Letter to Jose from Leslie Hay

Letter to Jose from Leslie Hay

The letter lists 49 Squadron operations from May 1944 to 10 June 1944 when John Holden died.

1995-08-11

Four printed sheets

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EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0001, EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0002, EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0003, EHayLWhitehouseJ950811-0004

[inserted] from Leslie Hay.
"Uncle Will"
49 Squadron pilot and historian [/inserted]

[circled 1]

[censored section]

11th August, 1995.

Dear José,

Thank you for your letter, copy correspondence and photographs which arrived on 7th August. Before commenting on them, here are some extracts from my records which I copied from those at Public Record Office over a period of several years. Unfortunately, their records do not show the postings in and out of the Squadron after January, 1944, and I can only supply the date of the first operation. The postings in were usually about a week earlier. The following are extracts from the crew reports with some additions:-

[underlined] OPERATIONS [/underlined]

[underlined] 19/20.5.44 [/underlined] [underlined] AMIENS [/underlined]

LL 900 Matheson and crew with F/O Bell as 2nd pilot.

[underlined] 21/22.5.44 [/underlined] [underlined] MINING in Kiel Bay [/underlined]

ME 675 F/O Bell B.E, Sgt Holmes S.C. P/O MacFadyen D, Sgt Holden J, P/O Clark H.D.
F/O Hemmens P, Sgt Reed J.J. 2149-0421. Dovns Klint 0100, 14,600 ft, no cloud, good vis: Kiel Bay unobscured by cloud allowing visual pin pointing and the correct placing of mines. Defences ineffective.

[underlined] 22/23.5.44 [/underlined] [underlined] BRUNSWICK [/underlined]

ME 675 Crew as above, 2209-0413. Brunswick 0127, 22,000 ft, 2nd wave. Bombed red with green stars cascading. Attack appeared very haphazard owing to poor marking technique. Caused us to make several runs.

[underlined] 27/28.5.44 [/underlined] [underlined] MORSALINES [/underlined] – Medium Gun Battery.

ME 787 Original crew. 2255-0232. Morsalines 0103. 5,500 ft, 2nd wave, no cloud, Vis hazy, No opposition. Bombs seen bursting – overshooting red spot fires to the N.E about 100 yards.

[underlined] 31 May – 1st June [/underlined] [underlined] MAISY [/underlined] – Gun Battery

NE 128 Original crew. 2304-0226. Sortie was abortive owing to low cloud over target area.
W/T control good and diverting instructions received satisfactorily. (The other crews' robust comments on this op are illuminating)

[underlined] 2/3.6.44 [/underlined] [underlined] WIMEREUX [/underlined]

ND 533 Original crew. 0004-0300. Wimereux 0141, 19,000 ft, 2nd wave. Target not identified owing to cloud, but what appeared to be 1 or 2 red T.Is clearly seen and bombed on heading. Orders not to bomb received after bombing run.

[underlined] 5/6.6.44 [/underlined] [underlined] LA PERNELLE [/underlined]

ND 533 Original crew. 0126-0549. La Pernelle 0340, 8,400 ft, 3 rd wave. Bombed centre of triangle of 2 green and 1 red T.Is. Target marking, timing control very good and should have made the operation successful.

[page break]

[inserted] W. HAY. [/inserted]

– 2 –

[underlined] 6/7.6.44 [underlined] [underlined] CAEN [/underlined]

ND 533 Original crew. 0030-0517. Caen 0240, 5000 ft, 1st wave. Bombed concentration of green T.Is. Good concentration of bombs around them. Timing excellent under good weather conditions.

[underlined] 8/9.6.44 [underlined] [underlined] PONTAUBAULT [/underlined]

ND 533 Original crew. 2226-0309. Target 0049, 4,500 ft, 2nd wave. Very heavy rain. Bombed 2 red spot fires about 100 yards apart. Bombing appeared to be between 500 yards of markers. Target marking and control extremely good.

[underlined] 9.6.44 [/underlined] – Morning summary –
1000. 21 detailed for Etampes. [inserted] "Take off" [/inserted] 2120-[underlined] 2139 [/underlined], 21 airborne. [inserted] Landing times [/inserted] 0147-0227 19 returned – one landed at Woodbridge. 2 aircraft missing.

Extract from the publication "Bomber Command War Diaries"
106 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes of 5 Group, with 5 Path Finder Mosquitoes attempted to bomb a railway junction at Etampes, south of Paris. 6 Lancasters lost.

[underlined] 9/10.6.44 [/underlined] [underlined] ETAMPES [/underlined]

[symbol] ND 533 F/O Bell with original crew. Airborne [underlined] 2136 [/underlined] – Missing.

JB 714 Smiley, Webb, Stuart, Sanderson, Rainbow, Hinch, Blaikie. Airborne [inserted] 2139 missing [/inserted]

[inserted] [symbol] Last two aircraft to take off. [/inserted]

[underlined] Buried in a collective grave – Plot 16.C.10 [/underlined]

[underlined] BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY, CALVADOS, FRANCE. F.1058 [/underlined]

F/O BELL Bryan Esmond 151471 Pilot Aged 24
F/O MacFADYEN Duncan RAAF 425178 Navigator
Sgt HOLDEN John 1521290 WO/AG Aged 21
F/O CLARK Hilary Daniel 159223 A/Gunner Aged 28
Sgt REED Joseph John 1281835 A/Gunner Aged 23

[underlined] Marissel French National Cemetery, Oise, France, Grave 248 [/underlined]

Sgt HOLMES Sydney Charles 1810022 Flight Engineer Aged 28

Recorded at Runnymede on panel 206 as having "No known grave" but believed to have died of "blood poisoning" in Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

F/O HEMMENS Philip Derek 152583 Bomb Aimer aged 20

P/O SMILEY and his crew are all buried in Morigny-Champigny Cemetery Seine-et-Oise, France – graves 1, 6, 8, 11 & 12

[page break]

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Comments.

First, regarding your letter. I also cannot reconcile War Graves' statement that the Forest is 16 miles N.W of Caen in the district of Eure. This District is some 40 miles East of Caen and Lyons la Foret is South East of Rouen. It appears to be only just in the District of Eure, though my map does not show these boundaries.

I think that we can accept that the aircraft crashed at Lyons la Foret, although the correspondence does not actually say so, but André Paris’ statement that he was going West from Etrépagny would seem to put it in that area. Pierre Madry could confirm it. War Graves also show it to be the place even though they position it wrongly, but see my later comment four paragraphs down, which may be the answer to the mix up.

The situation in the area, two days after "D" Day must have been very confused. Troops were being moved up and we were bombing road and railway junctions behind the lines to prevent this happening. The Germans would, as they so often did, bury bodies near where they were found. I have read about, and spoken to men who with medical teams, followed in the wake of our armies locating roadside and woodland graves, recording and identifying bodies.

It was usual for the Germans to get to the crash site as early as possible to secure prisoners and obtain information from and about the aircraft. Occasionally the civilians beat them to it and gave assistance to evaders etc:

I tried telephoning War Graves to obtain the date of reinterment, but they couldn't give it off the cuff as it meant going to archives to locate the first burial, then to another section to obtain the transfer, but it seems that they have it., and would supply you with it should you wish to write to them.

Regarding the crew details, you will have seen that I have quoted them above, and the address of the cemetery is also shown. It would appear that it is in or near Bayeux. I may be wrong, but I wonder if this is what War Graves was trying to say, i.e that Bayeux War Cemetery is 16 miles N.W of Caen which is about right, but mixed it up with the crash site/place of 1st burial in Eure District!! If so, please forgive them; they make many mistakes - don't we all? and they are only as good as the staff with which they are supplied. They have given me some good assistance in my work.

Coming now to photographs of the cemetery; I do not know any organisation which would supply them and they are usually obtained by a personal visit. In this connection, I feel that Pierre Madry is your best hope. It appears from his letter that he is a young man and seems to have a very good command of English if so, a visit might not be as difficult as you may imagine. So many people speak our language now that I am sure you would find assistance en route.

I cannot really comment on the alleged photograph of the graves. It may just be the crash site. It would, doubtless, look very different now.

I have no information whether the aircraft was hit by flak or fighters, or whether or not they had reached the target and were on their way home having bombed but, according to reports from the returning crews, there was a lot of difficulty at the target which could not be marked on time, and crews had to orbit a number of times which left them prey to flak, which, at the bombing height, about 7000 ft, could be very accurate. Also they would be a prey to marauding fighters looking for just such an opportunity as this.

Whether they were the subject of either flak or fighter attack, it would seem that two of them, Hemmens and Holmes were able to get out, they would be nearest the bomb aimer's

[page break]

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exit. Hemmens, it appears did parachute down. I have nothing definite about Holmes but the pilot of another of our aircraft reports hitting a parachute, and I feel that this may have been that of Holmes which would account for his burial in a different cemetery. Disasters and misfortunes such as this were legion.

We are now left with Hemmens. He has been a problem for me because of the date of his death. The Dutch Air Historical Society, whose 300 members are trying to locate the crash sites and graves of the crews of EVERY AIRCRAFT, ALLIED AND ENEMY, which crashed in World War 11, sent me a lot of information, but asked for details regarding 120 of our missing or crashed aircraft and crews, amongst which was Hemmens on whom they only had the date of death and "No known grave". When I recovered from the shock, I got down to sorting them out from my records.

After a bit of pressure I managed to get out of the Ministry of Defence, that Hemmens died whilst a POW. Your correspondence, and the most interesting letter of George Watmough rekindled my interest and would seem to confirm this. However, I have never been satisfied that there was a body with a date of death but no known grave.

Unfortunately, my contact at the M.O.D had left but, trading on the fact that I had supplied them with information in the past, they were able to say (off the record and reading between the lines) that Hemmens was sheltered by the French, ‘captured’ by the Germans and sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp where he contracted blood poisoning and died. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered there. Read into that what you will but it is, in my opinion, probably correct. Hemmens may not have been in uniform which would explain his sojourn in Fresnes prison.

George Watmough does not say that they were all sent to Stalag Luft 3, just 'We'. Ham Hemmens dies in a POW camp, I am certain that there would have been a military funeral. I have photographs of some. The Senior British Officer at the camp would have ensured that this was done. In a number of cases, the Germans provided the Firing Party. It appears that the Buchenwald death is probably the correct explanation.

Last year, we had a Book of Remembrance placed in Fiskerton Church and, this year we had a stone placed on a plot of ground donated by the farmer who farms the site of Fiskerton Airfield. Parts of the runways are still there. I am enclosing a photostat of the page of our Book which shows Holden & Holmes. Also, a not very good one from a local newspaper showing the stone in the plot close to the road from Fiskerton to Reepham.

Re MacFadyen, the address to contact is Australian War Memorial, GPO Box 345, Canberra ACT 2601. I enclose a mini photostat of their letter to our Secretary.

I think that I have told you all I am able until I post this when something else is sure to come to mind. I hope that you can make sense of this rigmarole – my wife says that my letters ramble too much.

My good wishes to you.

Yours sincerely,

Leslie Hay.

Usually known as "Uncle Will".