Date:	Thursday 3 December 1942
Time:	03:55 LT
Type:	Handley Page Halifax Mk II
Owner/operator:	102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF
Registration:	W7913
MSN:	DY-C
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	between Resteigne and Grupont, Tellin, Luxembourg -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Pocklington
Destination airport:

Narrative:
During the night of 2-3 December 1942, except 4 OTU sorties flown without loss, the only operation launched by the RAF Bomber Command was a raid on Frankfurt by 112 aircraft (48 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 22 Stirlings and 15 Wellingtons). There was thick haze and the Pathfinders were unable to establish the location of Frankfurt. Most of the bombing fell in country areas south-west of the city; it is possible that a decoy fire site was operating.

6 aircraft (3 Halifaxes, 1 each of the other types) did not return, 5.4 per cent of the force. 27 members of their crew were killed, 14 captured and two evaded capture. A seventh aircraft, a Stirling, was badly damaged and written off after crash-landing at base.
___________________________________________

If was a bad night for 102 Sqn RAF, the three Halifaxes of the Frankfurt force being lost all belonged to this unit. One of them was Halifax II W7913 DY-C that took off at 0145 hrs from Pockilington, Yorkshire but did not return. It was shot down by a night-fighter and crashed between Resteigne and Grupont (Luxembourg), two small villages SSW and SSE of Rochefort, Belgium. The whole crew was killed.

Crew (all killed):
Flt Sgt Harry Morrissey DFM RCAF (pilot, age 25)
Sgt Robert Francis Hughes Kenyon (pilot)
Sgt John Martin Beart Albrecht (flight engineer, age 23)
Flg Off Donald Edward Pike (air bomber, age 27)
Sgt Erlin Leslie Ross Brown (observer, age 30)
Sgt George Allen Robson (wireless operator/air gunner, age 27)
Sgt John William Taylor (air gunner, age 21)
Sgt Thomas McCallum (air gunner, age 22)

All eight airmen are buried in Florennes Communal Cemetery.

Many books and articles on the internet credit Ludwig Meister as the Luftwaffe nightfighter who shot down this Halifax. The nightfighter who was actually responsible was in fact Uffz. Dieter Erichsen of 2./NJG4, who claimed a Halifax shot down over Resteigne at a height of 4,500 m at 03:55 hrs as the first of his 5 victories during the war. He had taken off from Florennes airfield. This was actually corroborated as Harry Morrissy’s family in the United States actually contacted Ludwig Meister, and he confirmed that the strike was not his and he was not in the area on that particular night.

Thomas McCallum was born in Alloa, Clackmannanshire in January 1920. He was one of five children born to David and Julia McCallum who had a grocery shop in the town. On finishing school Thomas began employment as an apprentice engineer with the Alloa Glass Work Co. He enlisted with RAFVR at 3 Depot Padgate on 4 September 1939, the day after World War 2 was declared. During 1940 when stationed in the Inverness area, he met a local girl at a dance (from all accounts he was quite an accomplished dancer and with some contrast, also a fairly good boxer). The girl was Doris Fraser and they became engaged and subsequently married in January 1941. Their only child David was born in December 1941. Thomas would visit his new wife and baby son as often as possible, which was difficult as some of his postings were in the South of England, at a great distance in travelling time from Inverness, particularly in wartime. Doris also managed to spend time with him at some of his postings during 1941 and in particular she mentioned Nottingham (Hucknall) and at accommodation in Chichester. She would speak lovingly of her time with him for the rest of her life. Although many years has passed since he was killed in action his name will go forward for many years to come, not least through one of his four great grandchildren, who is proudly called Thomas McCallum.

http://www.102ceylonsquadron.co.uk/memThomasMcCallum.html
http://aircrewremembered.com/morrissey-harry.html
"The Bomber Command War Diaries", by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, ISBN 1-85780-033-8
"Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 3: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1942", by W R Chorley. ISBN 0-904597-89-X
Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/erichsen.html
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resteigne
http://www.maplandia.com/belgium/wallonne/luxembourg/resteigne/

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

25 June 1943	JB834	102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF	7	north of Welldorf, Jülich, Nordrhein-Westfalen		w/o
26 November 1943	HR811	102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF	1	vicinity of Frankfurt am Main, Hessen		w/o
17 June 1944	MZ292	102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF	7	North Sea 100 km west of Zandvoort, Noord-Holland		w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
13-Jan-2011 16:03	ThW	Added
01-Sep-2011 13:51	Uli Elch	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
25-Jun-2012 08:37	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
25-Jun-2012 08:38	Nepa	Updated [Source, Narrative]
25-Jun-2012 09:29	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative]
31-May-2013 16:25	Nepa	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Narrative]
22-Nov-2018 09:01	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
04-Nov-2020 17:17	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
04-Nov-2020 17:18	TigerTimon	Updated [Location]
26-Jun-2022 01:02	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]