F/S Leonard J McInerney RAAF and crew – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1944
Failed to Return – 22/23rd March 1944 – Avro Lancaster III – ND329 – Op Frankfurt
Leonard McInerney was born in Belalie North, South Australia in 1921 and enlisted in the RAAF on the 8th November 1941. Leonard and his crew were posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds around early March 1944 and were lost on their first operation. See below:-
22-Mar-44 – Frankfurt – Lancaster – ND329 – F/S LJ McInerney RAAF – FTR - Believed to have exploded in mid air. Crashed in target area.
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F/S Leonard Joseph McInerney RAAF – Pilot – 103 Sqn - POW – Camps L6/L4 - POW no 3375
Sgt Stanley Alfred Lewis RAFVR – 20 – 103 Sqn - Son of Leonard S. and Gertrude Lewis of Ponders End, Middlesex - Runnymede Memorial
W/O Nash James Trewavas RNZAF ( pictured above ) – Navigator - 20 – 103 Sqn - Son of Edith Annie Young, of Motueka, Nelson, New Zealand; grandson of Charles R. Trewavas and Jessie E. Trewavas - Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany
Sgt William Alfred Munday RAFVR – Air Bomber - 21 – 103 Sqn - Son of William Henry and Mary Ellen Munday of Battersea, London - Durnbach War Cemetery Germany
Sgt Stanley William Tolley RAFVR - 20 – 103 Sqn - Son of William George Christopher and Grace Rebecca Tolley of Barking, Essex - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Dennis John Findlay RAFVR - 18 – 103 Sqn - Son of William George Christopher and Grace Rebecca Tolley of Woodford Green, Essex - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Neil Graham RAFVR – 103 Sqn - Runnymede Memorial
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22-Mar-44 – Frankfurt
103 Squadron detailed 18 aircraft for this attack on the German city of Frankfurt. Flak over the target was reported as moderate to intense and searchlights numerous and active working in small cones. Night fighters were more in evidence than in the previous attack. Marking was well concentrated and it seems the attack developed successfully. Bombing heights were between 2000 ft to 23000 ft. Crews reported incendiaries are still being jettisoned outside the target area and make the track of the bomber stream particularly conspicuous. All crews considered the route a good one. Wind finders were again detailed from this Squadron. W/O Rabchak and W/O Chase were both attacked by enemy night fighters but successfully evaded them. Short bursts were fired and W/O Chase claimed a possible FW 190.
For this attack on Frankfurt Bomber Command detailed a total of 816 aircraft - 620 Lancasters, 184 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos. Again, an indirect route was employed, this time crossing the Dutch coast north of the Zuider Zee and then flying almost due south to Frankfurt. This, and the Kiel minelaying diversion, confused the Germans for some time; Hanover was forecast as the main target. Only a few fighters eventually found the bomber stream. 33 aircraft - 26 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes - were lost, 4.0 per cent of the force.
The marking and bombing were accurate and Frankfurt suffered another heavy blow; the city's records show that the damage was even more severe than in the raid carried out 4 nights earlier. Half of the city was without gas, water and electricity 'for a long period'. All parts of the city were hit but the greatest weight of the attack fell in the western districts. The report particularly mentions severe damage to the industrial areas along the main road to Mainz. 162 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force used Frankfurt as a secondary target when they could not reach Schweinfurt 36 hours after this RAF raid and caused further damage. The Frankfurt diary has this entry: "The three air raids of 18th, 22nd and 24th March were carried out by a combined plan of the British and American air forces and their combined effect was to deal the worst and most fateful blow of the war to Frankfurt, a blow which simply ended the existence of the Frankfurt which had been built up since the Middle Ages."
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Lancaster – ND329
This machine was lost on its 2nd operation.
27-Jan-44 – Berlin – Lancaster – ND329 – P/O L Young
22-Mar-44 – Frankfurt – Lancaster – ND329 – F/S LJ McInerney RAAF – FTR - Believed to have exploded in mid air. Crashed in target area.
Item compiled by David Fell with photo from the Auckland War Memorial website.
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