Flight of Typhoon Ib SW415 and Flight Lieutenant J H Taylor on 1945-02-28
On 1945-02-28, Pilot J H Taylor (Flight Lieutenant, RAF) with servicenumber 123032 flew a Typhoon Ib with serial SW415 for this duty: Recce. His mission was not completed. Circumstances of the aircraft loss: Crashed near Lohne. This aircraft was a part of squadron no. 182. The location for the map is Lohne Germany. Circumstances at the end of this mission for Taylor: he was killed. He is commemorated at: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Germany.
Roger Wilkinson: Perhaps the saddest loss was that of Jack Taylor and his wingman. Flight Lieutenant J.H. Taylor had been a CAM pilot earlier in the war, flying Hurricane fighters off merchant ships on sea convoys. Later he was with a Hurricane IV squadron flying rocket-armed Hurricanes, before joining 182 Squadron. The war had only eight weeks left to run when he was shot down, and his fiancée was waiting in England for his return.
On 28th February, not a very good morning, Slug Murray led six pilots out at 8.45 am to fly an armed recce into the Bremen-Osnabrück area. Jack Taylor was leading Blue Section, his No 2 being Warrant Officer F.W. Cuthbertson, who himself had been shot down the previous October but had got back. Near Osnabrück they spotted a train but in the attack Taylor’s Typhoon was hit by flak and he had to make a rapid forced landing. This he managed successfully, Cuthbertson circling all the while to see that be got down safely. As Taylor slid to a stop he called up on the radio to say he was OK and unhurt, but then Cuthbertson was hit by flak tnd had also to force land. Exactly what happened next is not known but some time later the squadron and his fiancée received official word that both men had been taken prisoner and then shot by the Germans.
Just thought you might like this official photo of Jack from the family photo album. Jack is still remembered by the current family that were never around when he was and didn’t have the honour to have known him. He gave up his future for our freedom and shouldn’t have died the way he did, shot in the back when he had his hands up. But our thoughts are with him and he remains the family hero. He joined up at 17 and started out as a CAM pilot and fought bravely throughout many campaigns and sorties over the worst period of the war and died just days before he was due to return home to his fiancée and start his own life. Thanks for remembering and taking time to compile this amazing memorial to our boys.
Yours Roger Hardy Wilkinson