18th October, 1943 – Lancaster W4240, code letter ‘A’ for Able

Preface
For several years, my dad and I have been conducting research into a relative of ours who died during the Second World War. His name was John Fisher, a navigator of RAF Bomber Command, who was killed when his aircraft was shot down over Hannover on the 18th October 1943. Amongst his personal effects he left behind were some photographs, letters and diaries which covered his time at training units in the UK and Canada, but nothing that linked him to his operational squadron; Fisher and his crew had been there less than a month and had conducted only 4 operational sorties before
he was killed in action. Since our research began, much more documentary and archival evidence has been made available regarding the crew and their aircraft, as well as the night on which they lost their lives. What follows is a result of this research; in reconstructing the story of one crew on one night of the war, who left behind comparatively little trace, we might hope to better understand the war in which they fought and those that gave their lives for it.

The afternoon of the 18^th October 1943 was colder than usual and rather gloomy as thick clouds passed low over the countryside. Across the country, particularly in Lincolnshire and East Anglia, thousands of young men at the airfields of RAF Bomber Command seated themselves in the station briefing room. Their Commanding Officer stood in front of a wide curtain—drawing it open, he revealed to the men assembled a map of Germany, marked with the ‘target for tonight’: Hannover. 

At RAF Bottesford, the men of 467 Squadron RAAF (467 was an Australian squadron, though not exclusively in its personnel) had just enjoyed a 10-day hiatus in bombing operations. With the moon at full strength and the weather poor, operations had been repeatedly ‘scrubbed’ or simply not planned at all, as the bright moonlight would compromise the safety of the bombers over enemy territory. The time was instead spent in training; the men were given lectures about bombing, and several of them undertook testing and training flights. Aside from training, most of this short break was made of several parties held for airmen who were to receive decorations for their service. Much drinking and dancing was had, plenty of which was with the station WAAFs (female air force personnel), and quite likely with local women who had been quietly smuggled onto the station. But for some, between the training flights, lectures, and parties lay a subtle apprehension —or anxiety— in the knowledge that the moon would soon darken, the fog would lift, and the squadron would return to operations. The squadron’s Operations Record Book gives away as much: the entry from the 14^th of October records that  “all are anxiously awaiting the end of the moon period so that ‘the’ work may recommence”. On the 16^th, it reads: “we are watching the moon to see whether it is decreasing in strength or not”. So, when the announcement came on the morning of Monday the 18^th, to some, it may have brought a strange relief: “The big day- to war again and 16 on HANOVER again.”

Among the men seated for their general briefing that Monday afternoon was Flying Officer John Fisher, a Navigator from the tiny village of Cumwhitton, Cumbria. Alongside him sat his pilot, an Australian named Frank Davenport, who had come all the way from Melbourne—although probably born in Britain—who was the only Australian crew member. Further along, sat F/O Samuel Hollerin, the Bomb Aimer, the Flight Engineer Sgt Fred Newton, Wireless Operator Sgt Fred Beardwell, Mid-Upper Gunner Sgt Thomas Clark (Clark was an American who appears to have enlisted with the RAF before the USA entered into the war), and Rear Gunner Sgt John Killan. The seven men had all been posted to the station from their training unit on the 23^rd of September, already formed up as a crew. Since arriving on the squadron, the whole crew had flown together just twice before on operations. Davenport had flown just five operational sorties before; Fisher only four. While this would be the crew’s first ‘trip’ to Hannover, it would also be their last.

The Target

For Bomber Command, this would be the final major raid on Hannover of 1943, the last of a series of four raids. Seen within the broader picture of Bomber Command’s strategy through 1943, the four attacks on Hannover made through September and October could be considered a stop-gap measure. On August 19^th, Churchill had directed Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Harris, Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command, to turn his forces on Berlin. However, significant difficulty had been experienced (and would continue to be experienced) in the marking and bombing this target. Most of all, Harris needed more Lancasters and Halifax Mk3s (to replace his ageing Wellington and Stirling bombers, as well as the Halifax Mk2s&5s), and more H2S sets. The latter was an early form of airborne ground-mapping radar, affixed to the belly of Lancasters and Halifaxes to assist blind navigation and marking of targets.

By early September, Harris had decided to put his ‘Battle of Berlin’ on hold, and that city did not experience another major raid until the 18^th of November. Numerous targets were attacked in the intervening period, the four-raid assault on Hannover being particularly of note. The first raid on 22^nd September was considered a failure, and the second on the 27^th was only slightly better. However, a large raid on the 8^th of October was considered a resounding success, owing mostly to the clear weather conditions. Little can be ascertained about why Hannover was selected for a fourth attack. Targets were decided upon at Bomber Command HQ in High Wycombe, the final decision falling to ACM Harris himself in the daily strategic meetings termed ‘morning prayers’. No minutes or notes from these meetings exist, but weather forecasts for the target area, while not ideal, were clearly not considered bad enough to cancel the raid.

Departure

After the general briefing had drawn to a close, the sixteen crews detailed from 467 Squadron headed for the parachute and clothing stores, where they would leave personal items in lockers (being sure to leave behind the key) and don their flying gear. Davenport and his crew were transported by truck to the concrete dispersal, where their aircraft was parked. The squadron was equipped entirely with Avro Lancasters, and tonight Davenport’s crew would be flying Lancaster W4240, code letter “A for Able”. This particular aircraft had arrived on the squadron shortly after Davenport and his crew, being transferred from a Maintenance Unit. Originally assigned to 57 Squadron in September 1942, it had been involved in a landing accident on 1^st January 1943, suffering a collapsed undercarriage and likely a damaged wing after skidding on the icy grass runway of RAF Scampton. After being dismantled and repaired, the aircraft was taken on charge with 467 Squadron on 26^th September 1943.

Earlier in the afternoon, W4240 had been filled with several thousand pounds of fuel, ammunition for its eight, 303 machine guns, and 12,150 pounds of bombs— mostly incendiaries, with one 4000-pound High Explosive ‘Cookie’. After a series of checks, Davenport and Newton ran up the four engines and began to taxi the aircraft out of her dispersal. Aircraft ‘A’ would be seventh in the night’s take-off sequence. At precisely 17:08 hours, the runway controller displayed a green light, and W4240 rolled along the runway, gathering speed and eventually lifting off into the evening sun.

Airborne

Davenport and his crew joined the bomber stream somewhere over the North Sea. They were one of 360 aircraft dispatched to Hannover that night— all of them Avro Lancasters from 1, 5, 3, and 8 Groups. Nine aircraft would abort the sortie, mostly due to technical problems. The remaining 351 Lancasters pressed on, crossing the enemy coast over the island of Texel in the Netherlands just before 19:00 hours. The weather was slightly worse than expected. Above and below them, the forecast layers of cloud were building taller than expected, forcing the bomber stream upwards into a thin layer of clear air. Climbing out over the North Sea and Holland, frost began to form over the windscreen of W4240 —they were flying blind.

By now, under the safe cover of darkness, the stream flew south-east, crossing south of Bremen, and towards the turning point north of Hannover. Most crews reported this outward leg to be quiet, and only three aircraft were lost- a Bf110 night fighter shot one down, while two others collided after a fighter close to the turning point had attacked one.

Over Target

The first over-target were Lancasters of the Pathfinder Force of 8 Group. The first aircraft dropped their yellow target indicators on the basis of mostly dead reckoning, the thick cloud entirely obscuring the aiming point from their view. Subsequent ‘backers-up’ dropped green TIs; they had intended to drop reds but could not identify the aiming point either. The main force attack began on or just before the ‘zero-hour’ of 20:15 and was intended to last just 14 minutes. Returning crews reported visibility over Hannover to be almost non-existent, although the glow of some fires in the city were visible through the cloud, including a significant explosion witnessed by numerous crews around 20:17. Searchlights from the city were widely used but to little effect— the anti-aircraft crews on the ground could rarely identify aircraft through the thick cloud. However, with searchlights illuminating the cloud layer, night fighters operating over the city were able to pick aircraft out from the stream far easier.

End of the Line

In W4240, F/O Fisher called out the turning point and direction to Davenport, who hauled the Lancaster in a sharp right-hand turn, onto a south-south westerly heading, ready to pass directly overhead central Hannover. The flight had been conducted in near-silence, and as they approached the city, they may have seen the glow of the first fires. Despite the poor conditions, they knew they must hold their nerve, resist the urge to drop their bombs early, and hold the aircraft level over the city despite a barrage of searchlights and anti-aircraft ‘flak’. They would never get the chance.

At around 20:00 hours, Luftwaffe fighter ace and commander of II./NJG3 Hauptmann Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein took off from Schleswig air base in his Junkers Ju88C-6. Also aboard the aircraft was his Observer/Radar Operator, whose primary duty was the operation of the aircraft’s Lichtenstein radar set, to be used for close-range interception. It is also possible, if not likely, that Wittgenstein’s aircraft was fitted with a new fixture dubbed ‘Schräge Musik’ (Jazz music), which consisted of a pair of machine guns fitted into the aircraft’s fuselage pointing vertically upwards. The idea was for the fighter to fly undetected, directly underneath the bomber and fire these guns into the wings and belly of the aircraft— ideally the fuel tanks.

What happens next is hard to say. Perhaps by navigational error or mechanical failure, W4240 likely became separated from the bomber stream. Wittgenstein, hunting silently among the bombers, would have detected the aircraft on his onboard radar set, then making visual contact. The crew were probably entirely unaware of his presence until they heard bullets punching through the aircraft’s thin skin. We do not know how long the combat lasted or if W4240’s crew had any chance to put up a fight; it is quite likely that a quick burst of gunfire in the right spot was all that was needed.

What can be said for certain is that the Lancaster quickly caught fire, probably taking hits to the fuel tanks. As the flames began to engulf the wing and fuselage, Davenport gave the order to “abandon aircraft”. The crew fastened and tightened their parachutes as fast as they could, feeling the flames surrounding them. While Davenport held the aircraft steady, Hollerin —in the nose of the aircraft— opened the escape hatch by his feet. Behind and ready to follow him out stood Fred Newton. Davenport remained firmly in his seat, fighting the controls in an effort to stay aloft. Without time for as much as a nod, Hollerin jumped out of the aircraft and into the black.

Aftermath

Later, while in a Prisoner of War camp, Hollerin explained the fate of the aircraft to Swiss Red Cross personnel following an enquiry into the fate of the crew:

“Dated 9.3.44 – Being the Bomb Aimer in the crew I was the first to leave the aircraft, which was blazing furiously. When I left the Flight Engineer was behind me with his chute already strapped, waiting to follow me out and I should have thought he would have been able to follow me immediately. I knew no more as regards the fate of my crew until I was later told by the Germans that they had all been killed. I was also shown the photographs belonging to Sgt. Killan, the Rear Gunner. The only conclusions I can draw are that the a/c exploded after I left as I don’t remember pulling my rip cord. (signed F/Of. S.H.Hollerin).”    

F/O Hollerin would drift in his parachute for some time, landing near the town of Winsen where he was picked up and taken to a Prisoner of War camp. The “explosion” he mentions may have been the result of the bomb load exploding inside the aircraft’s bomb bay. Alternatively, had the bomb load either been dropped on the target or jettisoned at some point, the ‘explosion’ may have been the aircraft disintegrating as the wing—already blazing— failed and broke off. An eyewitness account from a nearby village stated that the aircraft was “first seen leaving the target area in flames and overhead exploded and fell to earth in pieces.” The aircraft’s crash site was located three kilometres North-West of the small settlement of Rixförde, in an area of thick forest. One engine was deeply embedded in the ground, and pieces of the aircraft were scattered about the area. The centre section of the aircraft, which had been badly burned, contained five bodies while that of Sergeant Killan —the Rear Gunner— was thrown 100 yards clear of the aircraft but not burned. That bodies were recoverable at all points to a smaller explosion or disintegration of the aircraft as a result of the fire, rather than the detonation of its High Explosive bomb.

In 1946, the RAF’s Missing Research and Enquiry Unit went about discovering the fate of the crew of W4240. Their graves were found at Hambühren Cemetery and their coffins exhumed. Apart from Sgt Killan, all the bodies were badly burnt and charred. Their identities were ascertained through identity disks and names written on pieces of clothing. The bodies of Sgt Beardwell and Sgt Clark could not be identified. All would be re-interred at the British War Cemetery in Hannover.

Left behind

Back at RAF Bottesford, the first aircraft- DV226, piloted by P/O Godwin, which had departed immediately before W4240— landed back at base at 22:30. Over the next 22 minutes, the rest of the crews landed, taxied to their dispersals, and faced debriefings. F/Sgt Wallace, piloting JB130, called the station from RAF Coltishall to report that he had landed there with a damaged aircraft and two badly wounded crew members. As the night drew on and no such call came from Davenport and his crew, the worst became clear. The Operations Record Book records “Aircraft missing. No news received.” It says, “Lost another crew on this raid, that of F/O Davenport, who had completed five trips. A very likeable captain, too.” On the raid’s success, it merely notes: “The remainder of the crews struck very little trouble, but all thought the raid a failure with very scattered bombing”.

The W4240 was one of 17 aircraft lost on the night of 18^th of October 1943. Davenport, Newton, Fisher, Beardwell, Clark, and Killan were six of 101 airmen killed that night. In assessing the attack on Hannover, Bomber Command’s official report claimed that several industrial plants had been hit. If this was so, it was almost certainly out of luck since no aircraft could have observed their target that night. The impact on the war’s progress of any bombing raid during the war can never be ascertained with accuracy. Still, one might be forgiven for being sceptical of a substantial contribution in this case. The city had already been hit hard during a previous raid, the weather throughout the trip was extremely poor, and the route plotted to target was unchanged from previous operations. How sure of success were those in the higher echelons of power in Bomber Command? How well could such success be measured even if they were achieved? These were the unknowns of war, measures of probability and guesswork. However, those who laid down their lives for cause and country never thought in such terms. Their motivation was total defeat of the enemy, but in doing so, they placed their lives in the hands of others without question. For Bomber Command aircrew, as historian Martin Middlebrook put it, “His life became as though subject to a great lottery.” It was a lottery that 58,000 of them lost.

Epilogue

As Davenport and his crew lined up on the runway of RAF Bottesford on 18^th October 1943, they would have glanced out of the window to see a queue of Lancasters waiting behind them for their turn in the sequence. Eighteen minutes after W4240 had departed the airfield, the 14^th Lancaster in the sequence, code letter ‘S-Sugar’ also departed, piloted by P/O McClelland. The Operations Record Book records this aircraft’s serial number as JA981. It has been subsequently proven that this was an error and that the correct serial number for aircraft ‘S’ is, in fact, R5868. Lancaster R5868 is one of just four complete surviving Lancasters to see operational service and is certainly the oldest of the three. It survived the war and now resides in the RAF Museum in London, wearing the letters it wore while on 467 squadron, ‘PO-S’. Despite the lack of personal recollections from the crew of W4240 that might enrich an understanding of their lives and experiences, what does remain—entirely by chance— is an incredibly tangible connection to them and the night on which they lost their lives.

Written by Joseph Langham

Reference List

1. 467 Squadron RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Record of Events: Y. 1943 Oct 01 – 1943 Oct 31. AIR 27/1930/20, The National Archives, Kew. Available at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8412742 (Accessed 26 November 2023)
2. 467 Squadron RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Summary of Events. 1943 Oct 01 – 1943 Oct 31. AIR 27/1930/19, The National Archives, Kew. Available at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8412741 (Accessed 25 November 2023).
3. Aircraft Loss Cards October 1943. Lancaster Bombers Info. Available at https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Loss_Cards/1943/Oct_43/Oct_43_Pt4/files/mobile/index.html#31 (Accessed 25 November 2023).
4. Form 78 Aircraft Movement Cards. Lancaster Bombers Info. Available at: https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/Data/Form-78s/Lancaster/W4180-W4251/mobile/index.html#1 (Accessed 26 November 2023)
5. Middlebrook, Martin. The Battle of Hamburg. London: Allen Lane (Penguin), 1980.
6. Middlebrook, Martin. The Berlin Raids. London: Viking (Penguin), 1988.
7. Night Raid Reports. Lancaster Bombers Info. Available at: https://lancasterbombersinfo.ipage.com/flipbook/NRR_7-18_Oct_43/files/mobile/index.html#33 (Accessed 26 November 2023)
8. Repatriation Report, F/O Davenport. A705, 166/9/194. National Archives of Australia. Available at: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1066305 (Accessed 25 November 2023).
9. The Daily Weather Report. 18 October 1943. DWR_1943_10, Met Office Digital Library and Archive. Available at https://digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk/IO_82da5b9a-ba4e-466c-9ff2-ef7e716aaf10/ (Accessed 25 November 2023).

Photographs

1. “‘A’ FOR APPLE, A LANCASTER AIRCRAFT BELONGING TO NO. 467 SQUADRON RAAF OF BOMBER COMMAND,” 31 August 1943. Photograph. UK0462, Australian War Memorial, Accessed 25 November 2023. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C252651?image=1
2. “F/O Fisher with unknown man in army uniform”. Photograph. Private Collection.
3. “A Lancaster crew of No 467 Squadron, RAAF, at Bottesford, Leicestershire, preparing to set off for Berlin on the evening of 31 August 1943. They are, from left: Flight Sergeants J Scott, G. Eriksen and A Boys, Sergeant C Adair, Flight Sergeant B Jones (Captain), Flight Sergeant J Wilkinson and Sergeant E Tull, RAF, the only Englishman in the crew.”. Photograph. AUS 1760, Imperial War Museum, Accessed 26 November 2023. https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205218694
4. Langham, Joseph. “Lancaster R5868 at the RAF Museum, September 2023”. Photograph.