Memoirs by Crew Members' Family of the Collision with Ron Carter's Lancaster

Title

Memoirs by Crew Members' Family of the Collision with Ron Carter's Lancaster

Description

Brief memoirs by two members of family of the Halifax crew that collided with Ron's Lancaster over Caen.

Spatial Coverage

Language

Format

One printed sheet

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

Identifier

SCarterR1620578v10005

Transcription

[circled D] [circled 1]

BY COINCIDENCE I FINALLY REMEMBERED ABOUT THIS SITE. BEEN A LONG WHILE. I NOTE THAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR ANY INFO ON CAEN FOR JULY 18/44. I CHECKED MY DAD'S LOG BOOK AND IT SHOWS THAT HIS AIRCRAFT (HALIFAX R - PILOT F/O HERON) FROM 420 SQUADRON FLYING OUT OF THOLTHORPE, HIT THE MONDEVILLE STEEL WORKS & MORTAR CONCENTRATION WITH 16 X 500 . . IT WAS A DAYLIGHT RAID WITH 4.05 HOURS FLYING TIME.

THEY UNFORTUNATELY COLLIDED WITH A LANCASTER OVER THE TARGET (NOTED IN LOG BOOK)

I RECALL MY DAD TELLING ME THAT THE LANC CAME UP IN FRONT OF THEM, AT THE LAST MOMENT THEY VEERED AWAY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. THE TIP OF HIS HALIFAX WING WAS SHEARED OFF, WHILE THE UNFORTUNATELY LANCASTERS WING WAS SLICED BETWEEN THE ENGINES AND IT SPIRALLED DOWN OUT OF CONTROL.

HOPE THE BIT HELPS R BEETHAM

I SUSPECT THAT HALIFAX R PILOTED BY F/O HERON COLLIDED WITH LANCASTER ND 517 KMU WHICH MY LATE FATHER IN LAW WAS WOP/AG. THE LANCASTER OF 44 SQD TOOK OFF FROM DUNHOLM [sic] LODGE. WHILST OVER THE TARGET AREA IT WAS ENGAGED BY FLACK. ONE ENTERING THE MID UPPER TURRET KILLING SGT K.D BURROUGHS. THE AIRCRAFT SUSTAINED NUMEROUS HITS PRIOR TO THE COLISION [sic] ALTHOUGH THE OTHER CREW MEMBERS BAILED OUT AND WERE TAKEN POW.

HOPE THIS IS OF INTEREST TO YOU. TRS JOHNSON

KEITH BURROUGHS (MID UPPER GUNNER) COMMEMORATED AT RUNNYMEDE PANEL 226 15

Collection

Citation

“Memoirs by Crew Members' Family of the Collision with Ron Carter's Lancaster,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 13, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/41919.