S/L Clifford S F Wood RAF and crew – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1943
Failed to Return – 22/23rd October 1943 – Avro Lancaster III – JB276 – OpKassel
Right - Clifford Wood. Left W/C Jos du Boulay. The dog is Pickwick
Clifford Wood ( Pictured above ) was a pre war regular airman. At some stage before joining 103 Squadron he had been awarded a Mention in Dispatches. Wood and his crew were posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds on the 5th August 1943 from 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit. They were lost on their 15th operation. See below:-
09-Aug-43 – Mannheim – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood
10-Aug-43 – Nuremberg – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood - Combat. Attacked by twin engined night fighter. Gunners replied. Claimed probably damaged.
12-Aug-43 – Milan – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood - Approached twice by a twin engined night fighter which was lost during corkscrew action.
14-Aug-43 – Milan – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood
17-Aug-43 – Peenemunde – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood
22-Aug-43 – Leverkusen – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood
31-Aug-43 – Berlin – Lancaster – LM343 – S/L CSF Wood
06-Sep-43 – Munich – Lancaster – JB147 – S/L CSF Wood
06-Sep-43 – Munich – Lancaster – JB152 – S/L CSF Wood
27-Sep-43 – Hanover – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
29-Sep-43 – Bochum – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
01-Oct-43 – Hagen – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
02-Oct-43 – Munich – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
18-Oct-43 – Hanover – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
22-Oct-43 – Kassel – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood – FTR - Crashed at Wetschen., Germany.
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Charles Kershaw
William Brown and Mrs Brown
S/L Clifford Sinclair Farquhar Wood Wood RAF – Pilot - 27 – 103 Sqn - Son of Nathaniel Farquhar Wood and of Bertha Irene Ruth Wood of Croydon, Surrey – Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
Sgt Charles Kershaw RAFVR ( Pictured above ) – Flight Engineer - 21 - 103 Sqn - Son of James and Agnes Kershaw, of Rochdale, Lancashire – Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
F/L WH Hopkins - 103 Sqn – POW – Camps L6/357 – POW no 1731
F/L CL Grisdale - 103 Sqn – POW - Camps L1 – POW no 1371
W/O James Ferrie Craig DFM RAF – Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - 23 - 103 Sqn - Son of John and Jean Ferrie Craig; husband of Emma Lillian Craig of York – Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
Sgt Henry Robert Wilson RAFVR – Air Gunner - 103 Sqn – Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
F/S William Richard Brown RAFVR ( Pictured above ) – Air Gunner - 103 Sqn – Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
James F Craig's DFM was gazetted 17th January 1941 – 58 Squadron
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22-Oct-43 - Kassel
103 Squadron detailed 17 aircraft for this attack on the German city of Kassel. There was no cloud over the target and the raid appears to have been most successful. Reconnaissance photos show the fires still burning 8 days after the raid. Flak was slight to moderate but fighter and searchlights were very active. F/S Nicholls abandoned his mission due to navigator becoming sick. The Wireless Operator took over and navigated the aircraft back on Gee fixes till landfall was made. F/O Morgan returned early due to Navigator having oxygen failure. F/S West returned early due to oxygen failure at the Dutch coast. F/S Rathbone landed at Thorps Abbott due to fuel shortage and S/L Wood, W/O Rhodes and W/O Lee failed to return. All other aircraft returned to base.
For this attack on Kassel Bomber Command detailed a total of 569 aircraft - 322 Lancasters, 247 Halifaxes. The German controller was again successful in assessing the target and 43 aircraft - 25 Halifaxes, 18 Lancasters - were lost, 7.6 per cent of the force.
The initial 'blind' H2S marking overshot the target but 8 out of the 9 'visual' markers correctly identified the centre of Kassel and placed their markers accurately. Although German decoy markers may have drawn off part of the bomber force, the main raid was exceptionally accurate and concentrated. The result was the most devastating attack on a Nazi city since the firestorm raid on Hamburg in July and the results at Kassel would not be exceeded again until well into 1944. The fires were so concentrated that there was a firestorm, although not as extensive as the Hamburg one.
The Kassel Railway system was severely hit as were the 3 Henschel factories which were manufacturing the V1 flying bombs and this proved a serious set back to the introduction of this weapon.
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Lancaster - JB276
This machine was lost on its 9th operation mostly with the Wood crew. See below :-
27-Sep-43 – Hanover – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
29-Sep-43 – Bochum – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
01-Oct-43 – Hagen – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
02-Oct-43 – Munich – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
04-Oct-43 – Ludwigshafen/Diversion – Lancaster – JB276 – W/O JTC Rhodes
08-Oct-43 – Hanover – Lancaster – JB276 – F/S LJ Hinton RAAF
18-Oct-43 – Hanover – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood
20-Oct-43 – Leipzig – Lancaster – JB276 – F/O CP Ready
22-Oct-43 – Kassel – Lancaster – JB276 – S/L CSF Wood – FTR - Crashed at Wetschen., Germany.
Item compiled by David Fell. Wood photo from my own archive. Kershaw and Brown photos courtesy of the respective families.
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