W/O Clifford W Annis RAFVR and crew – 103 Sqadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1943
Failed to Return – 27/28th August 1943 – Avro Lancaster I – W4364 – Op Nuremberg
Cliff Annis and his crew were posted from 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds on the 6th July 1943.
They were lost on their 10th operation.
24-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis
25-Jul-43 – Essen – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis
27-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis – ER - Engine trouble
29-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis
02-Aug-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis - Bombed Neuwerke
07-Aug-43 – Turin – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis
17-Aug-43 – Peenemunde – Lancaster – W4364 – F/S CW Annis
22-Aug-43 – Leverkusen – Lancaster – W4364 – W/O CW Annis
23-Aug-43 – Berlin – Lancaster – W4364 – W/O CW Annis
27-Aug-43 – Nuremberg – Lancaster – W4364 – W/O CW Annis – FTR - Night fighter victim. Crashed at Durnbach, Germany.
..........
W/O Clifford W Annis RAFVR – Pilot – 103 Sqn – POW – Camps N/K – POW no N/K.
Cliff Annis sustained a serious neck injury when blown out of the Lancaster when it exploded. He was hospitalised for sometime and then repatriated in September 1944. He recalled nothing of their last operation apart from the take off.
Sgt Norman Tyrrell RAFVR – Flight Engineer – 103 Sqn - POW – Camps N/K – POW no N/K
W/O John William McLeod Renwick RCAF – Navigator - 103 Sqn – Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany
P/O Jack T Birkbeck RAFVR ( pictured below ) – Air Bomber – 103 Sqn - POW – Camps L3 – POW no 2351
Sgt Samuel MacDonald RAFVR – Wireless Operator / Air Gunner – 22 – 103 Sqn - Son of John and Wilhelmina Macdonald of Dumfries
Sgt John Leivers Oldershaw RAFVR – Air Gunner – 33 – 103 Sqn - Son of Alfred and Caroline Oldershaw of Askern, Yorkshire
Sgt Cyril Bert Edwards RAFVR – Air Gunner – 22 – 103 Sqn - Son of Maurice Bertie and Ethel Edwards of Hove, Sussex
P/O Jack T Birkbeck RAFVR
W/O John William McLeod Renwick RCAF
Post war Cliff Annis recovered albeit with a paralysed right hand. He gained a private pilot's license and had a long career in civil aviation which I believe involved running a very successful crop spraying business.
Jack Birbeck survived the war and returned to the General Post Office and later British Telecommunications before retirement
..........
27-Aug-43 - Nuremberg
103 Squadron detailed 21 aircraft for this attack on the German city of Nuremberg. There was no cloud at the target and visibility was good. Intense fighter activity was encountered with searchlight coning forming a background while flak was moderate and spasmodic. There were several sightings of fighters and one combat involving F/S Rhodes and crew. Bombing heights were between 19000 ft and 21600 ft. One aircraft, W/O Annis and crew, failed to return.
For this attack on Nuremberg Bomber Command detailed a total of 674 aircraft - 349 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes, 104 Stirlings. 33 aircraft - 11 of each type on the raid - lost, 4.9 per cent of the force.
The marking for this raid was based mainly on H2S. 47 of the Pathfinder H2S aircraft were ordered to check their equipment by dropping a 1,000-lb bomb on Heilbronn while flying to Nuremberg. 28 Pathfinder aircraft were able to carry out this order. Nuremberg was found to be free of cloud but it was very dark. The initial Pathfinder markers were accurate but a creepback quickly developed which could not be stopped because so many Pathfinder aircraft had difficulties with their H2S sets. The Master Bomber could do little to persuade the Main Force to move their bombing forward; only a quarter of the crews could hear his broadcasts.
..........
Lancaster – W4364 – Billie
It is said Billie was the top scoring Lancaster with 50 operations at the time it was lost. I can only find 49 in the 103 Squadron ORB but that record is probably wrong. Be that as it may this machine was one of the first Lancasters on the strength of 103 Squadron and was flown by a number of prominent crews including those of Alec Temperley and Sid Cook. All the Annis crew ops were flown in Billie.
The first operation of W4364 was with Cook's crew. See below :-
21-Nov-42 - Biarritz/Biscay coast – Lancaster – W4364 – Sgt AS Cook
Item compiled by David Fell with thanks to the late Jack Birbeck for the photos and input. Renwick photo courtesy of the Canadian Virtual War Museum
|
