Places | |
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Accession Number | P03819.004 |
Collection type | Photograph |
Object type | Black & white - Film copy negative |
Maker |
Unknown |
Place made | United Kingdom: England, Lincolnshire |
Date made | c February 1945 |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
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Group portrait of a Lancaster crew of 150 Squadron RAF in front of their aircraft at RAF Station ...
Group portrait of a Lancaster crew of 150 Squadron RAF in front of their aircraft at RAF Station Hemswell. Identified, left to right: 1814561 Flight Sergeant (Fl Sgt) John Clement Davis RAF (VR), flight engineer; 432681 Flight Sergeant Robert Lockyer Masters RAAF, wireless operator of Tumut NSW; 430174 Flight Sergeant Kevin Anthony Kee RAAF, navigator of West Brunswick, Vic; 423161 Flying Officer (FO) Philip Henry (Phil) Morris RAAF, pilot of Maroubra, NSW; 419835 Flight Sergeant Harvey Bawden RAAF, mid upper gunner; 435186 Flight Sergeant (FSGT) James Noel Griffin RAAF, of South Brisbane, Qld; 433557 Warrant Officer James Henry (Jim) Gillies RAAF, bomb aimer of Eastwood, NSW. While on a raid to bomb the oil refineries of Harpenerweg near Dortmund and Bochum, their aircraft, Lancaster serial number PB853 with the Squadron and aircraft code of IQ-P, was hit by anti-aircraft flak and crashed on 24 March 1945, with Flight Sergeant Griffin's body found in the wreckage. Six crew managed to bail out and land safely, four of whom were murdered by German nationals. Those murdered were FO Morris, FSGTs Kee, Davis and Masters. Indicating some of the diversity in backgrounds of RAAF aircrew during the war, FSGT Kee was of Anglo-Chinese ancestry. A post-war War Crimes Group investigated the crimes committed at Bochum and those guilty of the crimes were either sentenced to death by hanging, or one to twenty years jail, depending on the level of their involvement. FSGT Bawden fractured his femur while getting from his turret to the fuselage, yet managed to leave the aircraft and land, undoubtedly with some discomfort. FSGT Bawden and Gillies ended up at the same camp for interrogation and both were subsequently moved to a Luftwaffe fighter station where Bawden was moved to a hospital. Bawden received poor medical attention as most staff had disappeared as the station was under sustained attack. FSGT Gillies was moved by train and truck through Germany, ending up in Fallingbostel POW camp, leaving FSGT Bawden to be repatriated some weeks later when the US Army arrived, taking him out on his stretcher wired to the bonnet of a jeep.