Date:	Saturday 17 March 1945
Time:	night
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk III
Owner/operator:	100 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PB117
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Zeitz Oil Refinery, near Leipzig -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Avro Lancaster B.Mk.III PB117/HW-D of 100 Squadron RAF: To 32 MU RAF St. Athan (delivered 5-6-1944), to 460 Sqn, RAAF (delivered 8-7-1944) as AR-T. Completed 28 missions. To 100 Sqn RAF (delivered 3-12-1944) as HW-D. Missing on mission to Zeitz Oil Refinery near Leipzig on night of 16/17-3-1945. Took off on mission 17:23 on 16-3-1945. Aircraft failed to return. Believed shot down by flak/AAA over (or close to) the target zone. Six of the seven crew were killed, one captured and taken as PoW. Formally Struck Off Charge 23-3-1945

According to the following excerpt from the 100 Squadron ORB (Operational Record Book):

"The raid on Meresburg was followed on 16th [March] with a raid against the oil refineries at Zeitz where the attack was pressed home despite heavy flak over the target"

Crew of Lancaster PB117
Flight Sgt Richard Joesph O'Reilly, RCAF (Service Number: R/267626, aged 18) - killed in serivce 16-3-45
Flight Sgt Carl Heinrich Weicker, RCAF (Service Number: R/183956, aged 21) - killed in service 16-3-45
Flying Officer Charles John Cooper, RAF (Service Number: 187004, aged 22) - killed in service 16-3-45
Flight Sgt Douglas Campbell Stevens, RAF (Service Number: 1522881, aged 21) - killed in service 16-3-45
Flight Sgt Joseph Philp Edmondson, RAF (Service Number: 1673394, aged 22) - killed in service 16-3-45
Sgt Jack Mitchell, RAF VR (Service Number: 1822506) - killed in service 16-3-45
Flight Sgt G F Hersey, RAF - survived taken PoW

All six crew fatalities were buried at Durnbach War Cemetery, Bayern, Munich, Germany [Joint grave 2. E. 27-28]. The fact that the date of the crew's death is given as 16th March indicates that the aircraft was lost between 17:23 and 23:59 on that day (that is, before midnight on the night of 16/17th March 1945)

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. 100 Squadron ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM.F/540) for 1st to 31st March 1945: National Archives (PRO Kew) file AIR 27/798/5 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8385100
3. https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/canadaairwar/canadaairwar1945.pdf
4. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/lancaster.htm
5. https://www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_unknowncrashsites.pdf
6. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/lancaster/23482-PB117%201945-03-17.html
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2102722/RICHARD%20JOSEPH%20O'REILLY/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2103464/CARL%20HEINRICH%20WEICKER/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2080099/CHARLES%20JOHN%20COOPER/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2103217/DOUGLAS%20CAMPBELL%20STEVENS/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2080328/JOSEPH%20PHILIP%20EDMONDSON/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2102502/JACK%20MITCHELL/
13. http://www.100squadronassociation.org.uk/ww2-bomber-command-1945/
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_campaign_chronology_of_World_War_II

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Aug-2013 10:55	JINX	Added
03-Jun-2015 07:47	AlLah	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
14-Jun-2021 22:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
14-Jun-2021 22:55	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]