P/O Kenneth Fraser Edwards RAF and crew – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1942
Failed to Return – 5/6th October 1942 – Handley Page Halifax II – W1216 – Aachen.
Kenneth Edwards was a pre war regular airman and was posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds May 1942. He flew the following operations 3 on Wellingtons and 7 on Halifaxes :-
01-Jun-42 – Essen – Wellington – X9666 – W/O KF Edwards
02-Jun-42 – Essen – Wellington – DV578 – W/O KF Edwards - Hit by flak.
11-Jun-42 - Ameland/Dutch coast – Wellington – DV697 – W/O KF Edwards
16-Aug-42 – Dusseldorf – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards – Electrical problems. Unable to locate primary
27-Aug-42 – Kassel – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards
28-Aug-42 – Nuremberg – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards – Starboard inner engine unserviceable. Jettisoned bombs west of Ostend.
10-Sep-42 – Dusseldorf – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards
14-Sep-42 – Bremen – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards - Diverted to Mildenhall
02-Oct-42 – Krefeld – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards
05-Oct-42 – Aachen – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards – FTR - Night fighter victim. Crashed north east of Tongeren, Belgium.
Shot down whilst homebound. Claim by Lt Hans Autenrieth Stab II/NJG1 - 500m North of 12km North East of Tongeren (6A): 1,200m at 22:47. - John Jones
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P/O Kenneth Fraser Edwards RAF – Pilot - Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium
Sgt MA Mead - 103 Sqn – POW - Camp L7 - POW no 673
Sgt George Green RAF ( pictured below ) – Flight Engineer - 103 Sqn - Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium
F/S Gordon H Mellor RAFVR – Observer – 103 Sqn - Evaded from Belgium through France to Spain and Gibraltar.
See Note 1 at the foot of this page.
F/S RG Hawthorn RAFVR – 103 Sqn - Camp - 8B/344 POW no 27226
Sgt DC Giddens RNZAF – 103 Sqn - POW - Camp - 8B/344 POW no 27225
Sgt HJ Richards RAFVR – 103 Sqn - POW - Camp L6/L4 - POW no 6461
Sgt Norman Tolson McMaster RAFVR – 32 - 103 Sqn - Son of Robert and Esther Harkness McMaster; husband of Kathleen McMaster of Southport, Lancashire - Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium
Sgt George Green RAF
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05-Oct-42 – Aachen
103 Squadron detailed 10 aircraft for this attack on the German city of Aachen. Although there was only 4/10ths to 6/10ths cloud in the target area a huge front had to be pierced on both outward to return journies and much static, electrical discharges and heavy icing were encountered. The defences were light to moderate with no searchlight activity but heavier defences were experienced en route. The bombing heights were between 6000 ft and 9600 ft and fires in the target area were variously reported as scattered and concentrated. W/O Edwards and crew failed to return. All other aircraft returned to base.
For this attack on Aachen Bomber Command detailed a total of 257 aircraft - 101 Wellingtons, 74 Lancasters, 59 Halifaxes, 23 Stirlings. 10 aircraft - 5 Halifaxes, 2 Stirlings, 2 Wellingtons, 1 Lancaster - lost, 3.9 per cent of the force. A further 6 aircraft crashed in England, possibly in thunderstorms.
This attack was a complete failure. The weather continued to be bad over Germany. There was little Pathfinder marking at Aachen and most of the bombing fell in other areas. Aachen reports that the raid was carried out by an estimated 10 aircraft and that the centre of the attack appeared to be in the southern suburb of Burtscheid. 5 people were killed and 39 injured.
Many of the bombs intended for Aachen fell in the small Dutch town of Lutterade, 17 miles away from Aachen, and it seems that most of the Pathfinder marking was over this place. More than 800 houses were seriously damaged; 83 people were killed, 22 were injured and 3,000 were made homeless.
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Halifax W1216
This was the regular machine of W/O K F Edwards and crew and only flown by them.
16-Aug-42 – Dusseldorf – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards – Electrical problems. Unable to locate primary
27-Aug-42 – Kassel – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards
28-Aug-42 – Nuremberg – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards – Starboard inner engine unserviceable. Jettisoned bombs west of Ostend.
10-Sep-42 – Dusseldorf – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards
14-Sep-42 – Bremen – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards - Diverted to Mildenhall
02-Oct-42 – Krefeld – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards
05-Oct-42 – Aachen – Halifax – W1216 – W/O KF Edwards – FTR - Night fighter victim. Crashed north east of Tongeren, Belgium.
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Note 1 – Gordon Mellor
Gordon Mellor was a Londoner with a keen interest in flying and the RAF. He applied to join the RAFVR in 1938 and was accepted in 1940 at the second attempt. He trained as an Observer in Canada and on his return to the UK was posted to 103 Squadron at Elsham Wolds. His first operation was the Thousand Bomber Raid against Cologne.
On his 18th operation they were attacked by a night fighter. Gordon baled out and landed in a tree. When he had freed himself and dropped safely to the ground he set off to walk by tracking the North Star southwards. He hid in a number of places during the daylight but after a few days he was forced to knock on a door to ask for help. He was informed he was in Belgium and his helpers contacted the Comete Escape Line people who took him into their charge and safely guided him down the escape line from Belgium to Paris and then through the Pyrenees to Spain. It was during this evasion he came into contact with the famous Belgian organiser of this highly dangerous activity Countess Andree de Jong.
He was then taken to Gibraltar and flown home. After debriefing he returned to RAF Elsham Wolds to give talks on his experiences. He was 1 of 3 103 Squadron airmen to evade at this time, the others being Len Pipkin and Dizzy Spiller, all 3 were navigators.
There is a detailed description of Gordon's evasion on the Comete website.
Gordon also wrote a book about his wartime experiences which is published by Flying High and is available on Amazon
Sgt George Green RAF
Born 14 December 1914, son of Mr Patrick McHugh, Journalist and Mrs McHugh of 2 Oldmill Road, and later of 52 Claremont Street Aberdeen. Entered RGC from Queen’s Cross R.C. School. He served his apprenticeship as a chemist with Mr O Fraser of Crown Street, Aberdeen. He was employed with Boots Ltd., Staines, Middlesex, when he volunteered for the RAF in 1941. He was a keen sportsman and played for St Andrew’s football team when in Aberdeen.
Item compiled and written by David Fell with photos from my own archive. Special thanks to Wessel Scheer for the Green pic and bio
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