Date:	Tuesday 15 February 1944
Time:	23:00 LT
Type:	Handley Page Halifax Mk III
Owner/operator:	35 Sqn RAF
Registration:	LV861
MSN:	TL-O
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Raalterweg 49, Diepenveen, Overijssel -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Halifax LV861 (TL-O) was one of nineteen No. 35 Squadron aircraft detailed to attack Berlin on the night of 15th/16th February 1944. It was equipped with H2S, Monica and Fishpond radars and was carrying 3 x 1000 lb MC T.Inst, 1 x 500 lb MC T.Inst and various target indicators. Its designated Path Finder role was Blind Backer Up. Its seven man crew comprised:

Crew:-
Pilot : Pilot Officer Colin Frazer Blundell RAAF Aus/411116 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Flight Sergeant Leslie Albert Hazell RAFVR 918657 [Killed]
Navigator : Warrant Officer A W Bennett RAF 1379973 [Evaded]
Bomb Aimer : Flight Lieutenant Patrick Baring Oates Ranalow RAFVR 130989 (NCO:900061 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 16 February, 1943) [Evaded]
Wireless Operator : Flight Sergeant R Moreton RAF 1332943 [Evaded]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant Raymond Valentine Montigu Daniels RAFVR 962812 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Jeffrey Eugene Pogonowski RAAF Aus/418011 [Killed]

The route was 5450N 0400E, 5525N 0700E, 5510N 1000E, 5430N 1230E, attack Target. LV861 failed to return and the squadron’s Operations Record Book shows “This aircraft is missing, nothing being heard from it after taking off”.

On 16th February 1944 the squadron informed Bomber Command, the Air Ministry and the RAF Records Office that the aircraft and crew were missing. A telegram, along with a follow up letter from the Commanding Officer, was sent to the next of kin of each crew member advising them that he was “missing as the result of air operations on 15th/16th February 1944”.

The crew’s kit and personal belongings were removed from their lockers and catalogued; kit was returned to stores and personal belongings sent to the RAF Central Depository at RAF Colnbrook. The Air Ministry Casualty Branch, which was responsible for investigating, monitoring and reporting on the status of missing aircraft and airmen, subsequently published the following information regarding the crew:

Air Ministry Casualty Communique No. 377 (Flight 27/04/1944) reported C F Blundell and J E Pogonowski as “missing”
Air Ministry Casualty Communique No. 484 (Flight 29/03/1945) reported C F Blundell, R V M Daniels, J E Pogonowski and L A Hazell “previously reported missing” as “now presumed killed in action”

Note: Presumption of death enabled a death certificate to be issued; personal belongings could then be sent to next of kin, along with any monies due. No. 35 Squadron’s Operations Record Book shows that the following information was received relating to the crew:

02/07/1944: Information received from Air Ministry that J E Pogonowski, missing on 15th/16th February 1944, was killed. 17/10/1944: Information received from Air Ministry that P B O Ranalow, missing on 15th/16th February 1944, arrived in the UK on 6th October 1944. Crew members that survived the crash and evaded capture: P B O Ranalow, A W Bennett and R Moreton survived the crash and evaded capture as follows:

PBO Ranalow: Evasion Route: Holland/Switzerland, Repatriation: 06/10/1944
AW Bennett: Evasion Route: Holland/Belgium/France/Switzerland/France, Repatriation: before 30/09/44
R Moreton: Evasion Route: Holland/Belgium, Repatriation: 07/09/1944

After the war, an investigation officer from the Royal Air Force Missing Research and Enquiry Service (MRES) was tasked with locating the remains of the missing crew member(s). Original German documents, burial records and eye witness accounts were utilised to establish the location of the crash site, the cause of the loss and the initial fate of the crew; information was recorded in a MRES Investigation Report.

As part of the process, any remains that were located were exhumed, identified (wherever possible) and concentrated (reinterred) at one of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Cemeteries in the country that they fell, in accordance with Government policy at the time. Graves were marked with a simple wooden cross, which was replaced by the familiar CWGC headstone during the 1950’s. Missing airmen who could not be found, or formally identified, had their names commemorated on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, which was unveiled in 1953.

CWGC records show that the remains of C F Blundell, R V M Daniels, J E Pogonowski and L A Hazell were concentrated (reinterred) at DIEPENVEEN GENERAL CEMETERY (where they were initially buried) as follows:

BLUNDELL, COLIN FRAZER Pilot Officer Service Number 411116, Row 2, Grave 15.
DANIELS, RAYMOND VALENTINE MONTIGUE Sergeant Service Number 962812 Row 2, Grave 13.
HAZELL, LESLIE ALBERT Flight Sergeant, Service Number 918657, Row 2, Grave 16.
POGONOWSKI, JEFFREY EUGENE Flight Sergeant, Service Number 418011 Row 2, Grave 14.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Theo Boiten (Nachtjagd War Diaries) - Nightfighter claim: Oblt. Hans-Heinz Augenstein, 7./NJG1, claimed to have shot down an "enemy bomber" at Diepenveen, 4 km NNW Deventer, from a range of 3000 m, at 22.47 LT. The time and location tie in with the official Air Ministry/RAF combat loss reports for Halifax LV861.

1. https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T3412&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
http://translate.google.nl/translate?hl=nl&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.evasioncomete.org%2Ffmoretore.html
2. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp61-halifax-iii-diepenveen-4-killed
3. https://35squadron.wordpress.com/2017/07/16/halifax-lv861-15021944/
4. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR40/286 (PBO Ranalow's Escape & Evasion Report)
5. National Archives (PRO Kew) File WO208/3322/2326 (AW Bennett's Escape & Evasion Report)
6. National Archives (PRO Kew) File WO208/3322/2271 (R Moreton's Escape & Evasion Report)
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2820440/blundell,-colin-frazer/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2820441/daniels,-raymond-valentine-montigue/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2820444/hazell,-leslie-albert/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2820445/pogonowski,-jeffrey-eugene/
11. Google Maps
12. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

20 February 1944

LV864

35 (Madras Presidency) Sqn RAF

3

1 km south of Buckow, Milower Land, Brandenburg

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
16-Aug-2013 13:34	gerard57	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Oct-2019 20:07	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
27-Oct-2019 22:06	Anon.	Updated [Operator, Operator]
23-Dec-2019 16:22	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Source]
15-Feb-2024 07:47	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative]