Pilot Officer Theophilus Dos Santos

J/26605 Pilot Officer Theophilus Dos Santos
Air gunner
426 Squadron, RCAF
Killed in action 18 August 1943

Pilot officr Dos Santos was from Trinidad, but had enlisted in the RCAF in Canada.

He was a member of 426 (Thunderbird) Squadron and on the night of 17/18 August 1943 was part of the crew of Wing Commander Leslie Crooks DFC, DSO, the squadron commander.

The squadron was assigned to take part in the attack on the German research centre at Peenemunde and nine of its Lancasters took off on time and headed east.

Crooks' aircraft, DS-681 coded OW-V, was attacked by a night fighter. According to Martin Middlebrook in his book The Peenemunde Raid, at least one RAF airman saw Crooks' Lancaster going down.

‘Report No19 Greifswald, 2 miles S of, 00.50. Aircraft seen falling on fire but managed to get down and make a forced landing, finally bursting into flames on the deck after what appeared to be the third bounce.'

Crooks and most of his crew were on the 6th or 8th operation of their second tour, hence presumably why Dos Santos had been promoted to Pilot Officer.

The air bomber, Sgt Reading, bailed out and survived, but the remainder of the crew were killed. Reading and flight engineer Sgt John Hislop were replacements and both on their first mission.

Pilot: W/Cdr Leslie Crooks, 33, Peterborough, Northants
Flight engineer: Sgt John Hislop, 21, of Glasgow
Air bomber: Sgt Reading
Navigator: F/Sgt Alfred Howes, 21, Shepherds Bush, London
Wireless operator: F/Lt Francis Marsh DFC, Toronto
Air gunner: P/O Theophilus Dos Santos, 21, Trinidad
Air gunner: P/O Henry Smith, 24, Toronto

The crew is buried at the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery.

On 28 May 1943 Squadron Leader Crooks award of the DSO was published in the London Gazette.

It reads as follows:

'As a Squadron Leader took part in No.426 Squadron's third operation, 21 January 1943; date of award incident was 26 April 1943; Commanding Officer of unit, 15 February to 17 August 1943 (missing, Peenemunde raid).

'This officer's courage and skill were admirably demonstrated during a recent attack on Duisburg. When approaching the target his aircraft was raked by cannon fire from an enemy fighter. Wing Commander Crooks skilfully evaded the attacker but his aircraft had sustained much damage.

'Although one aileron and half the port tail plane had been shot away, while the hydraulic and electrical systems were rendered inoperative, Wing Commander Crooks flew the bomber back to this country.

'Unfortunately, it was impossible to effect a safe landing, but when the crew were forced to abandon aircraft, all descended safely. In the face of heavy odds, Wing Commander Crooks set an example worthy of high praise.'

Crooks was born in Bishop Aukland and had lived in York. He enlisted in the RAF as an apprentice in 1927 and served as a Sergeant pilot in Iraq from 1935-1937. He was commissioned 1940 and awarded the DFC in February 1941 for services with No.58 Squadron.

A visit to St Clement Danes church, Strand, London

A visit today to St Clement Danes Church on the Strand - the RAF church. In the crypt at the moment there is a small display looking at Bomber Command, with the likes of a flak map of Berlin on show.

The church itself was thick with incense, this being Easter weekend. Its floor is filled with squadron crests in Welsh Slate, there is a fine memorial to the Polish airforce of World War 2 and the books of remembrance listing all the RAF's casualties.

On a table near the entrance were some cards and Haig Fund crosses left by friends and relatives in memory of loved ones killed while serving in the RAF.

They made moving reading. One read, 'John Stephen Treseder... You are always in my heart... In loving memory, Son, Rod.'

F/O Treseder (29) was killed in July 1943 while flying a 613 Squadron Mustang fighter in an attack on a German convoy off the coast of Holland.

Another card read, in neat, slanting writing, 'Jimmy and crew, Berlin, 21.1.44. All my Love from Laura.'

That night the RAF lost 35 aircraft - 22 Halifaxes and 13 Lancasters. No 102 Squadron, from Pocklington, lost five of its 16 Halifaxes.

A third, written in a slightly shaky hand, said: 'John William Cummings. Died 29/9/1943. I remember seeing you with your brolly, my [f... illegible] in about 1943/3. I am looking forward to seeing you again. Love, Heather.'

A litle research has revealed that on 29/30 September 1943 the RAF raided Bochum and lost five Halifaxes and four Lancasters.

1334212 Sergeant Jack Cummings was 22 and serving as a mid-upper gunner on board a Lancaster Mk III (AS-Y ED904) of 166 Squadron. He was from Croydon in Surrey.

The other members of the crew were as follows.

Pilot: 1321868 W/O Brian Davidson, 21, of Beckenham, Kent.
Air bomber: 1395190 Sergeant Lionel Comer, 20, of King's Lynn, Norfolk.
Flight engineer: 1001372 Sergeant Leslie English, 31, of Pelton, Co Durham.
Navigator: 656183 Sergeant Henry Jones, 25, of Vroncysylite, Denbighshire.
Wireless operator: 1212477 Sergeant Laurence Gee, 22, of Birmingham.
Rear gunner: J18832 P/O Cyril Vincent Galavan (RCAF), of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.

The squadron had converted from Wellingtons to Lancasters in September 1943 and was based at Kirmington, Lincolnshire.

Lancaster ED 904 was delivered to No103 Squadron on 19 May 1943 and transfered to 166 Squadron on 19 September 1943.

When lost this aircraft had a total of 195 hours, having taken part in three raids on Hamburg, as well as having flown to Berlin, Cologne and Hanover.

It was the first Lancaster to take off on 166 squadron's first Lancaster sortie.

On the night of 29 September 1943 AS-Y was airbourne at 18:22 hrs from Kirmington.

It crashed near Dortmund, perhaps a victim of flak over or near the target, and the crew were buried at the city's Hauptfried (Am Gottesacker) on 4 October.

They have subsequently been re-interred in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

Sergeant RHW Taylor of 604 Squadron

804401 Sergeant Ronald Henry William Taylor
Air gunner
604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron
Died 26 November 1940

Sergeant Taylor is buried in Hampstead Cemetery, London.

He was a member of 604 Squadron which was equipped with Beaufighter fighter-bombers from September 1940 until 1943. These were being used in a night fighter role in November 1940.

P/O Nigel Wheatcroft (aged 21) of 604 Squadron is also listed as being killed on 26 November 1940.

P/O Wheatcroft was the son of Kenneth and Dorothea Wheatcroft, of Idridgehay, Derbyshire and he is buried in his home village.

It's possible that Taylor was Wheatcroft's gunner, but I'm yet to confirm this.

Sergeant James Kennedy of 102 Squadron

974128 Sergeant James Kennedy
102 Squadron
Killed in action 3 January 1941
Aged 23

Son of James and Jessie Kennedy, of Peterculter, Aberdeenshire.
Sergeant Kennedy is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey.

In January 1941, 102 Squadron was equipped with the Whitley bomber and was based at Topcliffe airfield in Yorkshire.

Sergeant Kennedy may have been a member of the crew of F/O Desmond Coutts (41667), pilot of Whitley T4227 of 102 Squadron, which was shot down by Fw Hans Hahn on 3 January 1941, possibly during a raid on Bremen.

Second Pilot of the aircraft was Sergeant Kenneth H Smith RAFVR (745765), of Keighley, Yorkshire.

F/O Coutts had been P/O Leonard Cheshire's second pilot on 12/13 November 1940 on a raid to Cologne. That aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and badly damaged near the target and the wireless operator, Sergeant Henry Davidson, was severely wounded.

Cheshire and Davidson were awarded the DSO and DFM respectively for their actions in getting their aircraft back to the UK.

Pilot Officer Edward Thompson of 433 (RCAF) Squadron

Pilot Officer Edward Henry Thompson
Flight engineer
433 (RCAF) Squadron
1 February 1945
Age 20

Son of John Henry and Alice Hester Thompson, of West Hampstead, London.

Pilot Officer Thompson is another RAF airman buried in Hampstead cemetery.

433 Squadron was formed in September 1943, initially flying Halifaxes as part of No6 Group. It converted to the Lancaster in January 1945.

The Squadron was based at Skipton on Swale, North Yorkshire.

Pilot officer Thompson was flight engineer on Lancaster NG460, BM-A, on a mission to Ludwigshafen on 1 February 1945. Pilot was 23-year-old squadron leader HK Stinson DFC, of Lindsay, Ontario, who was commander of 433’s A-flight.

This was the first mission 433 Squadron had flown with the Lancaster and seven of its aircraft took part. Stinson’s crew were all officers and are believed to have been veterans of at least 25 bombing raids.

Stinson’s aircraft took off at 1523 and dropped its bombs at 1928 from 17,000 feet.

Damaged by flak over the target, the aircraft encountered turbulence on the return journey and control was lost only a few miles away from its home base.

Two of the crew (Rear gunner P/O R.J.Thompson and bomb-aimer F/O A.W.Belles) baled out from 2,000 feet before the Lancaster crashed near Low House, roughly 1,000 yards NW from the centre of Driffield, Derbyshire. The four RCAF officers are buried in Harrogate (Stonefall) cemetery.

Pilot: S/L H.K.Stinson DFC RCAF
Flight engineer: P/O E.H. Thompson
Navigator: F/O D.J. McMillan RCAF
Wireless Operator: P/O J.T. McShane RCAF
Air gunner: P/O R. Pierson RCAF

Pilot officer JT McShane was 25 and from Kamloops, British Columbia.
Pilot officer Roy Pierson was 21 and from Taber, Alberta.
Flying officer DJ McMillan was 23 and from Orangeville, Ontario.

Sergeant Leslie Woodward of 630 Squadron

1811689 Leslie Thomas Woodward
Flight Engineer, RAFVR
Age 20

Sergeant Woodward was the flight engineer of 630 Squadron Lancaster LL949 LE-E, piloted by a New Zealander, flying officer GR Flood.

According to the Lost Bombers website, LL949 took off from East Kirkby at 1626 on 22 November 1944. Flying with 11 other 630 Squadron aircraft, its mission was to mark the U-Boat pens at Trondheim.

On the return journey it crashed near the north bank of the Humber off Sunk Island.

Sergeant Woodward survived the crash but died from his injuries on 1 December 1944. He is buried in Hampstead Cemetery.

The crew had flown a mission the previous night, to Gravenhorst, and fatigue may have been a contributing factor to the crash.

He was the son of John and Agnes Woodward and husband of Eileen Doris Woodward formerly Fennell, of Winchmore Hill, Middlesex. Leslie and Eileen Woodward were married in the September, 1943.

Crew of LL949
Pilot: F/O GR Flood RNZAF
Flight engineer: Sgt LT Woodward
Navigator: F/S C Agnew RNZAF
Bomb-aimer: F/S KJ Aspell
Wireless operator: F/S WR Ingram RNZAF
Air gunner: Sgt F Hughes
Air gunner: Sgt MB Henley

The 630 Squadron badge includes a red Lancaster Rose, which refers to the aircraft used by the Squadron. Formed on 15th November 1943, 630 was part of No5 Group, and between 18 November 1943 and 25 April 1945 took part in many major raids. After the end of the war 630 Squadron was disbanded.

Hampstead Cemetery and Pilot Officer William Allen

As with some other things in life, the inspiration for this blog came from a wrong turning.

Trying to find a short cut to Brent Cross I ended up in West Hampstead; specifically at the entrance to the Hampstead cemetery.

Having lived nearby for years, but never having been in the place I thought it might be worth a look. Even from the road you could tell it had a Victorian Gothic charm (is that the right word?) to it.

Near the entrance was a white CWGC headstone commemorating Pilot Officer William George Allen, an RAF flight engineer who had died in 1944. What initially caught my eye was that he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal. Taking a closer look I saw he was 31 when he died, pretty old for a RAF airman of the time, and that there was a poignant inscription at the bottom of the gravestone which read 'Beloved husband of Peggy and daddy of Jill.'

The final line of the inscription was badly worn but seemed to read ‘Killed [illegible] Mosquito'.

I wondered what one needed to have done to receive the medal and what that final line might refer to. Later that day I did an internet search. The DFM was awarded to non-officer flight crew who completed a tour of 30 operations.

I also discovered that Allen was a member of 35 Squadron - a unit that was equipped with the Handley Page Halifax from November 1940, but when he was killed he was with No13 MU (Maintenance Unit).

35 Squadron had an impressive history and had taken part in high-profile raids such as that on Nuremburg on 28/29 August 1942 and on Peenemunde on 17-18 August 1943.

Presumably William Allen finished his tour with 35 squadron and was then posted to No13 MU. It appears he was flying with Flight Lieutenant George Hill, a 28-year-old pilot from 245 Squadron on 31 March 1944.

At some point in their flight that day their Mosquito lost a wing in a dive and crashed at Cockayne Hatley, Bedfordshire. Hill was a fighter pilot used to flying Typhoons, though whether that has any significance is impossible to know now.

There is a short entry on 245 Squadron here: http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn241-245.htm

And 35 Squadron here: http://www.rafweb.org/Sqn031-35.htm