ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 311400
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| Date: | Wednesday 10 May 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 550 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | JA918 |
| MSN: | BQ-W |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | English Channel off north French coast, Dunkirk area -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire |
| RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire |
This aircraft was one of eighteen from the squadron that was part of a force of 414 aircraft - 206 Handley Page Halifaxes, 180 Avro Lancasters and 28 De Havilland Mosquitos - tasked with the destruction of a series of coastal batteries in the Pas de Calais region of northern France. (Source 1.)
Specifically, JA918 was to attack the battery at Mardyck, west of Dunkirk. It was the only aircraft lost on the operation, probably to ground defences.
Crew were as follows:
Flying Officer Ernest Vernon Sage (415369 RNZAF) - Pilot
Sergeant Henry Power Robinson (1404551 RAFVR) - Flight Engineer
Flying Officer Oliver Leslie Albutt (151080 RAFVR) - Navigator
Sergeant William Charles Taylor (1396691 RAFVR) - Bombardier
Flying Officer David Allan Goulden (421968 RNZAF) Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Sergeant William Walter Hopper (1399532 RAFVR) - Mid-Upper Air Gunner
Sergeant Ernest George Richard Pepper (1608061 RAFVR) - Rear Gunner (See source 2.)
Not all of the crew were recovered and those that were lie in different cemeteries.
Ernest Sage, William Taylor and Ernest Pepper are commemorated on the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial in Surrey, England, while Oliver Albutt, William Hopper and Henry Robinson are buried in the Dunkirk Town Cemetery.
David Goulden rests in the Oye-Plage Communal Cemetery. (Source 3.
In addition Oliver Albutt is commemorated on a family grave in Ocklynge Cemetery, Eastbourne, East Sussex. See source 4. for details.
Sources:
1. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20070706054808/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/may44.html
2. http://www.550squadronassociation.org.uk/php-library/mysql-utils/reports/rpt_squadron_operations.php?target=Mardyck&aircraft=JA918
3. https://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=21636
4. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/99314
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Apr-2023 10:13 | Richard | Added |
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