Date:	Sunday 2 January 1944
Time:	02:00
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk III
Owner/operator:	61 Sqn RAF
Registration:	LM377
MSN:	QR-F
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	300 metres south of Büren, Neustadt am Rübenberge, Niedersachsen -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Skellingthorpe
Destination airport:

Narrative:
During the night of 1-2 January 1944, RAF Bomber Command despatched 421 Lancasters to Berlin. The take-off was planned for mid-evening but it was delayed due to doubts about the weather and it only began around midnight. The delay also caused a change to the route, planned as a wide northerly approach over Denmark and the Baltic. The bombers were now ordered to fly the much used direct route accross Holland.

The German controller was not deceived by a Mosquito 'spoof' raid on Hamburg, and German fighters were directed on to the bomber stream at an early stage and were particularly active en-route to Berlin. Sixteen bombers are believed to have been lost along that flight, including 8 of the 81 despatched Pathfinders. But then few losses were suffered over Berlin, only two bombers being shot down by fighters there, and the local Flak was probably restricted to the height at which it could fire and only shot down two bombers over Berlin. 29 Lancasters crashed in Europe or were lost without traces, and two more crashed on return in England. Aboard these 31 bombers 183 crew were killed, 33 captured and one evaded.

The target area was covered in cloud and the accuracy of the sky-marking soon deteriorated. The Berlin report says that there was scattered bombing, mainly in the southern parts of the city. A large number of bombs fell in the Grunewald, an extensive wooded area in the south-west of Berlin. Only 21 houses and 1 industrial building were destroyed, with 79 people being killed, including 25 in a panic rush at the entrance of a public air shelter in the Neukölln district. A high-explosive bomb hit a lock on an important canal and stopped shipping at that area for several days.

Minor Bomber Command operations this night included Mosquito raids to Hamburg (15 aircraft), to Witten (11), to Duisburg (7), to Bristillerie (4) and to Cologne (1), 6 RCM sorties, and 14 OTU sorties, all without loss.

German night fighters claimed 27 victories this night, including six by Major Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (number 65 to 70) of Stab NJG 2. Known German losses are seven crew killed, four wounded and 6 aircraft lost: 3 Bf 110, 2 Ju 88 and 1 Bf 109, the latter and one Bf 110 falling to German Flak.
________________________________________________________________________

The Lancaster III LM377 QR-F of 61 Sqn RAF took off at 2356 hrs on the 1st from Skellingthorpe to take part to the raid on Berlin. It was hit by a night-fighter flown by Major Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein of the Stab NJG 2 (based at Deelen airfield in the Netherlands), his first victory of the night and the 65th of the war. The German pilot had taken off in a Junkers Ju 88 R-2 coded R4+AA. Following the attack the aircraft burst into flames. A heavy explosion shook the aircraft over Bevensen and caused it to fall out of control. The bomber eventually crashed at 0200 hrs in a field about 300 metres south of Büren where it continued to burn for some hours. There was no explosion on impact and it is assumed that bombs were jettisoned during an earlier attack. A Salvage Unit from Wunstorf airfield arrived about an hour and a half after the incident took place. Four airmen were recovered from inside the cabin and front part of the fuselage. These men had been thrown together by the force of the impact and when found were badly burnt. One airman was lying approximately 3 metres in front of the nose of the aircraft. Another corpse was found lying outside between the main part of the fuselage and the rear turret. The rear turret was torn from the fuselage and was found some 100 metres away from the crash site. As it was investigated it was found that the dead rear gunner was still sitting behind his machine gun. All crew were buried in seven separate boxes in the south-east corner of the Büren Cemetery. On 27 September 1946 the crew were exhumed and transferred to Hannover War Cemetery.

Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer George Edward Sharpe RCAF J/21834 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Basil George Imber RAFVR 1609563 [Killed]
Navigator : Flying Officer Ernest Arthur Chenery Willard RAFVR 50789 [Killed] (NCO:575099 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 13 April, 1943)
Bomb Aimer : Flying Officer Alfred Vernon Shirley RAFVR 151431 [Killed] (NCO:657643 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 18 May, 1943)
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant Alexander Ross RAFVR 1368936 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant William John Churcher RAFVR 965799 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant Henry Patrick RAFVR 1545237 [Killed]

http://www.avres-neustadt.de/crashsites/
"The Bomber Command War Diaries", by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, ISBN 1-85780-033-8
"The Berlin Raids. RAF Bomber Command Winter 1943-1944", by Martin Middlebrook. ISBN 0-304-35347-7
"Royal Air Force Bomber Command losses, vol 5. Aircraft and Crews Losses 1944", by W R Chorley, ISBN 0-904597-91-1
"Lufwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims 1939-1945", by John Foreman, Johannes Matthews and Simon Parry. ISBN 0-9538061-4-6
"Deutsche Nachtjagd Personalverluste in Ausbildung und Einsatz - fliegendes Personal -", by Michael Balss
"Deutsche Nachtjagd Materialverluste in Ausbildung und Einsatz", by Michael Balss. ISBN 3-925480-3-6
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part one, by Dr. Theo Boiten
https://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead.aspx
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/niedersachsen/hannover/hannover/buren/
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

4 July 1942	R5488	61 Sqn RAF	7	North Sea, 30 Km NW of Esbjerg		w/o
20 February 1944	HK538	61 Sqn RAF	5	200 metres southwest of Lessien, Ehra-Lessien, Niedersachsen		w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Jan-2018 23:15	Laurent Rizzotti	Added
27-Nov-2019 18:07	TigerTimon	Updated [Cn, Location, Source, Embed code, Narrative]
02-Dec-2019 18:28	TigerTimon	Updated [Narrative]
01-Jan-2024 08:06	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative]