THE FARMER THAT WANTED TO FLY AND THE STORY OF LANCASTER 28
This story has developed as an extension to a simple
family genealogy project started last year, on my wife’s Clearwater family.
When I discovered that Lynn had a distant cousin that had been a Lancaster
pilot and was killed in 1944, I was intrigued, for most of my immediate family
had been army or navy types and had survived the war. Ray Clearwater’s story
was not too unusual from thousands of other Canadian aircrew downed in service
with Bomber Command until I started to sense that there might be some inconsistencies
with the official story of the Ray’s “plane being shot down” and the lack of
conclusive evidence to what may have happened to Lancaster NF928 and it’s crew
members. After I added a page to my military books web site on Ray’s RCAF
service and story, I received a few inquiries. However, it wasn't until being
contact by the great nephew of one of Ray’s crew members, the mid upper gunner,
Sgt. Richard Wolsey, that I realized that we should be taking a closer look at
the man and his service in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
F/L RAY LLOYD CLEARWATER #J/16865, Royal Canadian Air Force
On enlisting in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
Ray told the enlisting officer that he “wanted to be a commercial pilot” when
the conflict was over and didn't intend to return to farming. Ray lived to fulfil his dream of flying
however in order to complete his goal, he lost his life over Germany with his 6
crew members, trying to defeat Hitler and the dreaded Third Reich. Questions
lie with the fateful day of October 14, 1944 and the Royal Air Force’s No.12
Squadron powerful presence in Operation Hurricane. This was Bomber Command’s
determined bid to annihilate the centuries-old commercial and industrial city
of Duisburg in “Happy Valley”, as the Ruhr Valley was infamously called. Was
Ray Clearwater fully qualified to command the powerful four-engine, bomb-laden bomber and its crew of seven into battle? Did the bomber receive a direct hit
anti-aircraft flak or did it fly into another close-by Lancaster on its path to
the burning city by navigational or pilot error? Did another bomber drop it’s
explosive load on Ray’s aircraft? Was Bomber Command justified in the mass
destruction of an historic German city and thousands of civilians when it was
obvious only the Allies, could win the war? We will try to explore some of
these questions. Ray Lloyd Clearwater had been the grandson
of Ontario pioneer, Edger Clearwater and nephew of Floyd Wellington Clearwater,
former publisher of the Huntsville
Forester newspaper, town councillor and Postmaster. Born in 1912, Ray
was also the younger brother of both Robert Clinton (Bert or Clint) Clearwater,
late of the 10th Canadian Mounted Rifles, who died in 1921 from
complications of gassing in World War One and of Wesley Calvin Clearwater
#3347566 who was classified as C-2, probably because he was considered a farm
worker and served only in Canada during the war. Ray had a total of 7 siblings,
he being the youngest son and was also the first cousin, twice removed, of my wife
Lynn. John Wesley Clearwater moved his family in the spring of 1910 from Scotia
Junction, Ontario (near Huntsville, in the picturesque Muskoka Lakes district
of Ontario), to Manitoba presumably to take up farming on the fertile prairies.
At the same time, his two brothers received Western land grants in north-east
Saskatchewan and moved to develop new farms in Carlea in the Prince Albert
area. After the death of Edgar Clearwater in 1912, wife Mary travelled west to
live with her sons James Edgar and Jacob Stewart Clearwater. The bustling
railway village of Scotia Junction is now the mostly abandoned community of
Scotia with a few houses and little evidence of the thriving town, now long
gone. The 135-mile Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry
Sound Railway was built by Canadian lumber baron J.R. Booth of Ottawa, being
started in 1892 and completed in 1898. It operated as a “feeder” railway to the
Canada Atlantic Railway which connected Ottawa with the U.S. east coast,
supplying Ontario white pine lumber to the world’s export markets. The
O.A.& P.S. connected Canada’s capital Ottawa across the wilderness of
Algonquin Park to Depot Harbour, on the shores of Georgian Bay. It crossed and
connected with the Grand Trunk Railway’s main line at Scotia Junction, that connected
Toronto with the transcontinental line to the west at North Bay, Ontario. It is
believed that Edgar Clearwater and several of his sons may have worked on the
O.A. & P.S. .When the line was completed, the sons were encouraged to move
west to explore farming opportunities, aided by Canada Land grants. Most of the
tracks were torn up in 1975 and today, Scotia Junction is nothing more than a
siding on CN’s Toronto-North Bay mainline.
Ray Lloyd Clearwater applied to join the
Royal Canadian Air Force on January 16, 1941 at the Recruiting Centre in
Regina, SK and was accepted May 17, 1941. He had finished Grade 11 (junior
matriculation) at Welwyn High School and was admitted into flying school. Some
notables as stated on his attestation papers are as follows:
- The family farm was located actually in Manitoba “just over the border from Welwyn”.
- Ray worked on the family farm “tractor farming” for a number of years after high school in 1929 and then from 1936-1937 worked in Red Lake, ON as a machinist’s helper. He returned to the family farm in 1937 until he enlisted.
- He smoked 15 cigarettes per day by his own admission.
- His applicable was marked “sole support of mother-possible source of mental conflict”.
- The medical officer claimed that Ray’s blood pressure was high due to nervousness and that he had a slow, rather hesitant manner.
- Ray’s height was listed as 6’ 1 ½” with an athletic build –ideal for a bomber pilot that has to due a great deal of reaching.
- One of the references given by Ray was Mr. A.J. Proctor, Moosomin, SK, the Saskatchewan Minister of Highways.
- Ray officially changed his name on May 17, 1941 from Ray Lloyd Bouvier Clearwater to Ray Lloyd Clearwater – this was registered with the RCAF.
After attending the Manning Depot in
Brandon, MB, he was posted to Carberry, MB for a short period initialization
into the RCAF. Ray was then sent to No.
4 Initial Training School in Edmonton, AB from 03/07/1941 until 05/08/1941. He
passed with a position of 83 out of 107 in the class, with a 76% average. All
marks were good except mathematics, in which he received 53%. From here, Ray was posted to No. 5
Elementary Flight Training School in High River, AB from 08/08/1941 until
25/09/1941. Here he successfully trained on Tiger Moth bi-planes and passed
with a 72% average, and a ranking of 20 in a class of 66. Comments included
“good, average pupil, clean cut type, reliable, dependable. Conduct very good”.
From High River, the next posting was to
No. 7 Special Flight Training School (Multi-engine) in MacLeod, AB from
25/09/1941 until 19/12/1941. Here he flew the twin-engine Avro Anson. Sgt. Ray
L. Clearwater was ranked 25th with a ranking number of 1641 marks
out of a total of 2250 marks, and a 73% average. He was recommended for a
commission, which he was not to see until February 26, 1943, after his transfer
to the Royal Air Force. Comments were that “he has developed slowly into an
average flier, is keen, mature, orderly and does work willingly. Lacking in
self confidence. Should develop into good officer material with further
experience”. Iinterestingly, the top rated pilot was Sgt.
Gerald B. Latimer, #R97566 of Vancouver, who graduated with a top score of 1809 marks out of 2250. Later
to become Squadron Leader G.B.Latimer #J/9350 of 408 Squadron, he lost his life
29/07/1944 over Heide, Germany flying Halifax NP 716 and is buried in the Kiel
War Cemetery. In fact of out of the top 5 graduates 4 were lost in the war and
in fact, the majority, about 85% of the entire 58 were to be lost by August ,
1945 according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site here.
From MacLeod, and after a short leave, Ray
was assigned to 1Y-Departure Depot in Halifax, NS on 20/12/41 awaiting
departure on a ship to the United Kingdom. He embarked on 08/01/1942 and
disembarked England on 20/01/1942. He was immediately sent on arrival in
England to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre in Bourmouth and on 20/02/1942 was
posted to No. 1 Flight Instruction School at RAF Church Lawford, near Rugby, Warwickshire.
After passing the short instructor’s course, it was decided to assign Ray to
No. 14 (P) Advanced Flying Unit as an instructor on Oxford twin-engine aircraft
rather being sent on an assignment to an active squadron in Bomber Command. No.
14 (P) AFU was stationed at RAF Ossington, near Newark, Nottingshire (now
abandoned) from January, 1942 until May, 1943. On May 16, 1942, he crashed his
Oxford at 02:00 practicing night flying with the accident grounding him for
several months with a broken jaw, facial lacerations, impaired vision and a
concussion. He was operated on at East Grinstead’s Queen Victoria Military
Hospital and spent several months recuperating. This hospital was famous
during World WarTwo for the treatment of Canadian RCAF burn victims by
Canadian surgeon, Dr. Ross Tilley. As well, on March 17, 1943, Ray Clearwater
was offered a probationary commission as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Canadian
Air Force. On March 31, 1943, Ray was required to take a refresher Flying
Instructors Course at RAF Brize Norton. Completing the course on April 21,
1943, Ray failed with the comments “below average capabilities”. Late May, 1943
the No. 14 (P) AFU moved to Banff in north-east Scotland. Ray spent most of the
time flying and instructing from the nearby satellite field, RAF Dallachy. July
10, 1943, Ray’s commission was confirmed and accepted. It was here he was
introduced to friends William and Agnes Ford of Buckie, Scotland. William was
the agent for the North of Scotland Bank and ultimately, after Ray’s death,
disposed of his auto and many of his personal belongings. After repeated requests by Ray, he was
finally assigned “active flying” status and on February 29, 1944, was assigned
to No. 83 Operational Training Unit, where he was matched up with his future
crew and given instruction on Wellington bombers and operational procedures and
training. Finally, on June 6, 1944, Ray and his crew were assigned to No. 11
Base, 1 Group, RAF Lindholme for Heavy Conversion Training, which they received
at the satellite station RAF Sandtoft with No. 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit and
Halifax bombers. By August 9, 1944, Ray and his crew of six, were considered
ready for operational service and assigned to No. 12 Squadron at RAF Wickenby
in Lincolnshire which by this time were flying Lancaster MK I heavy bombers. At
the same time, Ray was promoted to Acting Flight Lieutenant.
NO. 12 SQUADRON
July, 1944 Ray had requested and was
granted, a transfer to an “in service” squadron. By mid-1943 and lasting almost
until the war’s end, Bomber Command had lost many of it’s most experienced
pilots. The need for good pilots, despite the British Commonwealth Training
Plan, became so urgent that below average pilots might be given the benefit of
a doubt, often with tragic results. Training time and solo hours were reduced
so that the mass of incoming new heavy bombers could be flown. Ray ended up in
one of the Royal Air Force’s most historic and noble squadrons, No. 12
Squadron, located at RAF Wickenby, in Lincolnshire. No. 12 Squadron had been
formed from a cadre from the RAF’s original No. 1 Squadron on February 4, 1915
at Netheravon, Wiltshire. It proceeded to France in that year equipped with
BE2c’s bi-plane observation aircraft and fought on the continental until the
end of World War One and continued in Germany until July, 1922, when it was
temporarily disbanded. The Squadron was equipped with Fairey Battles and was
stationed at RAF Bicester when World War II was declared. By 1941, the Squadron
was equipped with Wellington bombers and in 1942 moved to RAF Wickenby. Shortly
after No. 12 converted to Lancasters and thereafter continued to play a
prominent role in No.1 Group’s part in Bomber command’s offensive until April
25, 1945. The Squadron’s aircraft were coded “PH” – a few had “GZ”. The
Squadron’s motto is “Leads the Field” and it’s badge features a fox’s mask,
after the Fox aircraft it briefly flew in the 1930s and to signify the
potential of fast daylight bombing. No. 626 Squadron was formed at RAF
Wickenby, from “C” Flight of No. 12 Squadron, also equipped with Mk 1
Lancasters, and shared the airfield until the war’s end. Their aircraft code
was “UM”. No. 12 Squadron still exist and are presently stationed at RAF
Lossiemouth, in the north of Scotland, flying Tornado GR4 bombers and soon will
be flying the new state-of-the-art F-35 Lightening IIs. They presently take
regular tours of operation supporting coalition forces and OPERATION TELIC
flying out of Qatar over Iraqi airspace.
|
Date
|
Target
|
Plane
|
Call-sign
|
Pilot
|
FE
|
Nav.
|
BA
|
WOP
|
MUG
|
Rear Gunner
|
|
|
440825
|
Russelsheim
|
ME788
|
PH-Q
|
F/O Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry J. A.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
Sgt. Clarke R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton S. F.
|
|
|
440826
|
Kiel
|
ME788
|
PH-Q
|
F/O Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
440829
|
Stettin
|
ME645
|
PH-V
|
F/O Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
440903
|
Eindhoven
|
PD270
|
PH-X
|
F/O Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
440910
|
Le Havre
|
NF925
|
PH-P
|
F/L Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. M.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton S. F.
|
|
|
440912
|
Frankfurt
|
NF925
|
PH-P
|
F/O Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. M.
|
F/Sgt. Watts H. J.
|
Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton S. F.
|
|
|
440916
|
Hopsten
|
NF925
|
PH-P
|
F/O Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. M.
|
F/Sgt. Watts H. J.
|
Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton S. F.
|
|
|
441003
|
West Kapelle
|
NF925
|
PH-P
|
F/L Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. H.
|
Sgt. Clarke R.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton S. F.
|
|
|
441005
|
Saarbruchen
|
NF925
|
PH-P
|
F/L Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. A.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
F/Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton G. F.
|
|
|
441007
|
Emmerich
|
ME786
|
PH-R
|
F/L Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. A.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
F/Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton G. F.
|
|
|
441011
|
Ft Fredrik Hendrik
|
NF925
|
PH-P
|
F/L Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. A.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
F/Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton G. F.
|
|
|
441014
|
Duisburg (1st)
|
NF928
|
PH-S
|
F/L Clearwater R.
L. RCAF
|
Sgt. Berry W. A.
|
F/O Watts H. J.
|
F/Sgt. Clark R.
|
F/Sgt. Price A. S.
|
Sgt. Wolsey R.
|
Sgt. Walton G. F.
|
Crashed in the
general area of the target. All killed.
|
LANCASTER NF928
This aircraft was one of a batch of 400
Lancaster Mk 1 ordered from Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft (Baginton) and
delivered from July 1944 to February 1945. It was powered with Merlin 24
engines from Baginton and Bitteswell. NF 928 was delivered to No. 12 Squadron
on September 3, 1944. When lost, the aircraft had a total of 48 hours. NF928
was one of three No. 12 Squadron Lancasters lost on the operation – others were
LL909 and ME788. It’s major sortie up until the day it was lost was in the key
operation against the German city of Neuss on September 23/24. Over 7,300
Lancaster bombers were built and used during World War II. Almost one half of
them were delivered from January 1, 1944 onwards.
Operation
Hurricane launched 3 separate raids on the Ruhr industrial city of Duisburg in
the space of 18 hours. Duisburg was an important transportation hub as well as
a producer of chemicals, steel and iron.
BOMBER COMMAND’S CAMPAIGN DIARY – October, 1944
These raids were part of a special
operation which has received little mention in the history books. On October
13, Sir Arthur Harris received the directive for Operation Hurricane: “in order
to demonstrate to the enemy in Germany generally the overwhelming superiority
of the Allied Air Forces in this theatre…the intention is to apply within the
shortest practical period the maximum effort of the Royal Air Force Bomber
Command and the Eighth United States Bomber Command against objectives in the
densely populated Ruhr”. Bomber command had probably been forewarned of the
directive because it was able to mount the first part of the operation soon
after first light on October 14, 1944. No heavy bombers had flown operations
for 48 hours and 1,013 aircraft – 519 Lancasters, 474 Halifaxes and 20
Mosquitos – were dispatched to Duisburg with RAF fighters providing an escort.
957 bombers dropped 3,574 tons of high explosives and 820 tons of incendiaries
on Duisburg. 14 aircraft were lost – 13 Lancasters and 1 Halifax; it is
probable that the Lancasters provided the early waves of the raid and drew the
attention of the German flak before the flak positions were overwhelmed by the
bombing. For their part in Operation Hurricane, the
American Eighth Air Force dispatched 1,251 heavy bombers escorted by 749
fighters. More than 1,000 of the American heavies bombed targets in the Cologne
area. American casualties were 5 heavy bombers and 1 fighter. No Luftwaffe aircraft
were seen. 2 Bomber Command RCM sorties and 2
Resistance operations were also flown this day14/15 October 1944 Bomber Command continued Operation
Hurricane by dispatching 1,005 aircraft – 498 Lancasters, 468 Halifaxes, 39
Mosquitos – to attack Duisburg again in 2 forces 2 hours apart. 941 aircraft
dropped 4,040 tons of high explosive and 500 tons of incendiaries during the
night. 5 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost. Nearly 9,000 tons of bombs had thus fallen
on Duisburg in less than 48 hours. Local reports are difficult to obtain. The
Duisburg Stadtarchiv does not have the important Endbericht – the final report.
Small comments are available: “Heavy casualties must be expected.” “Very
serious property damage. A large number of people buried.” “Thyssen Mines III and IV: About 8 days loss
of production.” “Duisburg-Hamborn: All mines and coke ovens lay silent.” Not only could Bomber command dispatch more
than 2,000 sorties to Duisburg in less than 24 hours, but there was still
effort to spare for No.5 Group to attack Brunswick and 233 Lancasters and 7
Mosquitos, successfully destroying the city. As well 141 training aircraft were sent on
a diversionary sweep to Heligoland, 20 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 16 to Berlin, 8 to
Mannheim and 2 to Dusseldorf, 132 aircraft of 100 Group on RCM, Serrate and
Intruder flights (no sub-totals are available), 8 aircraft on Resistance
operations. 1 Halifax was lost on the diversionary sweep and 1 Mosquito lost on
the Berlin raid.
Total Effort for the night: 1,572 sorties, 10 aircraft (0.6%) lost
Total Effort for the 24 Hours: 2,589 sorties, 24 aircraft (0.9%) lost.
Total tonnage of bombs dropped in 24
hours: approximately 10,050 tons.
THESE RECORDS TOTALS WOULD NOT BE
EXCEEDED AGAIN IN WORLD WAR II.
Although Ray Clearwater was a F/L Pilot in
the Royal Canadian Air Force, he was drafted to and flew with the Royal Air
Force’s historic No. 12 Squadron flying out of RAF Wickenby in Lincolnshire.
The bomber squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force were mostly in No. 6
Group, all stationed in Yorkshire (north area of England) and they contained
many of Ray’s friends.
Their account in Operation Hurricane
follows:
“One week later (Oct 14, 1944) No. 6 Group
enjoyed a history making day in two huge raids on Duisburg (Operation Hurricane
1 and 2) at the junction of the Ruhr and the Rhine rivers. In two attacks,
2,000 aircraft of Bomber Command drenched the sprawling city with 9,200 tons of
bombs, 500 more than fell from bomb-bays during the destruction of Hamburg in
1943, and only slightly less than the volume the enemy poured down on London
during the whole course of the war. The Canadian Group’s contribution to the
saturation of Duisburg was a total of 501 Lancaster and Halifaxes over the
sixteen-hour period of the two attacks. In the first run, made in daylight by
1,013 aircraft, the RCAF provided 258 participating bombers. In the night
attack which followed, 243 of the 1,008 aircraft over the German city came from
No. 6 Group. The result was chaos in Duisberg. Late that night the burning city
could be seen from a distance of 180 miles as the victors flew home to
Yorkshire. Losses were infinitesimal, only five aircraft in more than five
hundred. Of these, four were lost in the daylight attack”. Roberts, Leslie There Shall Be
Wings, page 192
Here are the
official RAF reports;
“October 14, 1944”
The highest number of sorties by Bomber
Command aircraft in a single day, 1,576 are flown as part of Operation
Hurricane, a maximum effort attack on Germany. In two attacks on Duisberg,
9,000 tons of bombs are dropped and 14 aircraft are lost.”
Submitted graciously by Dave Stapleton creator of the 625 Squadron web site www.626squadron.org ;
“14 October 1944
RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
On 14 October 1944 operations were ordered
for a raid on the Thyssen Steel Works at Duisberg located in the Ruhr area of
Germany. RAF Wickenby provided 36 Lancaster from 12 and 626 Squadrons, 12
Squadron provided 19 aircraft. They were part of a main force consisting of 519
Lancaster heavy four-engined bombers, 474 Halifaxes and 20 Mosquitos. Flight Lieutenant Ray Lloyd Clearwater and
his crew took off from RAF Wickenby at 06:37 hours, they were flying in
Lancaster NF928 PH-S of 12 Squadron, “A” flight.
The crew were:
Flight Lieutenant Ray L. Clearwater J16865 RCAF – Pilot
Flying Officer Henry James Watts 153578 RAFVR – Navigator
Flight Sergeant Allan Selwyn Price 1273886 RAFVR – Wireless
Operator
Flight Sergeant Robert Clark 1564949 RAFVR – Bomb
Aimer
Sergeant William Arthur Berry 1868459 RAFVR – Flight
Engineer
Sergeant Richard Wolsey 1402906 RAFVR –
Mid Upper Gunner
Sergeant George Fearnley Walton 1448762 RAFVR – Rear Gunner
RAF Wickenby logbook records the
following:
The weather on route to the target was
10/10ths cloud with layers up to 15,000 feet. A large gap in the clouds before
the target enable crews to map read the last few miles up the Rhine. The bomb
load was 11,920 lbs made up of 1 x 4,000 HC (cookie), 1 x 1,170 lbs and 150 x
30 lbs incendiaries. There was intense heavy predicted flak on the run up to
the target and for some distance on the northern leg out of the Ruhr. No enemy
fighters were seen. It is believed that no Pathfinder aircraft were used on the
morning mission to Duisburg so because of the thick cloud cover, pilots,
navigators and bomber aimers, would have easily
lost their formations and separation.
Fighter Cover:
10 squadrons of Spitfires rendezvoused with
the main force for the flight to the target.
10 squadrons of Mustangs supplied target
and withdrawal cover.
Assessment of Attack:
Cloud cover during the attack led the
Master Bomber to give the crews to give the crews a free hand and bombing was
therefore scattered. Damage to the target included Thyssen Hutte A.G. blast
furnaces, rolling mills, other industries, warehouses and dock side and rail
side buildings. One unidentified Lancaster crashed into the Thyssen complex,
presumably the victim of AA flak. Three Lancasters were lost from 12 Squadron
and one from 626 Squadron with a total of 18 crew lost, three taken Prisoner of
War and seven surviving a crash into the sea off the coast of Lincolnshire. The
crew of Lancaster NF928 PH-S of 12 Squadron are all buried together in the
Reichswald Forest Military Cemetery near Kleve, Germany. The crash site of
Lancaster NF928 PH-S of 12 Squadron is not known, however it is most likely
that it felt victim to the heavy flak on the run up to the target. Is it
possible that either of NF928 or NE163 lost control in the other’s slipstream
in light of the absence of closed formation? Collisions among 4-engined
aircraft seemed to be a common occurrence according to No. 429’s Squadron
Leader H.V. Peterson in The Dangerous Sky “while on a
mission to Berlin 31 March, 1945, due to navigational and timing error the
group of 100 Halifax’s spread out on the bombing run, and attempted to close up
to combine their firepower for defense. Unfortunately, several got into each
other’s slipstreams, lost control and collided. Peterson pulled up over two
colliding aircraft and witnessed two other similar incidents”.
The following Lancasters from RAF Wickenby
were recorded as missing on the operation:
Lancaster NF928 PH-S of 12 Squadron 7 crew members were killed
Lancaster LL909 PH-Y of 12 Squadron 4 crew members killed, 3 taken POW
Lancaster NE163 UM-T2 of 626 Squadron 7 crew members killed
Lancaster ME788 PH-Q of 12 Squadron 7 crew survived, rescued from the North
Sea
17 flyers were eventually found in the
graves located outside the gate of Dinslaken Town Cemetery.
What happened to NF928 ?
While there is little we know the
circumstances concerning the loss of Ray Clearwater, his crew and Lancaster NF
928, we do know what easily might have happened. Official German accounts could
not be located after the war and were probably destroyed. There were eyewitness
accounts however, of one large explosion and falling debris. Seventeen bodies
were recovered in the immediate area and buried outside the Dinslaken village
cemetery. Although a Lancaster bomber had only a crew of 7, later investigation
revealed that 3 of the recovered bodies were probably from separate air
incidents at different times and locations.
Mid-Air Collisions in Bomber Command
The incident of mid-air collisions, in one
form or another, is well documented. Any time a large number, sometimes well
over 1000 aircraft, occupy common airspace with a common objective, and with
close to maximum cloud cover, there are bound to be mishaps and midair
accidents, often due to lack of adequate separation. Often, Pathfinder aircraft
are not used or their flare markings cannot be seen, if visibility closes in.
The bomber aimer of the individual crews are then given full responsibility for
finding the target and dropping the bombs. As well, bombs can easily be dropped
onto another unseen aircraft. Visibility below from a heavy bomber is virtually
none existent, even without adverse weather conditions! As well, there is
archival black and white film footage taken by the National Film Board here in
Canada, of both a heavy bomber dropping bombs on another below it and also of
two heavy bombers colliding without adequate separation on their flight path. Glimpses
of this footage can be seen on the CBC DVD The Thirteenth Mission.
Air Crew Shortages in 1944
Although Canadians hopeful of flying during
the war far exceeded the number of enlistees accepted by the Royal Canadian Air
Force in 1939 and early 1940, many were either accepted or put on waiting
lists, sometimes not hearing from the enlistment boards for many months. Such
was the case with Ray Clearwater. Many after being temporarily declined by the RCAF, decided to enlist
immediately into the Canadian Army or Navy. However, later in the war and after
huge losses faced by Bomber Command in 1942 and 1943, as well as increased
delivery numbers of new model Lancaster and Halifax heavy bombers, the
continued supply of fully qualified and trained air crew was being stretched to
the maximum. Ground crew, who had expressed an interest in flying, were offered
the opportunity to attend flight training schools. Flight training was reduced
by several weeks, and marginal pilots that had been positioned elsewhere such
as Coastal Command and as flight instructors, were drafted into active service
with Bomber Command squadrons.
Other operations flown in October included
sorties for Lucero (testing Oct 3), Texel (mining operation Oct 4), Emmerich
(bombing Oct 7), Lucero (testing Oct 9), Lucero (testing Oct 10) and Fredrik
Hendrik (bombing Oct 11). Saturday, October 14, 1944 was notable in
Europe for another reason; it was the day that famed German Field Marshal Erwin
Rommel committed suicide rather than be executed for his alleged involvement in
the Hitler assassination attempt on July 20. On this day as well, the 2nd
Canadian Corps, Canadian Army was attacking the Breskens pocket in its attempt
to free the Schelt area and the Port of Antwerp for Allied use. October had
already seen the first capture of a German city (Aachen), a revolution against
the occupying Germans and freeing of Jews in Warsaw, and the meeting of British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin in Moscow, to set the stage
for the division of Europe, when Germany had collapsed (not when!) The stage
had been set for the end of World War II. His aircraft Lancaster MK I NF928 “S-Sugar”
was lost approximately 1 kilometre south of Dinslaken on approach to Duisberg.
Interestedly, a German eyewitness watched as “a large, 4 engine air plane
exploded in mid-air at 08:47.” 17 bodies were collected and buried in a mass
grave at outside the Dinslaken churchyard. The aircraft, because of the thick
cloud cover, were given “free rein” for the approach to Duisberg. An official
document from the British Air Ministry claims that it was possible and probable
that another Lancaster, Mk III NE 163, from 626 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wickenby
may have collided or crashed into NF 928 at the same time thus accounting for
only one explosion and the majority of the 17 bodies found buried in the area.
There is also evidence that no German anti-aircraft batteries were in the
immediate vicinity of the crash around Dinslaken, which leads further credence
to the possibility of two loaded bombers crashing together on the approach to
Duisberg, causing one immense explosion by the two bomb-laden bombers.
“Meerbeck and Rhein-Preussen lay before us.
I waited for Mac’s instructions. Already, smoke as black as carbon was
billowing up from the first fires. Then, shockingly, the sky ahead was filled
with smoke also. Two bombers had blown up together. One must have received a
direct hit in the bomb-bay. The other had gone up with it. Debris showered out
from the mushrooms. The larger remnants twirled gently down, trailing flames.
There would be no survivors from 24,000 lb of exploding bombs and two thousand
gallons of petrol. A few vestigial things – shoes, identity tags, some pathetic
evidence of dissection – might be picked up by those scouring the ground below.
Little else would remain from the fourteen lives, probably not enough to accord
each an unmarked grave and the sacraments of burial spoken in a hated, foreign
tongue”. Yates, Harry Luck and Lancaster, page 184
***NOTES***
Normally, a “tour of duty” in Bomber
Command consisted of 30 sorties (operational missions.) F/L Ray L. Clearwater
and his crew had completed only 11 before they were lost.
Ray had five married sisters: Mrs.Mary
Isabel Bevans, Carlea SK; Mrs.Lela
Myrtle Brisbin, Garrick, SK; Mrs.Jessie
Mildred Eger, Kipling, SK; Mrs.Elsie
Irene Walton, McAuley, MB and Mrs.Vera L.Victoria Barkley, McAuley, MB.
The last known address I have found for
older brother Wesley Calvin Clearwater was: 343-8th St., Brandon, MB
(just down the street from the current Brandon Legion).
The John Wesley Clearwater family first
rented and later purchased the family farm located East ½ 29-15-29 W1 in the
Regional Municipality of Archie, near the settlement of McAuley, Manitoba.
In the 1990’s, the province of Saskatchewan
elected to name over 3900 geographic features within the province, after the
3922 Saskatchewan residents lost during World War II. In this regard,
Flight/Lieutenant Ray Lloyd Clearwater has a bay on the northern shore of Lake
Athabaska named after him, Clearwater Bay. Located 59 degrees 41’ N, 108
degrees 38’ W near Uranium City.
Saskatchewan’s World War II Honour Roll
lists Ray Lloyd Clearwater as coming from Weyburn, SK.
Ray Lloyd Clearwater has a listing in the
Remembrance book They Shall Not Grow Old. Again, it notes
him coming from Weyburn Sk.
Ray Clearwater is listed on both the
Veterans Affairs Canada and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission data base
and web site as “Roy” Clearwater.
The Dinslaken area of the Ruhr Valley was
noteworthy later in World War II when the American Ninth Army crossed the Rhine
River on a floating bridge at Rhineberg on March 9, 1945, as part of “Operation
Plunder”. Several headquarters were maintained in the Dinslaken area.
Dinslaken was the site of violent
anti-Semitic riots at the Dinslaken Jewish Orphanage School on Crystal
Night November 9, 1938 that has been well documented. On that night,
all Jewish men in the town under the age of 60 years were sent to Dachau Concentration
Camp, all Jewish houses were burnt down and the Synagogue was destroyed.
The Dinslaken Labour Camp, filled with
female Hungarian Jews, was liberated on March 23, 1945 by the 29th
U.S. Infantry Division.
References:
Ray Lloyd Clearwater #J16865/R02287 RCAF
Library & Archives Canada
Terry Barkley, Airdrie, AB (niece) tbarkley@telus.net
Shirley Black (nee Walton), Edmonton, AB
(niece) blackian@interbaun.com
Don Guinn, Saskatoon, SK (12th
Squadron) dguinn@saskenergy.com
No. 626 Squadron, RAF www.626squadron.org
web site by Dave Stapleton
No. 12 Squadron, RAF www.12sqn.net web site
Bomber Command www.raf.mod.uk/bomber
command/oct44.html web site
Marc Hall, Sevenoaks, Kent (great nephew of
Sgt. Richard Wolsey #1402906, RAFVR)
The Ex-Air Gunners Association of
Canada www.airmuseum/mag
John Moyles
British Commonwealth Air Training
Plan Museum www.airmuseum.ca
web site
Wartime Story of F/O Fred Shorney No. 12 Squadron www.pd201.com
web site
The Thirteenth Mission, Lancaster KB726, CBC Canada, Toronto DVD
Books:
Allison,
Les Canadians
in the Royal Air Force, Self, Roland, MB, 1978
Bashow,
David L. No
Prouder Place, Canadians & Bomber Command, Vanwell, St. Catharines, 2005
Blyth,
Kenneth K. Cradle
Crew,
Sunflower Press, Manhattan, 1997
Broome,
Frank Dead Before Dawn, Pen
& Sword, Barnsley, 2008
Coughlin, Tom The Dangerous Sky Canadian
Airmen, Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1968
Currie, Jack Lancaster Target,
New English Library, London, 1977
Dunmore, Spencer Wings For Victory,
McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1994
Mackay, Niall Over The Hills To
Georgian Bay, Boston Mills Press, Erin, 1981
Richards, Denis The Hardest Victory RAF Bomber
Command, Norton, London, 1994
Roberts, Leslie There Shall Be Wings,
Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, 1959
Rolfe, Mel Looking Into Hell, True Stories,
Arms & Armour, London, 1995
Thompson, Walter Lancaster To Berlin,
Collins, London, 1985
Yates, Harry Luck and Lancaster, Airlife,
London, 1999
Where Do We Go From Here?
When we visit our daughter and son-in-law
again this spring in Belgium, we fully intend to both visit Reichswald Forest
Military Cemetery as well as to visit the location believed to be the site
where the remains of NF928 were found, south of Dinslaken, Germany. Greg, my
son-in-law, is stationed at NATO’s SHAPE with the Royal Air Force and he has a
particular interest in this project as well. Unfortunately, it may never be
possible to find out what actually happened to NF928 however, if nothing else,
at least we now know more about Lynn’s cousin, Ray Lloyd Clearwater, and the
sacrifices he made to his country and family.
Latest News – May, 2008
Through Marc Hall and his German friend
Sascha sascha@saschaweltgen.de
fragments of a Lancaster bomber, believing to be NF928, have been found:
A message received from Sascha;
” I received official permission from a
forest ranger called Hirschkamp, east of Hiesfeld, where the ranger has found
some debris before. (Peter has identified one debris as part of a Lancaster).
We found another five debris (lying above ground) within a huge area and it is possible
that they also belong to an Avro Lancaster. If it is so-maybe maybe they could
descent to the Lancasters of 14.10.1944. I have not checked the area with my
detector till today but I will do so in the next few weeks.”
The fragments are thought to be large lumps
of aircraft fuselege and wing plus a fuel guage. Marc, Sascha and hopefully
myself, hope to return to the area in on June 22. 2008 with metal detectors,
voice recorder, camcorder and GPS. Will also look for one or more visual
witnesses.
More Latest News –
June 24, 2009
Message received from Marc Hall that he has
located a Canadian eye-witness
More Latest News - November 11, 2009
Marc Hall has returned from a trip to
Duisberg - "he met many eyewitnesses and found metal parts of KB 800 with a
metal detector". He visited Stadt archive to view documents at Dinslaken.
More to come.
I just found this post on another blog site - shocked that I had not seen this previously and was not aware of the tragic consequences of the bombing:
I just found this post on another blog site - shocked that I had not seen this previously and was not aware of the tragic consequences of the bombing:
"Operation Hurricane
Operation Hurricane
In an entry on this site (http://goo.gl/StTPGL), I wrote about how a couple of my cousins died as civilians during the Sheffield ‘Operation Crucible’ Blitz of 1940. In contrast, in this entry, I write about how three of my German cousins died as civilians during World War II. To set the background as to how I lost English and German cousins in World War II, I’ll explain that through the paternal side of my family, my ancestry can be traced back to Rhineland in Prussia (now Germany). My second great grandfather, Johann Mölleken, came to England with his family circa 1860.
My second cousin, twice removed is called Emilie Mölleken and she was born in 1906 in Hiesfeld, Dinslaken, Rheineland, Prussia. In 1932, she married Friedrich Gerhard Van Laak. Together, they issued three children called Fritz (born 1932), Erwin (born 1934) and Heinz-Dieter (born 1937).
Friedrich Gerhard Van Laak owned a house painting and pharmacy business in Hiesfeld. With tax-payer’s money during World War II, the basement of this store was developed into an air raid shelter. This basement therefore always had to be accessible.
Hiesfeld
In the early hours of 14th October 1944, the Royal Air Force launched a massive 1000 bomber air raid, codenamed ‘Operation Hurricane’ on the German city of Duisburg in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The route of the bombers took them over Hiesfeld. At 08:46, Hiesfeld air defence made a direct hit on a four engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber flying in at 52,000 meters altitude. Consequently, a second Avro Lancaster was also affected. The two bombers were due to hit the Hiesfeld air defence and their numbers were NF928 and JB297.
A reporter filmed this event out of another aeroplane. Because of the great quantity of bombs and the half full tanks of fuel that the bombers were carrying, the force of the explosions ripped the bombers apart and the cascading large and small debris scattered for miles in and around Hiesfeld. Several witnesses described how aeroplane and body parts fell from the smoke filled sky. Fires broke out across the entire of Hiesfeld. This was followed by sporadic bomb explosions. Several unexploded bombs also scattered around aimlessly. At several points dead Avro Lancaster crew members were found with unopened parachutes still on their backs.
Avro Lancaster
The Van Laak store was hit by falling aircraft debris and was completely destroyed by subsequent fire. In the air raid shelter underneath the store were twenty three civilians, all of which were killed. A fire-fighter, who was recovering the bodies there, reported that the lungs of the causalities were burst due to the huge explosion and pressure wave. They were found with bloody foam at the mouth but otherwise, their bodies were unharmed. The shelter did not collapse and so all of the causalities were found, still sat down. The inputs and outputs of the air raid shelter were filled in, during the explosion. Paint buckets caught fire and exploded which hampered the rescue attempts.
Near to the Van Laak store was a greengrocer’s store and people had gone to buy cabbage that morning. Once the air raid sirens sounded, the people fled into the Van Laak air raid shelter.
Sadly, Emilie and two of her children (my third cousins), Erwin and Heinz-Dieter were killed in the blast. Their eldest child, Fritz (still alive at the time of writing) survived because he was in School.
All 14 crew members of NF928 and JB297 were recovered and buried in the cemetery of Dinslaken. In 1947, they were reburied in the Imperial Forest Cemetery of Kleve.
Special thanks are owed to my cousin, Hermann Mölleken, who provided details of this tragic account."
Bob Richardson
95 McCleave Crescent,
Brampton, ON L6Y 4Y9
(416) 434-7784
mustangbooks@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment