Warrant Officer A. Elson. R.A.F. V.R. No. 751538
Title
Warrant Officer A. Elson. R.A.F. V.R. No. 751538
Albert Elson, a brief service history
Description
Warrant Officer Albert Elson (751538) joined the Volunteer Reserves in Derby in 1938 and was called up on 3 September 1939. His operational service began on 26 September 1940. He completed his first tour with 115 Squadron at RAF Marham in 1941, then served as a gunnery instructor at RAF Pershore before joining 75 New Zealand Squadron at RAF Feltwell.
On 11 August 1942, during his 39th mission and part of the bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942) over Frankfurt, his Vickers Wellington bomber was attacked by a German night fighter, Messerschmitt 110, after being caught in searchlights. The aircraft was set on fire. Elson rescued the front gunner while the rest of the crew attempted to bail out; the plane exploded. He parachuted into the Ardennes around 1:30am, unsure whether he was in Germany, he was actually in Belgium.
Local civilians hid him and provided civilian clothes, but he was captured the following morning by German field police. After questioning in Brussels and Frankfurt, including threats from the SS, he was sent to Stalag VIIIB at Lansdorf, Upper Silesia.
In January 1945, as Russian forces advanced, around 600 airmen were marched 264 km over 13 days with little food to camps at Görlitz and then Ziegenhain. Ziegenhain was eventually infiltrated by American forces, leading to their liberation. Elson was flown back to England.
After the war, Elson returned to Belgium to find and thank the civilians who had helped him. With assistance from the Burgomaster of Jalhay, he located one of the men who had sheltered him and learned that German forces had once come searching, even noticing English tobacco smoke. The man returned Elson’s jacket, which he had left behind. Elson was moved to reunite with him.
On 11 August 1942, during his 39th mission and part of the bombing of Cologne (30/31 May 1942) over Frankfurt, his Vickers Wellington bomber was attacked by a German night fighter, Messerschmitt 110, after being caught in searchlights. The aircraft was set on fire. Elson rescued the front gunner while the rest of the crew attempted to bail out; the plane exploded. He parachuted into the Ardennes around 1:30am, unsure whether he was in Germany, he was actually in Belgium.
Local civilians hid him and provided civilian clothes, but he was captured the following morning by German field police. After questioning in Brussels and Frankfurt, including threats from the SS, he was sent to Stalag VIIIB at Lansdorf, Upper Silesia.
In January 1945, as Russian forces advanced, around 600 airmen were marched 264 km over 13 days with little food to camps at Görlitz and then Ziegenhain. Ziegenhain was eventually infiltrated by American forces, leading to their liberation. Elson was flown back to England.
After the war, Elson returned to Belgium to find and thank the civilians who had helped him. With assistance from the Burgomaster of Jalhay, he located one of the men who had sheltered him and learned that German forces had once come searching, even noticing English tobacco smoke. The man returned Elson’s jacket, which he had left behind. Elson was moved to reunite with him.
Creator
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Three typewritten sheets
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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
BElsonAElsonAv10001, BElsonAElsonAv10002, BElsonAElsonAv10003
Collection
Citation
Albert Elson, “Warrant Officer A. Elson. R.A.F. V.R. No. 751538,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 6, 2026, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/58189.