Date: 25/26th June 1942
Unit: No. 15 O.T.U.
Type: Wellington IC
Serial: DV935
Code: -
Base: Harwell, Berkshire. (Now Oxfordshire)
Location: Ijsselmeer, Holland
Pilot : Sgt. James Stewart Leather 655486 R.A.F. Age 22. Killed
Pilot 2: Sgt. Harry Bloor 1381609 R.A.F.V.R. Age 30. Killed
Obs: Sgt. John McKelvie Dunn Oliver R.A.F.V.R. Age 21. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Ronald Thomas Fage 1286358 R.A.F.V.R. Age 20. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. David Thompson Stanners 1065713 R.A.F.V.R. Age 21. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Gordon Lake 518299 R.A.F. Age 37. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off at 22.44 hrs from Harwell. Using every available aircraft in RAF Bomber Command and some of other commands, a thousand bomber raid was mounted against Bremen. 1,067 aircraft (472 Wellingtons, 124 Halifaxes, 96 Lancasters, 69 Stirlings, 51 Blenheims, 50 Hampdens, 50 Whitleys, 24 Bostons, 20 Manchesters and 4 Mosquitos), 102 Hudsons and Wellingtons of RAF Coastal Command, and 5 RAF Army Cooperation Command. Those of No. 5 Group RAF - 142 aircraft – bombed the Focke-Wulf factory; 20 Blenheims were allocated to the AG Weser shipyard; the RAF Coastal Command aircraft were to bomb the DeSchiMAG shipyard; all other aircraft were to carry out an area attack on the "town and docks". The limited success was entirely due to the use of GEE, which enabled the leading crews to start marker fires through the cloud cover. 696 Bomber Command aircraft were able to claim attacks on Bremen.
Ron's drawing of his "Wimpy" - sent to Doreen just weeks before he was lost!
572 houses were completely destroyed and 6,108 damaged. 85 people were killed, 497 injured and 2,378 bombed out. At the Focke-Wulf factory, an assembly shop was completely flattened, 6 buildings were seriously damaged and 11 buildings lightly so. The Atlas Werke, the Bremer Vulkan shipyard, the Norddeutsche Hütte, the Korff refinery, and two large dockside warehouses were also damaged. 48 Bomber Command aircraft were lost - 5% of those dispatched, including 4 which came down in the sea near England from which all but 2 crew members were rescued. This time, the heaviest casualties were suffered by the OTUs of No. 91 Group RAF, which lost 23 of the 198 Whitleys and Wellingtons provided by that group, a loss of 11.6 per cent. 5 of the 102 Coastal Command aircraft were also lost.
Wellington IC DV935 was one of many shot down on the raid.
Sgt. Ronald Thomas Fage
This is Sgt. Fage's final letter to his girlfriend:
"My own darling Doreen,
I must write quickly - I‘m on a show and I can‘t go without at least knowing you will receive a note from me should anything happen.
I`ve had absolutely no time to write before , it‘s been preparation ever since I got up this morning-and I‘m due up in a very short while.
We‘ve just had a test trip and I‘m writing this underneath „The Wimpy“ we‘re flying tonight-we‘re waiting for the bus which will take us for a meal-then final information –then „it“
I‘ve asked one of the fellows to drop you a note should we be unlucky-though you know „my own dearest“ if there‘s the remotest chance of me baling out and getting clear,we‘ll manage it,and I can‘t think that fate could be so cruel as to take me from you.
Should I be reported missing-hope and pray my darling-remember-I‘ll get through no matter what.
I love you so much-and the days we spent together have been the happiest of my life.
I‘m proud and happy that I am yours and you‘re mine.
So long Bright eyes
Angel
Yours for ever
Ron"
Oblt. Hermann Greiner II./NJG2 (A.R. Society Archives)
Oblt. Hermann Greiner II./NJG2 intercepted and shot down this 15 O.T.U Welllington at 06.00 hrs and the aircraft crashed in 5 metres of water on the Ijsselmeer, Holland. 5 bodies were washed ashore and taken for burial at local Dutch cemeteries but Sgt. Lake is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
This was Oblt. Hermann Greiner's first kill of WW2, he survived the war after a total of 47 night victories and a further 4 daylight kills.
Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery (Courtesy C.W.G.C)
Harlingen General Cemetery (Courtesy C.W.G.C)
Burial details:
Sgt. James Stewart Leather. Harlingen General Cemetery Plot E. Row 1. Grave 6
Son of James and Florence Ann Leather, of Liverpool.
Sgt. Harry Bloor. Harlingen General Cemetery Plot E. Row 3. Grave 4
Son of Thomas and Mary Ann Bloor, of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.
Sgt. John McKelvie Dunn Oliver. Harlingen General Cemetery Plot E. Row 2. Grave 1
Son of James Walker Oliver and Hannah Oliver, of Duns, Berwickshire.
Sgt. Ronald Thomas Fage. Bergen-Op-Zoom War Cemetery 32. B.5.
Son of James William and Lilian Mary Fage, of Luton, Bedfordshire.
Sgt. David Thompson Stanners. Ferwerderadeel (Hallum) Protestant Churchyard Row 32. Plot 1B
Son of John and Annie Stanners, of Galashiels, Selkirkshire.
Sgt. Gordon Lake. Runnymede War Memorial. Panel 87
Son of Bertie and Florence Sylvia Lake, of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
For Tim Broome and his mother.
