RAF 21 Park Bench | Parkbank
Volume 2 2022
Where the cockpit came to rest,
now rests a seat.
Where once stalked death,
now rests life.
Where once did dread and fear lurk,
now sits freedom.
Where once was Angst,
now rests tranquillity and peace.
Ja! Mitgefühl, Barmherzigkeit
und Versöhnung.
Mercy, Compassion, Reconciliation.
Wo das Cockpit zur Ruhe kam,
Jetzt ruht ein Sitz.
Wo einst der Tod stand,
Jetzt ruht das Leben.
Wo einst Angst und Furcht lauerten,
Jetzt Freiheit sitz.
Wo einst Angst war,
Jetzt Ruhe und Frieden ruht.
Yes! Mercy, Compassion, Reconciliation.
The Banner Image by kind permission of the Imperial War Museum Collection under reference ROYAL AIR FORCE 1939-1945: BOMBER COMMAND© IWM (CH 9138) Original photo link here - www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205218743 - shows Handley-Page Halifax Mk II, W7805 MP-M of No 76 Squadron RAF Linton-on-Ouse being bombed-up at Linton on April 3, 1943.
Whilst this RAF Paper relates to Halifax Mk V DK165 MP-E also of 76 Squadron, it enables me to grasp a practical image of how DK 165 would be being ‘bombed up’ 13 days later on April 16.
I am also most grateful to Martin via Pinterest for adding the additonal note to the IWM Image, which reads Records show this aircraft Halifax II W7805 took off 19:26 [hours] and was lost on the day of this photograph FTR Germany with 4 crew dead and 3 pow.
My own Chorley Bomber Command Losses Register for 1943 officially records that W7805 MP-M was on an operation to Essen, taking off at 1926 Linton-on-Ouse, and crashing at Hervest, 4 km E-N-E of Dorsten, Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine, Westphalia, Germany).
The Howarth Crew are:
Sgt-Pilot J K Howarth +
Sgt W C Pitt +
Sgt G A Egan pow
Sgt J W S Blakey pow
Plt Off P W Digby MiD +
Sgt F G Williams +
Sgt H N Richards RCAF pow
The Register confirms that the four air crew who died rest in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
The Chorley Bomber Command Losses Register for 1943 confirms that DK165 MP-E was on an operation to , Plzen, Czechoslovakia, taking off at 2041 Linton-on-Ouse, and crashed between Lachen und Speyerdorf, 5 km SE of Neustadt an der Weinstraße (literally ‘the new town on the wine route’) Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland, Palatinate).
The Webb Crew are:
Sgt-Pilot K E Webb +
Sgt S Braybrook +
Sgt K R G Williams +
Sgt J Kay +
Sgt A R Ross RCAF +
Sgt L B Mitchell pow
Flt Sgt G Brown +
The Register confirms that the six air crew who died rest in Rheinberg War Cemetery.
Both Halifaxes came down on their return flights.
Other, more detailed, RAF Papers relating to DK165 MP-E can be found within the Royal Air Force tab on this website.
Our Ground Crews
Finally, as many will know, I am always firm in reminding us all of the crucial role of Groundcrew in every command. Every groundcrew knew joy and relief when they saw “their” aircraft being safely returned, and sadness and grief when there was no return, and shock when joy turned to horror when their aircraft crashed and blew up before their very eyes. All too often this happened, whether from battle operations or on training flights on the OCUs and HCUs.
Without our groundcrews, there would be no flying. Period.
If I detach myself just for a moment from thinking about aircrew and aircrew losses, this image enables me to concentrate on our groundcrews … both on April 3 and April 16.
Key
FTR : failed to return
+ : killed in action
pow : Prisoner of War
RCAF : Royal Canadian Air Force
MiD/MID : Mentioned in Dispatches.
OCU : Operational Conversion Units
HCU : Heavy Conversion Units
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, describing their gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy. The Oak Leaf sewn onto the Medal Ribbon denotes MiD, and the Armed Forces member also receives a framed Citation and which is ‘gazetted’, i.e. formally announced in the London Gazette.
21 February 2022
All Rights Reserved
LIVERPOOL
© 2022 Kenneth Thomas Webb
© IG Heimat Forschung
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
