8^th July 1944

 

Boeing B-17G #43-37747

 

 452^nd Bomb Group

729^th Bomb Squadron

8^th Air Force

 

 Boubiers (Oise)

 

The long-awaited Landings of the American and Anglo-Canadian troops took place a month ago in Normandy where the battle was still raging. The city of Caen, located within 20 km of the beaches was still occupied by the enemy. However, in our region, after four years of Occupation, hope for a future Liberation emerged.

Meanwhile, the Allied strategic air offensive continued and intensified every day and every night in the skies of France and Western Europe.

On this 8^th July 1944, the primary target defined of the 8^th American Bomber Command was the destruction of marshalling yards in Rouen. The Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" of the 452^nd Bomb Group, based in Deopham Green, Norfolk, were assigned, among others, to the raid.

Among the crews was the one of the B-17 # 43-37747 :

1st Lt. Everett G. HANSON Jr	Pilot	20	KIA	East Blackstone, Massachusetts
2nd Lt. James H. HEINZEN	Co-pilot	26	KIA	Wayzata, Minnesota
2nd Lt. Leonard S. MARCUS	Navigator	26	KIA	Worcester, Massachusetts
1st Lt. Donald J. LYMA	Bombardier	19	KIA	Sacramento, California
T/Sgt. George I. GRISSOM	Top turret gunner	20	KIA	Hammond, Indiana
T/Sgt. Chester L. POOL	Radio-operator	20	KIA	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
S/Sgt. Lloyd P. POHRTE	Ball turret gunner	19	KIA	Berwyn, Illinois
S/Sgt. Russell D. JONES	Right waist gunner	21	KIA	Baltimore, Maryland
S/Sgt. Arthur SCHULZE	Left waist gunner	25	POW	Chicago, Illinois
S/Sgt. Van J. McMANUS	Tail gunner	19	KIA	York, South Carolina

 

     

       1^st Lt. Everett G. HANSON Jr           2^nd Lt. James H. HEINZEN             2^nd Lt. Leonard S. MARCUS                     1^st Lt. Donald J. LYMA

The bodies of the nine airmen were removed from the wreckage. Some of them were identified by their dogtags. S/Sgt. Jones was identified by a chain on his left arm with the inscription "Hands off, this guy is mine - Sara" followed by his name and his Service Number.

Two days later, on 10^th July, the population attended with a deep sense of respect the burial of the nine airmen in the cemetery of the village. They rested there until the end of the war.

The church and the location where the nine airmen were buried until the end of the war.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the parents and the wives of the airmen were still unaware of the tragedy but the worrying and anxiety grew as the days passed. They received no news.

At the end of July, each family received the dreaded telegram sent by the Air Command. It told them that their son or husband was missing in action since 8^th July without more information. A small hope remained nonetheless. All families clung to the idea that they may have been rescued by the population and they were on their way to escaping ...

This hope was totally wiped out several months later. It was during the month of April 1945 that a new telegram notified them officially the death in action of the nine airmen.

The tragic telegram announcing to his parents that 1^st Lt. Donald J. Lyma had been killed in action.

 

   

By the Red Cross, the Schulze family learned that their son was now a prisoner of war.

The US Army liberated the area on 30^th August.

The bodies of the nine airmen were exhumed and formally identified in the following months by the American Graves Commission. They were then transferred into temporary military cemeteries, including Solers, in Seine-et-Marne, for 1^st Lt. Lyma and S/Sgt. McManus.

At the request of their families, the bodies of Lts. Hanson and Heinzen and T/Sgts. Grissom and Pool were repatriated to the United States.

 

   

                                                 

 S/Sgt. McManus rests in the Epinal American Cemetery, France, and S/Sgt. Jones in the Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium.

 

 

 

During his captivity, Arthur Schulze suffered greatly, like many others, of deprivation but also of the terrible cold of the winter of 1944-1945. After several attempts, he managed to escape in the spring of 1945 and joined the British troops who were advancing. He remained all his life marked by the terrible tragedy of 8^th July 1944.

He died on 20^th January 2009, at the age of 89.

 

 

                                                                                                                                          Arthur Schulze after WWII

 

 

 

On 8^th May 2015, a ceremony was held at Boubiers (Oise) in memory of the crew.

 

Source : US Archives, families of the crew members and municipality of Boubiers.

With special thanks to Mrs Janice Kidwell

 

4^th August 1944

 

Victoria Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross

 

Lancaster Mk III ND811

635 Squadron - Royal Air Force

 

 

Senantes (Oise)

 

 

Ian Willoughby Bazalgette was born on 19^th October 1918 in Calgary, Canada, from Anglo-Irish parents, third child of a family running a farm.

His father, who had been wounded and gassed in the First World War, still suffered the after-effects. Having difficulty in administering his farm, he finally gave up his job.

During his youth, he developed a passion for writing music, reading and photography. 

In July 1939, a few months before the outbreak of the Second World War, Ian W. Bazalgette enlisted in the Royal Artillery and found himself assigned in Scotland, to the 51^st Highland Searchlight Regiment which was equipped with radar controlled searchlights.

From 1940, the Battle of Britain began. The Luftwaffe of Marshal Goering first attempted to destroy the British convoys in the English Channel and then took on in vain the Royal Air Force before starting the “Blitz”, the bombing of London and other large British cities.

In 1941, wanting to become more involved in the war, Ian W. Bazalgette got his transfer to the Royal Air Force which was in need of pilots. In June, he went back to England, to the n° 22 Elementary Flying Training School in Cambridge. After ten hours of dual instruction, he took  his first solo flight in a Tiger Moth on 3^rd August 1940.

 

On 30^th September 1942, piloting a twin-engined Vickers Wellington with crew, Pilot Officer Bazalgette flew his first mission over Holland.

From that time until the end of 1942, night missions over enemy territory became almost routine for P/O Bazalgette and the crews of 115 Squadron. Meanwhile, in November, he was promoted to Flying Officer.

In February 1943 a new aircraft, the four-engined Lancaster, began to replace the Wellingtons of 115 Squadron, requiring pilots and crews to be converted.

 

His first mission aboard this new aircraft comprising a crew of seven men was on the night of 22^nd to 23^rd March 1943. It was the bombing of Saint Nazaire harbour but the aircraft were recalled beafore reaching the target.

 

Throughout 1943, raids in which F/O Bazalgette took part, intensified over the Ruhr and German cities such as Berlin, Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund ... heavily defended cities, always entailing a high rate of losses among the Allied aircraft.

 

Promoted to Squadron-Leader and having completed his first tour of operation, Ian W. Bazalgette was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 1^st July 1943.

 

At the end of 1943, now an experienced pilot, he was sent as an instructor to Scotland before, after a few weeks of training, getting his transfer to the Pathfinder Force.

 

The missions started again, still extremely dangerous, over cities and strategic enemy sites, until the fateful day of 4^th August 1944.

That day, in the morning, S/L Bazalgette and his crew took off from the Downham Market airbase at about 11:15 am aboard the Lancaster ND811 "F2-T." This was his 58^th operational mission, being close to completing his second tour of operations.

 

 

The crew :

S/L Ian W. BAZALGETTE	RAF	Pilot	KIA
Sgt George R. TURNER	RAF	Flight engineer	Evaded
F/L Geoffrey R. GODDARD	RAF	Navigator	Evaded
F/L Ivan A. HIBBERT	RAF	Bomb aimer	KIA
F/O Charles R. GODFREY	RAF	Wireless operator	Evaded
F/S Vernon V. R. LEEDER*	RAAF	Mid upper gunner	KIA
F/O Douglas CAMERON	RAF	Rear gunner	Evaded

 

*F/S Vernon Leeder, of the Royal Australian Air Force, was not part of the usual crew of S/L Bazalgette. He replaced F/S Hurnhall on that day.

 

Ten Lancasters of 635 Squadron of the Pathfinder Force were assigned to "mark" the target for the main force of 61 other Lancasters of the Royal Air Force. The target : the bombing of the V-1 rockets storage sites in Trossy - St Maximin (Oise).

Since mid-June, these flying bombs hit the agglomeration of London and England. It was therefore extremely important for Bomber Command to annihilate this site permanently. Shelled heavily during night raids since July and heavily protected by antiaircraft defences and the German night fighters, the Royal Air Force had already lost a number of bombers.

This new mission was thus considered to be high-risk and most dangerous for the crews.

Approaching the target, while the formations flew straight, Flak was unleashed. Two aircraft preceding the Lancaster of S/L Bazalgette were hit by gunfire from the ground. One, piloted by F/L Robert W. Beveridge, dived in flames and crashed near the village of St Maximin. All the crew perished.

It was S/L Ian W. Bazalgette that now took responsibility for marking the target, but in turn, his aircraft was hit by flak. Both engines and fuel tanks of the starboard wing caught fire. Flames licked the fuselage. Managing to keep the aircraft in the line of flight, Squadron Leader Bazalgette accurately dropped markers and bombs on the target, allowing the other Lancasters to bomb the site with precision.

Lightened of its load but destabilized, the four-engined aircraft went into a spin, rapidly losing altitude, rekindling the fire that devoured the starboard wing. The cool head and control of S/L Bazalgette allowed him to regain control of the aircraft.

Bursts of flak hit the front part of the Lancaster, badly injuring F/L Hibbert. His right arm half torn off, he was relieved of his position in a critical condition by Turner and Godfrey who took him towards the rear of the aircraft. Lying on a stretcher, he was injected with morphine.

On board, the crew fought the flames. Smoke and gas spread inside the aircraft, causing the asphyxia of F/S Leeder.

Flying to North-West, it was clear that the Lancaster could not make it back to England.

Having lost altitude, it was the turn of one of the engines on the port wing to stop.

In agreement with Flight Engineer Turner, S/L Bazalgette ordered the crew to evacuate. It was early afternoon. In the vicinity of the village of Senantes, in Oise, Cameron, Turner, Goddard and Godfrey abandoned the aircraft in turn from an altitude of 300 ft.

Aware that F/L Hibbert and F/S Leeder were unable to parachute, S/L Bazalgette refused to abandon them.

After avoiding the village of Senantes by making a wide turn, he decided to try landing the stricken Lancaster in a field. At about one kilometer from the village, the aircraft landed perfectly .... but exploded a few seconds later. The three airmen were killed.

Mr Simeon Desloges, a young child in 1944, remembers watching the burning aircraft avoid the village at low level. Then a large explosion was heard followed by a large cloud of smoke rising into the sky.

In the afternoon, the bodies of Flight Lieutenant Hibbert and Flight Sergeant Leeder were extracted from the wreckage of the aircraft. Taken to the church of Senantes, it was decided that they would be buried with dignity in the village cemetery on the following Sunday.
But in the morning of this Sunday 6^th August, while the population was preparing to pay tribute to the two airmen, the Germans took their bodies and buried them in the Beauvais-Marissel military cemetery.

The funeral having therefore not taken place, everyone went to the crash site, despite the fear of the arrival of the arrival of the Germans, and laid countless flowers as a sign of gratitude among the debris of the Lancaster.

The four surviving airmen, gathered around, soon reported to their rescuers, despite the language barrier, that they were seven on board the aircraft and the pilot's body was definitely still in the wreckage. Discreetly, searching started again. The remains of S/L Bazalgette were found in the debris.

The pilot's body was kept until the burial ceremony. It took place in Senantes on Sunday 8^th October 1944 in the presence of his sister Ethel, British and French military authorities and a large crowd who came to pay tribute to the airman.

In 1945, S/L Ian W. Bazalgette was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military award, for his heroic sacrifice in not wanting to abandon his two wounded comrades who had remained on board.

The four survivors escaped German searching and arrest.

Charles Godfrey and Geoffrey Goddard landed close to each other near the village of Senantes. In the evening, they were hidden at the house of the schoolteacher of the village, Mr. Laluet, where they were provided with civilian clothes. Notified Henri Maigret came to interrogate them and took pictures which could be used for their false identity papers.

The next day, now taken in charge by the "Alsace" escape network, Henri Maigret took them in a cart to the Desserre family, managers of the farm of La Boissiere in Blacourt, where they stayed until 20^th August, namely for a period of twelve days.

For safety reasons, it was decided to move the two airmen. In a cart, Henri Maigret took over their transfer, in the middle of retreating German troops, to La Neuville-sur-Auneuil in Pierre Muller‘s farm.

The arrival of Allied troops was imminent, the Liberation approaching. Farms in the region were full of airmen. Many of them were hidden in the vicinity and lodging opportunities were becoming few and far between.

It was therefore decided to create a temporary camp and to gather together the airmen in a thick wood in Le Saussay, located near the village of Porcheux.

Pierre Muller took Charles Godfrey and Geoffrey Goddard to this camp on the evening of their arrival.

A British armoured column freed them on 30^th August.

 

George Turner landed near the hamlet of Bois-Aubert, a few hundred metres from Senantes. Injured in his back, he was collected and lodged by René Cocu, a farmer in the hamlet of Groscourt, where he was to await the Liberation.

After landing near Glatigny and having narrowly escaped the Germans, Douglas Cameron was hosted by the Anse family in Glatigny and the Roisse family in Hanvoile. He chose to participate with the local Resistance in different acts of sabotage against the enemy until the Liberation.

Charles Godfrey and George Turner came back several times after the war to thank their rescuers. They were also present on 4^th August 1994, accompanied by the daughter of Douglas Cameron, for the dedication ceremony of the memorial erected on the crash site in memory of their comrades who were killed fifty years earlier.

On 27^th July 1990, in the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, South of Calgary, Alberta, a ceremony took place in memory of Squadron Leader Ian Willoughby Bazalgette. On this occasion, his sister Ethel, George Turner and Charles Godfrey unveiled a plaque in honour of the pilot and a Lancaster, with the same markings that he was flying during the tragic mission of 4^th August 1944, became the Ian Bazalgette Memorial Lancaster.

On 15^th August 2009, at the Museum of Nanton, was signed by their respective mayors, the act of twinning the village of Senantes and the Canadian city in memory of the courage and sacrifice of S/L Bazalgette.

On 27^th June 2014, a ceremony was held at Senantes.

"Baz", the biography of Ian W. Bazalgette VC, written by Dave Birrell.

 

4^th/5^th July 1944

 

Lancaster Mk III JB486

 

RAF 57 Squadron

 

Cormeilles (Oise)

 

 

                                                                                                                                   Copyright © 2018 - Association des Sauveteurs d'Aviateurs Alliés- All rights reserved -
                                                                                                             En français

 

 

One week after the Normandy Landings, England and especially London faced a new threat, flying bombs V1, a response of the enemy to the devastating air raids carried out by the Allies over Germany.

From this period, everything was implemented by the Allies to destroy the multitude of launch sites hidden and scattered along the French coast of the Channel. Their attention was also turned towards one of the storage centres of this new weapon of reprisal that located under the thick vaults of the underground quarries of Saint-Leu d'Esserent, in the Oise.

On the evening of 4^th July, 17 Lancasters of RAF 617 Squadron raided and dropped their huge "Tallboy" bombs on the site of Saint-Leu d'Esserent, suffering no casualties.

During the night of 4^th to 5^th July, a much larger air force was engaged on the same target. 231 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitoes of the 5^th Group of the Royal Air Force dumped 1,157 tons of explosive bombs and 5 tons of incendiary bombs in three successive waves, between 1:31 and 1:45 am (English time). The municipality of Saint-Maximin, although not targeted, was hard hit during this terrifying bombing. 13 Lancasters did not return to their English bases, mainly victims of the dreaded German night fighters. Seven four-engined aircraft crashed into flames in the department of Oise. During this night mission, the Royal Air Force deplored the loss of 77 airmen killed.

The Lancasters of 57 Squadron took off from their base in East Kirby, Lincolnshire, around 11:20 pm. After gathering in the darkness of the English skies with other Squadrons, the huge armada set course for France and to the town of Saint-Leu d'Esserent. Among these aircraft, the Lancaster Mk III JB486 with the very experienced Flight Lieutenant Anthony E. Grubb in command who was performing his 27^th operational mission that night.

The crew of Lancaster JB486 :

F/L Anthony E. GRUBB	RAF	Pilot	21	New Malden, Surrey
Sgt. Harry LEES	RAF	Flight Engineer	32	Oldham, Lancashire
WO² James W. WEYERS	RCAF	Navigator	32	Strathmore, Alberta
F/O Jack P. HODGES	RAAF	Air Bomber	22	Grafton, New South Wales
Sgt. George T. OSBORNE	RAF	Wireless operator	23	Calf Heath, Staffordshire
Sgt. Clifford N. STALKER	RAF	Mid upper gunner	31	Warehorne, Kent
Sgt. Joseph T. NIXON	RAF	Rear Gunner		Manchester

 

F/L Anthony Edward GRUBB

After dropping bombs onto the target, the aircraft was attacked by a German night fighter, probably that of Feldwebel Martin Schulze of JG301, who recorded that night his first victory aboard his Messerschmitt-109.

Distraught and utterly lost, the Lancaster JB486 came down at 2:00 am on the edge of the Gantel wood, north of the village of Cormeilles (Oise), leaving no chance for the seven members of the crew to evacuate their aircraft.

On the morning of 5^th July, many villagers came to the scene of the dreadful tragedy. Among the dislocated debris of the aircraft, any hope of finding survivors was quickly crushed. The lifeless bodies of the seven young airmen were transported to the interior of the little chapel of the cemetery, in a cart owned by Mr. René Tallon. Despite the omnipresence of the enemy, the village population watched with great respect these liberators who had fallen from the sky before they were finally taken away by the Germans.

 

The memories of this terrible event are still very much alive in the memory of the inhabitants of the village.

Today, the seven airmen rest in the Commonwealth military cemetery in Poix-de-Picardie (Somme).

Remains of the quarry storage center of Saint-Leu d'Esserent nowadays

Six new large-scale missions and a total of about 9,000 tons of bombs will be needed by Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force to disrupt and permanently block the quarries of Saint-Leu d'Esserent. 264 airmen of the Royal Air Force made the ultimate sacrifice during this period from 4^th July to 5^th August 1944. Inevitably, these massive aerial bombing provoked numerous destruction in the town and its surroundings. More than fifty civilians lost their lives.

 

On 8^th July 2018, in Cormeilles (Oise), a ceremony paid homage to the seven members of the Lancaster JB486.