RAF-Bomber crash Photo

[Rothensee]

Hello,

i´m looking for Informations about this picture - see below.
I got a picture from a crashed bomber (maybe RAF Halifax) - see inline-engine in foreground.
This picture came from a hobby-historian around Magdeburg, Germany without an indication of date and place.
I can't identify the 3 Letter code on the fuselage - can anybody help?

IC-K? Maybe 623Sqn? But they flown Stirlings only (Hercules radial engine),
or mirrored an this is NJ-I (NI-L?).

Please have a look to your database, i would be very happy about your positive news. Thank´s.

Greetings Andreas


-> no known losses for the region Magdeburg matches with this code.

[Col Bruggy]

Hedllo,

Possibly a No.78 Squadron Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, coded EY-?, maybe "L" or "J". If so, loss has to be pre-March/April 1942 (No.78 re-equipped with Halifaxes).

Col.

[Alex Smart]

Hello ,
One number of the serial is either a 5 or6 ?
Alex

[Theo Boiten]

Hello Andreas,

I also believe the a/c code is EY, which makes it a 78 Squadron aircraft. Please contact me off board for further details; I believe this is an early-wartime crash at Domersleben near Magdeburg.

Best regards, Theo

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Tuesday-Wednesday 19-20 November 1940
78 Squadron
Whitley V T4156 EY-L
Op:Ruhland Oil Refinery

T/o 1730 Dishforth and set course for an oil refinery at Ruhland (Brandenburg). Hit by flak and crashed 2353 at Domersleben (Sachsen-Anhalt), WSW from the centre of Magdeburg. The two officers had trained pre-war with the RAF(VR) and were commissioned on 29 June and 28 July 1940 respectively. Subsequently, Cawkwell received a mid (Gazetted 31 January 1947).

P/O R E H George - PoW
Sgt J W Knight - PoW
P/O R C Mordaunt - PoW
Sgt S Cawkwell - PoW
Sgt J Wilkinson - PoW

See:
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Vol.1 1939-40.
Chorley,W R.
Hersham:Classic Publications,2013 (2nd.Rev.ed.)
p.242

NB. Whitley V T4156 is identified as, EY-L in BCL1(1st.ed.)/112. In A-B's The Whitley File/Roberts(Comp.),1986.p.69, T4156 is identified as, EY-O!

Col.

[Kaczmarek]

Hi,

perhaps also of interest.

http://aircrewremembered.com/george-reh.html

Kaczmarek

[Alex Smart]

Hello,
Is it known if they abandoned the a/c or stayed with it till the "landing" ?
Alex

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Pilot of No.78 Sqn Whitley V T4156:

741098 P/O (Pilot) Robert Ernest Hinton GEORGE (81058) RAFVR.

Born: 31 March, 1910 - Died: 14 August, 2009.

Robert (Bob) George was born in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk. He attended Great Yarmouth Grammar School and later All Saints School at Bloxham where he excelled at rugby and cricket.

In 1928 he travelled to New Zealand for work, eventually returning to the UK where he went into real estate with his father. Having learnt to fly, he joined the RAF on the outbreak of war. On his 19th bombing mission over Germany, he was shot down and captured. He subsequently spent the remainder of the war as a POW.

In 1949 Bob and his wife, Daphne, migrated to Australia, settling in Brisbane. Here he again worked in real estate (Meldrum & George Real Estate). In 1955 he joined Brisbane Legacy, became a long serving member of the Moorlands Hostel Committee and was heavily involved in the care of orphans. Bob was an active supporter of Red Cross and meals on Wheels.

Bob was transferred to the Retired List in 1986 but continued to be a keen supporter of Legacy. Bob eventually moved into residential care in 2007 and died peacefully on 14 August 2008, aged 99 years.

Brisbane Legacy BULLETIN. August, 2009. p.8.

Col.