Date: 31/01st August 1942
Unit: No. 25 O.T.U.
Type: Wellington IC
Serial: DV439
Coded: PP-D
Location: Wemeldinge, Zeeland, Holland
Pilot: Fl/Lt. P.P.L.E. Welch R.A.F. P.O.W. Camp; 04C (Oflag Saalhaus-Colditz) P.O.W. No:610
Fl/Eng: Fl/Lt. J. Hamilton R.A.F. P.O.W. Camp; L3 (Stalag Luft Sagan and Beleria) P.O.W. No:597 (1)
Air/Bmr: Sgt. S. Valensky R.C.A.F. P.O.W. Camp; 344 (Stalag Lamsdorf) P.O.W. No:25682
Air/Gnr: Sgt. D.J. Veasey R.C.A.F. P.O.W. Camp; 344 (Stalag Lamsdorf) P.O.W. No:25142
Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Francis Penney R/107561 R.C.A.F. Age: 19. Killed (2)
(2) Penney Lake in Saskatchewan is named after Sgt. Penney
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off from Finningley, Yorkshire at 23.41hrs to bomb the German city of Düsseldorf. 630 aircraft took part in the operation, a total of 900 tons of explosives were dropped. 15,000 buildings were damaged, a further 453 were destroyed. Very heavy losses by the attacking force with 29 aircraft lost.
Wellington DV439 was attacked by German night fighters and crash landed. The claim for this loss was made by a Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer who by the end of the war had a score of 121 kills. He shot the Wellington down 1 km South West of Loon Op Zand at a height of 3,000m at 02.47hrs.
German troops inspecting Wellington DV439 (Courtesy Peter Snord)
His crew take up the combat report:
"Our fighter controller transmitted a number of changes of heading and once again I managed to spot the Tommy as he loomed up off to the right ahead of us. We dove down and underneath him so that he stood out against the sky. Pulling up the nose slightly we thought we recognised a twin-engine Hampden, noted for its so called swallow nests - its feared gun turrets and their powerful defences. Having manoeuvred into an excellent firing position, Schnaufer had quickly revised his original intention to attack from directly astern foregoing the usual tactic. Raising the nose he let the enemy machine have it from all barrels. Fire took hold so quickly that the bomber crew barely had time to think about defending themselves. Unfortunately our long burst of fire and the resulting dazzling tracer trails were enough for us to briefly lose our night vision and the bomber disappeared from view. We searched in vain for it again. Perhaps he had already gone down? He had certainly been hit with a decent enough salvo. We headed back in a sombre mood. We had no time to be annoyed as the ground station had soon vectored us onto another contact.
It was a few days later that we were informed that we would be credited for this aircraft as we had misidentified it, eye witness statements confirm the kills as did the crew themselves."
Left to right: Lt. Rumpelhardt, Hptm. Schnaufer and Ofw. Gänzier (A.R.S. archives)
(1) Fl/Lt. Hamilton was seriously injured during the attack but survived. Fl/Lt Welch made a valiant attempt to escape from captivity along with another office, Fl/Lt. McD Morrison of 103 Squadron and both were then sent to Colditz. There the two of them became involved with the design and building of the famous Colditz glider.
Bergen-Op-Zoom Cemetery (A.R.S. archives)
Burial Details:
Sgt. William Francis Penney. Bergen-Op-Zoom Cemetery. Grave. 5.H.9
Son of Mr. & Mrs. William Penney of Inchkeith, Saskatchewan
Further information supplied by Colin Bamford A.R.S. volunteer
With thanks to Theo Bolton for Luftwaffe reports, Bob Chorley O.T.U. losses, David Chamberlain - Colditz information and C.W.G.C.
