[niallc]

Alex

Alex
16 SAAF’s ORB and its various OpSums are a bit contradictory on losses for this day (6 a/c to attack marshalling yards at Polycastron), but there appear to be 2:
Aircraft “A”, Flt Lt Wickens (pilot) and P/O Pygram (Nav)
Aircraft “R”, Lt Snyman and Lt Ribbink
Both were attributed to flak.
Although in the CO’s monthly “Schedule of Ops” he says that the crew of “A” had “subsequently been repatriated via the British Military Mission” this clearly isn’t the case. It appears to be Snyman and Ribbink who made contact with the Partisans and were subsequently extracted, while Wickens and Pygram became PoW.
(Wickens is 47997 Arthur Stanley Wickins and Pygram is 151275 John Ronald Pygram.(both RAF))
The OpRep for the day gives no serial numbers, but an addendum to it issued in October (presumably after the return of Snyman and Ribbink to the unit) puts Lt WM Snyman and Lt R Ribbink in NE717/”R”. This serial is a bit unfortunate as, although NE717 was indeed SOC in the ME during September ’44, it’s also a very possible typo for NE817.
So: two losses, two possible serials (only one of them particularly robust), 2 crews and fates, but no obvious (to me) way of joining them up:-(
HTH
Niall