W/O Ronald Dash RAFVR and crew – 103 Squadron – RAF Elsham Wolds – 1943
Failed to Return – 2/3rd August 1943 – Avro Lancaster III – ED922 – Op Hamburg
Above - Ronnie Dash and his wife Edie. Wedding photo.
Ronald Dash and his crew were posted to 103 Squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds late April or early May 1943. They were lost on their 14th operation
23-May-43 – Dortmund – Lancaster – ED922 – Sgt R Dash
25-May-43 – Dusseldorf – Lancaster – ED878 – Sgt R Dash
27-May-43 – Essen – Lancaster – ED878 – Sgt R Dash
29-May-43 – Wuppertal – Lancaster – ED878 – Sgt R Dash
11-Jun-43 – Dusseldorf – Lancaster – ED645 – Sgt R Dash
12-Jun-43 – Bochum – Lancaster – ED645 – Sgt R Dash
14-Jun-43 – Oberhausen – Lancaster – ED701 – Sgt R Dash – Early return - Port inner engine coolant leak.
28-Jun-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash
03-Jul-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED645 – W/O R Dash
08-Jul-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED878 – W/O R Dash
12-Jul-43 – Turin – Lancaster – W4364 – W/O R Dash - Landed at Exeter
27-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash
29-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash
02-Aug-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash – FTR - Crashed into the Elbe, off Herrenfeld, Germany.
The cause of this loss was probably weather related - lightning strike, turbulence or icing
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W/O Ronald Dash RAF – 27 – 103 Sqn - Son of Ernest and Eliza Dash; husband of Edie May Dash, of Leeds, Yorkshire - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Leslie G Spurgeon RAFVR – Flight Engineer - 21 – 103 Sqn - Son of Ernest A. and Alice Rosina Spurgeon, of Balham, London - Hamburg Cemetery, Germany
Sgt William John Forgan RAF – 103 Sqn - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt John William Barrett RAFVR – 20 – 103 Sqn - Son of William George and Alice May Barrett, of Highgate, Middlesex - Runnymede Memorial
Sgt Evan David Giles RAFVR – 21 – 103 Sqn - Husband of Phyllis Giles, of Normacot, Staffordshire - Hamburg Cemetery, Germany
Sgt Frederick Arthur Crawford RAFVR ( pictured below ) – Air Gunner - 20 – 103 Sqn - Son of Sydney and Clara Crawford, of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire - Hamburg Cemetery, Germany
Sgt Frederick John Swift RAFVR – Air Gunner - 22 – 103 Sqn - Son of Alfred Frederick and Eleanor Maud Swift. of Homerton, London - Hamburg Cemetery, Germany
Sgt Frederick Arthur Crawford RAFVR
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02-Aug-43 – Hamburg
103 Squadron detailed 26 aircraft for this attack on the German port of Hamburg. That attack was carried out in difficult thundercloud and icing conditions. Thunderclouds with anvil tops to 25000 / 30000 ft. It was difficult to distinguish between lightning flashes and flak. Icing was bad. Few Pathfinder markers were seen and most bombing was on ETA or on alternative targets. Four aircraft returned early and two failed to return, those of W/O Dash and crew and W/O Stoneman.
For this attack on Hamburg Bomber Command detailed a total of 740 aircraft - 329 Lancasters, 235 Halifaxes, 105 Stirlings, 66 Wellingtons, 5 Mosquitos despatched on a failed raid to Hamburg. The bombing force encountered a large thunderstorm area over Germany and many crews turned back early or bombed alternative targets. At least 4 aircraft, probably more, were lost because of icing, turbulence or were struck by lightning. No Pathfinder marking was possible at Hamburg and only scattered bombing took place there. Many other towns in a 100-mile area of Northern Germany received a few bombs. A sizeable raid developed on the small town of Elmshorn, 12 miles from Hamburg. It is believed that a flash of lightning set a house on fire here and bomber crews saw this through a gap in the storm clouds and started to bomb the fire. 30 aircraft - 13 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes, 4 Wellingtons, 3 Stirlings - lost, 4.1 per cent of the force.
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Lancaster - ED922
This machine gave good service being lost on its 22nd operation.
23-May-43 – Dortmund – Lancaster – ED922 – Sgt R Dash
25-May-43 – Dusseldorf – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
27-May-43 – Essen – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
29-May-43 – Wuppertal – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
11-Jun-43 – Dusseldorf – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
12-Jun-43 – Bochum – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
14-Jun-43 – Oberhausen – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
16-Jun-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED922 – F/S AE Egan
21-Jun-43 – Krefeld – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
22-Jun-43 – Mulheim – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
24-Jun-43 – Wuppertal – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
25-Jun-43 – Gelsenkirchen – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
28-Jun-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash
03-Jul-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED922 – F/S CM Brown
08-Jul-43 – Cologne – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
09-Jul-43 – Gelsenkirchen – Lancaster – ED922 – P/O WG Cole
12-Jul-43 – Turin – Lancaster – ED922 – F/L WG Cole - Landed at Exeter
24-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – F/L WG Cole
25-Jul-43 – Essen – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O K Breckon
27-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash
29-Jul-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O R Dash
02-Aug-43 – Hamburg – Lancaster – ED922 – W/O – R Dash – FTR - Crashed into the Elbe, off Herrenfeld, Germany.
Item compiled by David Fell. Ronnie and Edie Dash photo courtesy of Joan Dutton and Crawford photo courtesy of the Crawford family
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