Date: 15th November 1944
Unit: No. 115 Squadron ("Despite the Elements")
Type: Lancaster I
Serial: HK595
Code: KO-A
Base: Witchford, Cambridgeshire.
Location: Leverkusen, Germany
Pilot: Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilfred Castle 122360 R.A.F.V.R. Age 30. Killed
Pilot 2: F/O. Peter Derek Mullett 153056 R.A.F.V.R. Age 21. Killed
Fl/ Eng: Sgt. Graham Mortimer Sampson 1608556 R.A.F.V.R. Age 21. Killed
Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Bernard Collinson 1549496 R.A.F.V.R. Age ? Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Arthur Horace Gribble 1397763 R.A.F.V.R. Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O. Felix Milton Burrows 427230 R.A.A.F. Age 20. Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O. Robert John O'Sullivan 415910 R.A.A.F. Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: P/O. Gordon Forbes Dawson J/89896 R.C.A.F. Age 22. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Ronald Stuart Stickland 430523 R.A.A.F. Age 19. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off at 12.40 hrs from Witchford near Ely in Cambridgeshire to attack Dortmund. 177 Lancaster's took part in this G-H attack (1) on the oil plant in Dortmund which had been classed as very accurate even though the raid took place with thick cloud.
This Lancaster HK595 collided with another Lancaster NN706 in a mid air collision also from the same squadron. These were the only aircraft to be lost on this raid. The crew of the NN706 Lancaster flown by Fl/Lt. John William Davidson R.C.A.F. were also all lost - details will be added in another section of the website.
Very unusual crew formation on Lancaster HK595 - normally a 7 man crew this Lancaster had a crew of 9 - made up with an extra pilot and an extra air gunner who operated in the mid-under (belly) gunner position.
(1) G-H - A two station radio direction finder system - Instruments in the bomber measured its position from one station and distance from another. It could be used by up to 80 bombers from any one pair of stations. By using more than one pair of stations, multiple targets could be attacked at the same time without the aid of pathfinders and markers. Once a major part of Bomber Command was fitted with the technology, G-H became a most useful blind-bombing device.
Sqn/Ldr. Hugh Wilfred Castle (Courtesy of his son, Geoff Castle)
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery (Courtesy of the C.W.G.C.)
Burial details:
Sq/Ldr. Hugh Wilfred Castle. Runnymede Memorial Panel 200
Son of Henry J. and Alice Elizabeth Castle; husband of Vera F. M. Castle, of Beddington, Surrey. B.Sc
F/O. Peter Derek Mullett. Runnymede Memorial Panel 208
Son of George H. and Effie Mullett; husband of Doreen Mary Mullett, of St. Peter's, Jersey, Channel Islands.
Sgt. Graham Mortimer Sampson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.11.
No further details as yet
Fl/Sgt. Bernard Collinson. Runnymede Memorial Panel 216
No further details as yet
Fl/Sgt. Arthur Horace Gribble. Runnymede Memorial Panel 218
No further details as yet
P/O. Felix Milton Burrows. Runnymede Memorial Panel 258
Son of Frederick William and Mary Maud Burrows, of Mount Lawley, Western Australia
P/O. Robert John O'Sullivan. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.9.
Son of John Robert and Jessie Shilla O'sullivan, of Subiaco, Western Australia.
P/O. Gordon Forbes Dawson. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.10.
Son of Thomas James Dawson and Isobel Caroline Dawson; husband of Gwendoline Doris Dawson, of Cookstown, Ontario, Canada.
Fl/Sgt. Ronald Stuart Stickland. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery 4.B.1.
Son of Alfred Bernard and Ethel Stickland, of East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Researched by: David King and Kelvin T. Youngs (A.R. Society) For Geoff Castle the son Sq/Ldr. Hugh Castle and for all the crew's relatives.
Acknowledgments: With thanks to the following (Purchase them "HERE"): Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses". The Commonwealth Graves Commission.
