Date: 27/28th August 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron
Type: Stirling I
Serial: W7624
Code: LS-E
Base: Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Location: Bentelo (Overijssel), Delden, Holland
Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Hugh Barton-Smith 1312006 R.A.F.V.R. Age 26 Killed
Flight Eng: Sgt. John Victor Robinson 567796 R.A.F. Age 23. Killed (1)
Navigator: Fl/Sgt. Kenneth Wakefield 1165290 R.A.F.V.R. Age 20. Killed
Air/Bmr: Sgt. Leonard Edward Moss 403566 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 28. Killed
W/O: Sgt. Peter Siegfried Sharman 1111468 R.A.F.V.R. Age 20. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Edward Frederick Talbot 1376849 R.A.F.V.R. Age 30. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Glen Allen Smith 403032 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 22. Killed
Reason for loss:
Joining 306 aircraft (Wellington's, Stirling's, Lancaster's, Halifax's and Hampden's) to bomb Kassel.
Very little cloud cover and the Pathfinders illuminated the area well resulting in widespread damage with 144 buildings destroyed and a further 317 seriously damaged. Several military establishments were hit including the Henschel aircraft company. 43 people were killed on the ground and 251 people injured.
30 Aircraft were lost with most being victim to Luftwaffe night fighters. Stirling I W7624 is believed to have been shot down by a night fighter Oblt. Wolfrat Bauer, from 7./NJG1 at 00.08 hrs. (He also was credited to 44 Squadron Lancaster W4124 on this same raid) He was later himself killed on the 4/5th January 1943 in a crash at Duisburg-Hamborn after being hit by flak.
Stirling I
Top row, L - R: Fl/Sgt Barton-Smith, Fl/Sgt. Wakefield, Sgt. Moss, Sgt. Robinson
Bottom row L - R: Sgt. Sharman, Fl/Sgt. Talbot, Fl/Sgt. Smith (Courtesy BBC via the nephew of Fl/Sgt. Barton-Smith)
Crew laid to rest
The crew of Stirling W7624 were apparently shot down near the village of Bentelo in the Netherlands.
The rear gunner, New Zealander Flight Sergeant Glen Allen Smith, 24, was found dying close to the site and was buried nearby. Two other unidentified bodies were found soon afterwards and laid to rest alongside him.
But their comrades remained missing until 2005 when an aircraft was discovered and excavated by the Royal Dutch Airforce. Human remains were also found. The wreckage was identified from serial numbers on the engine and relatives of the dead men were traced.
The human remains found in the recovery have now finally been laid to rest in a single coffin alongside those of Flt Sgt Smith and the two others in the Ambt-Delden cemetery in Delden.
(Courtesy of the nephew of Fl/Sgt Barton-Smith)
Burial Details:
Updated with information as shown above. Although C.W.G.C. have yet to update their records.
Fl/Sgt. Hugh Barton-Smith Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K. Communal grave.
Son of Arthur Edward and Annie Emma Barton-Smith; husband of May Barton Smith, of St. Davids, Pembrokeshire. B.Sc.
Sgt. John Victor Robinson Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K. Communal grave.
(1) Son of Hubert Hedley Robinson, O.B.E., Merchant Navy, Master S.S. Empire Success (London) (Died on active service, 19th February, 1945),
and of C. Helen Robinson, of Wimborne Minster, Dorset; husband of Ethel M. Robinson.
Fl/Sgt. Kenneth Wakefield Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K. Communal grave.
Son of Albert J. and Alice J. Wakefield, of Bedford.
Sgt. Leonard Edward Moss Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K. Communal grave.
Son of William Johnson Moss and Ivy Myrtle Unita Moss, of Marton, Wellington, New Zealand; husband of Jose Hicken Moss.
Sgt. Peter Siegfried Sharman Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K. Communal grave.
Son of George Owen Sharman and Gabriel Sharman, of Buxton, Derbyshire.
Fl/Sgt. Edward Frederick Talbot Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K. Communal grave.
Son of Albert Edward and Lillian Florence Talbot, of Morden, Surrey.
Fl/Sgt. Glen Allen Smith Ambt-Delden General Cemetery, Holland, Plot IB Row:K Grave: 6.
Son of Albert George Smith and of Jeanetta Isobel Ellen Smith (nee Ayton), of Auckland City, New Zealand.
Researched by Peter Lord - (volunteer A.R. Society) for relatives of the crew.
Acknowledgments:
With thanks to the following (Purchase them "HERE"): Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses", Theo Boiten - "German Nightfighter War Diaries", Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt "Bomber Command War Diaries". The superb work of the C.W.G.C.
