Avro Lancaster III (ED908 6O-Z) on a mission to Freulleville on 1944-07-19
On Thursday, 20 July 1944, (a part of) the aircraft of the 582 squadron (RAF), took off for a mission to Freulleville in France from a station (airfield) in or near Little Staughton.
One of the crew members was Flight Lieutenant G B Aungiers. He departed for his mission at 14:20.
He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, with serial ED908 and code 6O-Z). His mission and of the other crew members was planned for Thursday, 20 July 1944.
Information about aircraft who did not return from this mission can be found here. Information about the other crew members on this flight can be found at this website (Aircrew Remembered). This website also provides the flight information for this record.
This record can also be found on the maps of Back to Normandy with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.
I am Richard Aungiers, the nephew of Flt Lt Graham Bice who was the Pathfinder Navigator in Lancaster ED908.
Flt Lt Weightman’s daughter did not know her father believing another man to be her father. When she learnt about her father she visited the village of Freulleville. She met an old lady, Mde Dupuis, who had actually cradled one of the crew in her arms. The crew were all buried in the Freulleville Churchyard. The villagers were upset when they were moved to Dieppe Cemetery.
The Lancaster departed at 1420 from Little Staughton on 20 July 1944. It was the Pathfinder Lancaster which was shot down and crashed at the edge of the forest. Years later a man building his house found remains of the aircraft; he collected and identified them. Initially buried in Freullevile Churchyard but moved to Dieppe Cemetery. A memorial stone was dedicated by the villagers to the crew of Lancaster ED908 on 20 July 2014. It was attended by surviving family members from the crew. Included Richard and Moira Aungiers, daughter Weightman and a Parachute Regiment major from the British Embassy. A book was written called ED908 Lancaster. The local veterans were there too.
I also have this information:
This provides information about the crew and the Oboe navigational system etc.
It is probably best to start the story with an extract from the RAF Bomber Command Campaign Diary for July 1944 which says: 369 aircraft - 174 Lancasters, 165 Halifaxes, 30 Mosquitos - attacked 6 flying bomb launching sites and the V-weapon site at Wizernes. All raids were successful except for the small raid by 20 aircraft on the Forêt de Croc site where the Oboe leader Lancaster was shot down on the bombing run and the bombs of this force all missed the target. This was the only aircraft lost.
As you will see from the Bomber Command Diary extract the attack was on the V1 launch site in the Foret de Croc. There were 20 aircraft involved. The the first wave of ten comprised 8 Lancasters from 156 Squadron with two Mosquitos. The Mosquitos were fitted with a navigational device called "Oboe" which relied on two intersecting radio beams to indicate the target bombing point. (More about the technicalities in Chris's summary). One Mosquito led the formation with the others in reserve in case of an equipment failure. These were the Pathfinders. The attack of the first wave was abortive due to an equipment failure. This left the second wave coming in in broad daylight in a straight line at a steady speed and constant height (evasive action was impossible if the Oboe system was to be effective) in full view of the defending flak gunners. The leading aircraft was the Lancaster 60-Z from 582 Squadron fitted with the Oboe device and so there were 9 Lancasters with 1 Mosquito from 109 Squadron in reserve.
The action is described in 'Pathfinder Force' by Gordon Musgrove (ISBN 0354010174) as follows:
On July 20, 109 Sqn led two formations of Lancasters to the Foret du Croc where, instead of 10/10ths cloud, the skies were clear. The second the formation led by an Oboe Lancaster was engaged by light flak shortly before reaching the target. The Oboe Lancaster was hit and, although it was on fire, S/Ldr F. Foulsham pressed on to the target to bomb but then crashed in flames. Foulsham knew he was too near the target to allow the reserve (Oboe) aircraft, a Mosquito (109 Sqn), to take over in time and also knew that if he jettisoned his bombs the other Lancasters would bomb too soon. Unfortunately, this outstanding feat of courage was wasted because the Lancaster immediately behind the leader was set on fire too; the pilot jettisoned his bombs and broke formation but the other crews did not realise he was in trouble, and they released when they saw his bombs go down.
Another description (with a slightly different slant) appears in 'Master Bombers' by Sean Feast (ISBN-13: 9781906502010) as follows:
On the 20th, Forêt de Croc was the target for a daylight Oboe to be led by Squadron Leader John Weightman with a mixed 582 Squadron/109 Squadron crew. Taking off a little after 14.20, they had been promised heavy cloud over the target, hence the need for Oboe. When they arrived, however, although it was hazy the cloud was virtually non-existent. Despite the change in conditions, Weightman changed seats with the 109 Oboe specialist Squadron Leader James Foulsham DFC, AFC to enable Foulsham, and his navigator Graham Aungiers? to control the run.
The attack came in, straight and level at about 140 knots as heavy flak began bursting all around. With Weightman in front, flying as backup was Flight Lieutenant Godfrey O'Donovan briefed to take over lest something should go wrong. And it did. In O'Donovan's crew, Sergeant Bill Bagshaw had his thumb on the bomb release as they approached the target. Suddenly a a tremendous burst of flak lifted their aircraft upwards, forcing his thumb down on the release. With the remainder of the formation behind him, many of them also released their bombs, taking it to be their signal.
Meanwhile, up ahead, Squadron Leader Weightman's aircraft had been hit (possibly by the same flak) and severely damaged, almost immediately catching fire. On his starboard was Squadron Leader Bob Wareing, who called Weightman up on R/T to tell him that fuel and flames were coming from his port wing trailing edge. It was too late. With an enormous flash and an even louder explosion, the aircraft disintegrated, crashing into the ground with considerable force and killing all on board instantly. Although they did manage to release their bombs, the Oboe device was faulty, and the attack was a total failure, with nearly all aircraft involved reporting that their bombs had fallen well short of the target. The squadron had a right to distrust Oboe.
[End of extract]
The following is my footnote (Chris, please add your comments as to the technicalities of the H2S system and whether my assumption is soundly based) - James ("Freddie") Foulsham and his Oboe navigator, John Swarbrick, normally flew as a Pathfinder team in a 109 Squadron Mosquito and had flown 42 missions together - this was their 43rd. As far as I can tell from my research at the National Archives at Kew, this was the fifth time Lancaster 60-Z had been used as Oboe Leader, each time with a different crew of two from 109 Squadron operating the Oboe system. It is possible that Graham Aungiers may have been learning the Oboe techniques.
? [Footnote] Graham Aungiers was John Weightman's Navigator I, but for the Oboe run it was more likely that James Foulsham's Oboe navigator was John Swarbrick. The Navigator II role, normally that of Flt Sgt J.F.G.Mann, operating the H2S radar set, would not have been required and, fortunately for him and wireless operator H.C Cole, they were not on board that day in order to make room for the Oboe team. The pilots would probably have changed seats over the English Channel and with no H2S ground-scanning radar in operation they would have had little choice but to continue with the planned Oboe controlled run. The Oboe system clearly failed for the first wave of the attack by 156 Squadron, which had been aborted, but the Operations Record Books of 109 Squadron and 582 Squadron provide no evidence that it was also at fault for the second wave attack. Rather the opposite, with James Foulsham carrying on to bomb and crashing beyond the target.
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