Remembering Today 25/6/44 Pilot Officer F.D.Roberts 173964 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 97 Sqd

ROBERTS, FRANK DOUGLAS

Rank:

Pilot Officer

Trade:

W.Op./Air Gnr.

Service No:

173964

Date of Death:

25/06/1944

Regiment/Service:

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve



97 Sqdn.

Awards:

D F M

Grave Reference

Plot 1. Row A. Grave 26.

Cemetery

MARQUISE COMMUNAL CEMETERY

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2280166/ROBERTS,%20FRANK%20DOUGLAS

 

Details of the above loss......

24-25 June 1944

97 Squadron
Lancaster III NE124 OF-J
Op. Prouville

Took off from Coningsby at 2253 hours to attack a flying bomb site. Outbound the aircraft came under a sustained attack from a night-fighter and set on fire before crashing near Marles-sur-Canche (Pas-de-Calais) 5 km east of Montreuil.

Crew.

F/L. W W. Walton DFC. Evaded
F/S. L C G. Mayhew +
F/S. W. Williams. pow
P/O. E. Rees. pow
P/O. F D. Roberts DFM +
F/S. J W. McLaren. pow
F/S. J D. Hadlington +

P/O. Roberts was Gazetted on 2 June 1944 following service with 57 Squadron.

Source - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.5 - W R. Chorley

 

Slight correction to the above, as I've just returned from a visit to family in Melbourne.
Found out that son's father in law had a brother who was killed by flak burst on his first Op with 97 Pathfinder Squadron with most of this crew (McLaren replaced him as mid upper gunner). The pilot is William Mollison Walton, DFC, not W W Walton.

They were on ND764
ORB report reads:-
Lancaster Mk III. ND764 (E) F/L W.M. Walton, F/Sgt L.C.G. Mayhew, F/Sgt W. Williams, P/O E. Rees, P/O F.D. Roberts, F/O H.T. Ward, F/Sgt J.D. Hadlington.
Up 2202 Down 0142. 6 x 7” clusters, 1 x 4000lb HC, 8 x 500lb MC, 3 x 4.5” reco flares. Weather clear over Lille, smoke haze. Target identified on H2S. First marker, soon after original illumination, was seen obscured, and bombing was stopped while further flares were dropped to aid re-marking. After we had dropped our reco flares, we orbited until instructions were clearly understood to bomb. There was considerable interference on VHF making communications exceedingly difficult. Bombing round second markers appeared very good. No apparent scatter.

At position 51.09N 02.45E at 0023 hours at 9,000 ft on homeward run, predicted heavy flak damaged mid upper turret, blew off left hand gun, damaged hydraulics, rear of fuselage, tail unit, DR compass, navigation light, intercom; all u/s as a result. Mid upper gunner found to be hit and was removed from turret. Reasonable landing made without intercom. Flying Officer Ward’s injuries fatal.

Henry (Harry) Thomas Ward was born 23 April 1921 and enlisted on 17 December 1941 just after Pearl Harbor. He completed 13 raids whilst with 57 Squadron before joining 97 Squadron in late April 1944. I think Walton was his pilot, his DFC citation mentions that he had been on 8 raids to Berlin, on at least one occasion returning with an engine out.

994884 W Williams is recorded as a PoW but no Camp or PoW Number recorded, presumably as late in the War. William Mollison Walton successfully evaded but Rees and McLaren were captured, Camp L3. PoW No. 6504. Surname: Rees, Initial: E. Service No: 174049. Service: RAF
Camp 9C. PoW No. 53359. Surname: McLaren. Initials: J W. Service No: 1303604. Service: RAF.

The crew lists a H Ross for the 11 May trip, but I feel that was an error for E Rees, who features in all the other crew lists with Walton etc...
Harry had just paid £16 for a tailored uniform having just been promoted to Flying Officer and there is correspondence in his file regarding that with a Mrs E Miles who the family had much airgram correspondence with.
At present we don't know how Harry knew Mrs Miles, 49 Sunray Avenue Bromley, as that doesn't seem to tie in with any RAF connection. Best guess is that perhaps he was walking out with her daughter.

ND764 was repaired and returned to 97 Sqdn, only to be lost on 9/10 June 1944. The only survivors were Pritchard and Bethel.

Leonard Mayhew is the only CWGC burial in Marles sur Canche and there is a commemoration plaque regarding the crash there.

Should any of the relatives of the crew read this, please get in touch. I haven't traced any Birth Marriage or Death for William Mollison Walton on Ancestry, perhaps he was from Scotland, as such an unusual middle name ought to be traceable.

We had help from Geoff (Spidge) but ran out of time before being able to meet up. The plan is for the family to put together a presentation for Ron for Christmas and have his brother Ken fly down from Brisbane with the memorabilia he has to put the entire story of Harry's service life so he will continue to be remembered.

For our part, a trip to Cambridge city Cemetery to pay our respects then up to East Kirkby aviation museum and Coningsby to look at the Lancs on the ground.

 

The pilot was my uncle William Mollison Walton .He was harboured by the French Resistance after baling out.
He returned to this country in September 44.
I have lots of information re this flight which I will post up later.

 

10 June 1944 ND 764
Recherche de France-Crashes 39-45


25 June 1944 NE 124
Recherche de France-Crashes 39-45

TD

 

Thanks for clearing that up Tricky Dicky.
It was indeed NE124 that crashed at Marles sur Canche
I'll post up my Uncle's escape report asap.

 

That sites good as it does provide further information - for example the Escape & Evasion report file ref for your Uncle

TD

 

There is a comprehensive account of the loss of this aircraft and the fate of the crew as researched by Kevin Bending in his Achieve Your Aim (Motto of No 97 Squadron) The History of 97 Squadron in the Second World War.

F/L W M Walton's crew was an experienced one as Kevin Bending records.

F/L Walton's escape and evasion is covered by the National Archives file WO 208/3322 2319 as TD has posted....£3.50 to download.

Photographs of F/S Leonard Mayhew (via Gill Hoyes) and P/O Frank Roberts DFM (via Cora Macauley) are included in the account of the fateful operation.P/O Roberts DFM (Wireless Operator) is shown in his best blue/dress uniform carrying the brevet "S" which came into being in January 1944.

 

Ah! Hello, Stuart, a missing piece arrives!
Thanks, my 2013 posting might seem a little garbled on re reading, but I was focussing on Harry Ward and his crew mates and also the Lanc that was hit.
ND764 was Harry's aircraft, but after repair it was lost with a different crew aboard.
"His" crew mates were on NE124 when that was lost shortly after Harry suffered his fatal wounds in the mid upper turret.

So any info on his crew would be useful to help flesh out Harry's service for his family in Oz.
His brother Ron, passed away 2 years ago now and Ron's widow, Rene, (who is the only one left in the family who knew Harry) is affected by Motor Neurone Disease, so it would be "nice" to add something before it's too late.