EBELING, FREDERICK CLIVE Rank: Pilot Officer Service No: 414129 Date of Death: 06/09/1943 Age: 30 Regiment/Service: Royal Australian Air Force Grave Reference: Coll. grave 2. E. 1-7. Cemetery: CHOLOY WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of Henry Frederick and Mary Ethel Ebeling; husband of Beryl Ebeling, of Casino, New South Wales, Australia.Casualty Details
Loss details! RAAF FATALITIES IN SECOND WORLD WAR AMONG RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS 414129 PilotOfficer EBELING, Frederick Clive Source: AWM 237 (65) NAA : A705, 166/10/160 Micro Film No 463 OAFH Commonwealth War Graves records, W R Chorley : RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Page 296, Volume 1943. Aircraft Type: Halifax Serial number: JD 872 Radio call sign: EY – Q Unit: ATTD 78 SQN RAF Summary: Halifax JD872 took off from RAF Breighton at 1933 hours on the night of 5/6th September 1943, detailed to bomb Mannheim, Germany.. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Crew: RAAF 414129 PO Ebeling, F C Captain (Pilot) RAF Flt Sgt V R Baker, (2nd Pilot) RAF Sgt W Sheffield, (Flight Engineer) RAF PO H W Milligan, (Navigator) RAF Sgt H Salter, (Air Bomber) RAF Sgt P Groom, (Wireless Air Gunner) RAF Sgt W R Huntley, (Mid Upper Gunner) RAF Flt Sgt H J Pratt, (Rear Gunner) The aircraft crashed at St-Hilaire-le-Grand (Marne), 20 miles east of Rheims, France, and all the crew were killed except Sgt Salter who survived the crash and evaded capture. Those killed are buried in the Choloy War Cemetery, Locality Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. Choloy is a village 28kms west of Nancy and 5kms west of Toul a town on the N24 road from Paris to Nancy. Sgt Salter later reported “Outward bound the trip was uneventful until 5 minutes from the target area. The aircraft was attacked without warning from head on starboard bow and below by an unseen fighter. Height was 19,000 feet. I had been preparing to put the aircraft on to the bombing run and it was flying straight and level. Strikes were observed in the port wing and a small fire started. The Mid Upper gunner reported a large part of the port rudder had been shot away. The aircraft appeared to stall and the Captain gave the order ‘prepare to abandon’. The aircraft was brought under control and the order was cancelled. The Captain ordered the bombs to be jettisoned which was done in the outer ring of the target area, and the aircraft then turned on a course for home. About 3000 feet in height had been lost during combat and the aircraft continued at 16,000 feet. In order to keep the aircraft straight and level it was necessary full right rudder continuously. The fire in the port wing had gone out and all engines were running. About one hour after combat at approx 2330 when the a/c was about 100 miles into France, the Flight Engineer said he was going aft to change tanks. He changed over to the port tanks after reporting that the port gauges were U/S as they were showing zero reading for tanks that were presumably full The two port engines immediately cut and it was evident that the tanks were in fact empty having been holed in the fighter attack. The pilot thought the A/c was going into a spin and the abandon order was given. I opened the front escape hatch and jettisoned it while the pilot put the A/c into a steep dive. The A/c went into a spin and the lights went out just as I prepared to leave. The A/c was spinning violently in a steep dive and I was thrown out. I suddenly found my feet go through the open hatch and I pushed my way out. The chute opened and I landed safely in 5 to 10 seconds only some 50 yards away from where the A/c crashed and burnt furiously, with all equipment being destroyed. All the others were killed in the crash.”
