ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 159358
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| Date: | Tuesday 6 March 1945 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 460 Sqn RAAF |
| Registration: | PB557 |
| MSN: | AR-A2 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Pfieffe, 5km ESE of Spangenberg, Schwalm-Eder-Kreis -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire (EGXB) |
| Chemnitz |
Lancaster PB557 "AR-R" of 460 Sqn RAAF was lost on 6 March 1945 as part of the raid on a oil refinery at Chemnitz, Saxony. Took off from RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire at 16:29. Aircraft was "hit by flak and crashed at Pfieffe, 5 km ESE of Spangenberg".
No3 MREU Report of 9 November 1946 states crash location as "2 miles NW of Pfieffe"; acting on information from the inhabitants of Melsungen and Spagenberg the RAF Intelligence Team went to Pfieffe and interviewed the Burgermeister - "clearly remembered the only crash in his district - wreckage removed to airfield A.O.13 at Eswege". He described the wreckage as "a four engined Lancaster [that] circled the hills with one or more engines afire and crashed on the night of 5/6 March 1945.
Crew:-
Pilot : Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes DFC RAAF Aus/405792 [Killed]
2nd Pilot : Flight Sergeant Trevor Turner Clarke RAAF Aus/430159 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant John Young RAFVR 1790121 [Killed]
Navigator : Flying Officer Donald George Hudspeth RAAF Aus/408440 [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Flight Sergeant Ralph Eugene Hayward RAFVR 1671853 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Flying Officer Ivan Sydney Baudinette RAAF Aus/409653 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Flight Lieutenant Thomas Ernest Victor Morgan DFM RAAF Aus/412815 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Warrant Officer Elwyn Oswald Thomas Mayne RAAF Aus/412167 [Killed]
Squadron Leader John Cecil Holmes was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross, on 1 March 1946. The citation reads, 'As a pilot Squadron Leader HOLMES has completed numerous operations against the enemy in the course of which he has invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty'. Holmes was involved in many of the huge night bombing raids on industrial and civilian targets in Germany, including Dresden and Chemnitz. On 5-6 March 1945 twenty one Lancasters from 460 Squadron were involved in a 1,100 bomber raid on the Chemnitz Armaments Works, which proved to be Holmes' last. Flying Lancaster PB557 Holmes and his crew died when their damaged aircraft was hit be flak and made a forced landing near the village of Prieffe and its bomb load exploded. Their resting place was marked by the Germans with a large wooden cross bearing the words 'Here lie eight English flyers killed in a crash on 5 March 1945"
Sources:
1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. http://www.raafdb.com/view_aircraft.asp?id=1078
3. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/10609.php
4. https://www.awm.gov.au//collection/REL%2F14938.001/
5. http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=1067
6. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Aug-2013 01:00 | JINX | Added |
| 29-Dec-2014 02:05 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Jun-2015 07:58 | INV | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator] |
| 29-May-2016 16:31 | Red Dragon | Updated [Cn, Destination airport] |
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