40 Squadron Wellington loss cereveteri Raid 17/18 1943

Happy Holidays everyone. My question ins in regards to 40SQ only loss on the Sept 17/18, 1943 of a Wellington bomber. Where is aircraft and crew information available, if any?

[Nick Beale]

Have you tried the squadron Operations Record Books which are available online at the National Archives in the AIR 27 file series?

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

The attack on Cerveteri the following night went less well; with flares scattered and illumination hampered by smoke, most of the bombing was concentrated north of the target. to complete a night of misfortune, one of the illuminators, (W/O B. M. Berven RCAF) caught fire shortly after leaving the target area, and crashed off shore. The 205 Group report on the raid speculates that this might have been caused by a hung-up flare.

17/18 September 1943
No.40 Sqn.
Wellington X HF534:'D'
Op: Cerveteri aerodrome.

Caught fire after leaving target area. All save WO2 Nichols* (buried at Bolsena War Cemetery) are commemorated on the Malta Memorial.

WO1 B. M. Berven DFM, RCAF +
WO2 P E Nichols* RCAF +
WO2 H A Pennell RCAF +
F/Sgt J Hawkyard +
F/Sgt W G Webster +

* Gunby actually quotes "Nicholls"".

See:
Sweeping The Skies - A History of 40 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, 1916-56.
Gunby,David.
Bishop Auckland:The Pentland Press,1995.
pp.236, 241 & 372.

See also: BLME2/Gunby & Temple/A-B/2018/p.73. For completeness, here is what Gunby and Temple have to say:

17-18 Sept 1943
40 Sqn
Wellington X HF534 D
Op: Cerveteri

Took off 1844, Hani West, detailed to bomb the aerodrome at Cerveteri. Went down in flames shortly after leaving the target area. All save WO2 Nichols, whose body, washed ashore, is buried in Bolsena War Cemetery, are commemorated on the Malta Memorial.

WO1 B M Berven DFM RCAF +
WO2 P E Nichols RCAF +
WO2 H A Pennell RCAF +
F/Sgt J Hawkyard +
F/Sgt W G Webster +

Col.