941, the Squadron sent 7 aircraft on a sortie to bomb Cologne Germany. X9978 took off last in formation at 18.25 hrs, carrying a load of 1 x 1000 lb and 5 x 500 lb bombs. It was also equipped with a camera. The crew that evening were Pilot Officer 404348 Keith John Miller, 2nd Pilot Sgt 742554 Neville John Lewery, Observer Sgt 748740 David Walter Jennings, Air Gunner Sgt 1061957 Brynmor Samuel Jones, my Great Uncle 2nd Wireless Operator and Gunner Sgt 1100680 Ernest Tastard Christie, and 1st Wireless Operator and Gunner Sgt 1253256 George William Turner Jackson.

Our research has revealed that upon approaching the target area, X9978 was caught in search lights which tracked the aircraft and the Luftwaffe were scrambled. X9978 made a turn away from the target; however, the searchlights remained fixed and their fate was eventually sealed.

Eyewitness accounts obtained during interview by Bas, state that X9978 made numerous attempts to evade the lights but eventually when above Grevenbicht, the Bomber was caught by Feldwebel Heinz Maier of night fighter unit 2/NJG-1 flying a Messerschmitt BF110 who had taken off from nearby Venlo. Further eyewitness accounts state that the pilots of X9978 wrestled with the aircraft to avoid hitting the village as it came down in flames.

The crew jettisoned at least two of the bombs, and three of the crew parachuted out of the aircraft but were too low and killed. The remaining crew unfortunately were killed as the aircraft struck the ground and exploded. German forces arrived on the scene and the remains of the 6 crewmen were taken to Venlo aerodrome nearby, buried and later reinterred at Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen Netherlands.

The continued objective of our research is to identify living relatives and their families, together with as much information relating to the aircraft, 57 Squadron and Feltwell as possible with the view of publishing a book in remembrance of these brave men. 

If you can help with our research in any way, please contact Geoff Reynolds, The Register Secretary.

See the photos below taken during the 75th anniversary memorial event of the crash. Click on any of the photos below for more details. 

The Heligoland 39 search is underway. Click below to read about the search for relatives of the crews: