Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

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Hercules ds690
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Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

Post by Hercules ds690 »

I'm helping research the loss of Lancaster Mk II DS690 on the night of 13/14 July 1943.

A Combat Report submitted by F/O Christiansen of DS653 records another Lancaster being attacked by a JU88 that night.

We know from Bomber Command orders that 115 Squadron was split into 2 waves of 9 aircraft each. We are trying to establish if DS690 and DS653 were in the same wave or not.

115 Squadron was based at East Wretham which was part of No. 32 Base whose HQ was at Mildenhall. I'm going to visit the National Archives at the end of this month to hopefully view AIR 29/851 which covers "RAF 32 Base, Mildenhall" but will that give me the information I'm hoping for?

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

(http://www.lancaster-ds690.com/)
Last edited by Hercules ds690 on Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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PAFG
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Re: Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

Post by PAFG »

Hi, The Squadron ORB will record the time each aircraft bombed. If you check the 3 Group ORB Appendices you will find the Form B Operation Order, which will give details of timings for each wave. It's not perfect, but checking the bombing times against the wave timings will give a clue as to which aircraft were in which wave.

Good luck with it,

Richard
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smudgersmith218
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Re: Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

Post by smudgersmith218 »

Hi,

Basically no!


I will check what I have but I think you will be lucky to establish what wave each aircraft was in. Air25/69 records the ToT and each wave but I have not yet seen a document that identifies individual aircraft by wave.

Good luck with your research.

Steve
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No.218 (Gold Coast) Squadron 1918-1945
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Hercules ds690
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Re: Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

Post by Hercules ds690 »

Hi Richard & Steve,

Thanks to both of you for replying so promptly.

I'll take a look at AIR 25/69 at the end of the month to see if that helps any.

In the meantime please take a look at the website mentioned above. It's all driven by the Belgians. I met with 2 in July that had witnessed the crash and they said that that the only thing that gave their parents hope was the noise of RAF aircraft passing overhead.

Best Wishes

Phil
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smudgersmith218
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Re: Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

Post by smudgersmith218 »

Hi Phil,

I have a copy of Air25/69, it does not give the information you are seeking.

If you want a copy I will post it on this forum.

Regards

Steve
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Hercules ds690
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Re: Aachen Raid 13/14 July 1943

Post by Hercules ds690 »

Hi Steve,

That's a pity but thanks for letting me know.

If you could let me have a copy that would be good.

I haven't made much use of this Forum to date but if there is the facility to email me a copy I can then forward it on to Belgium for their records.

Thanks very much for the help.

Regards

Phil
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