Operation: Wuppertal, Germany

Date: 29th/30th May 1943 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit No: 75 Squadron, 3 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Stirling III

Serial: EH881

Code: AA:Z

Base: RAF Newmarket, Suffolk

Location: Aachen-Eilendorf, Germany

Pilot: Flt Sgt. John Henry Roy Carey 414242 RNZAF Age 27. KiA

Flt Eng: WO. Thomas Edward Beaver 1276184 RAFVR Age 21. PoW * (1)

Nav: Sgt. John Lewes Roberts 411593 RNZAF Age 32. PoW No: 236 **

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. Percy Gibbson Knight 417282 RNZAF Age 29. PoW No: 192 **

WOp/Air Gnr: Flt Sgt. Maurice Archibald Brady 39987 RNZAF Age 24. PoW No: 79 **

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Flt Sgt. William Alfred Owens 1250494 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Norman Alexander MacLeod 404079 RNZAF Age 26. KiA

* Stalag Luft 6, Heydekrug, Memelland now Šilutė in Lithuania.

** Stalag 357, Kopernikus at Thorn (Toruń) in Poland.

Left to right: Flt Sgt. John R. Carey, Flt Sgt. Norman A. MacLeod and WO. Thomas E. Beaver

REASON FOR LOSS:

719 aircraft attacked the town of Wuppertal, the home of the Goldschmitt firm which produced Tego-Film, a wood adhesive used in the production of the He162 ‘Volksjäger’ and Focke-Wulf Ta 154 ‘Moskito’.

Around 1000 acres was destroyed in the firestorm that followed - 211 industrial buildings and nearly 4,000 houses were totally destroyed. A figure of 3,400 fatalities on the ground has been recorded.

Bomber Command did not escape lightly on this operation losing some 36 aircraft. 75 Squadron losing 4 aircraft alone:

Stirling I EF398 AA:A - Flown by Fg Off. Richard B. Vernazoni, who was KiA along with his crew;
Stirling III BF561 AA:O - Flown by Flt Sgt. Sydney R. Thornley, who was KiA along with his crew;
Stirling III BK776 JN:B - Flown by Plt Off. Raymond F. Bennett, who along four (4) other crew was KiA and three (3) became PoWs.

EH881 was claimed by Lt. Johannes Hager from 4./NJG1 over 3 km NE Brand, 6 km ESE Aaachen 4.000 m. at 02:28 hrs.

Above: Lt. Johannes Hager of 6./NJG1 (archives)

His aircraft was hit by return fire from the Stirling and all three (3) of the crew were injured. His flight engineer Ofw. Günther Meinel baled out of the Dornier 217 N-1 over Heimbach during the return to Florennes. Lt. Hager although regularly losing conscious through lack of blood managed to return and land at 02.57 hrs. When the Aircraft bust into flames on touch down, killing his wireless operator, Uffz. Fritz Leda. Hager managed to scramble clear, but spent a few weeks in Namur recovering from head injuries. He survived the war and was credited with twenty (20) confirmed Abschüsse with twenty-one (21) awaiting confirmation. Johannes died on the 2nd September 1993, age 72.

Note: Flt Sgt. Carey, Sgt. Roberts, Sgt. Knight, Flt Sgt. Brady, Flt Sgt. Owens and Flt Sgt. MacLeod were aboard Stirling I BF398 AA:P which crashed after engine failure on a training mission on the night of the 15th/16th May 1943. They and the passenger survived and the Pilot, Sgt. Leslie C. Wright 1394453 RAFVR and Rear Gunner, Sgt. Alan J. Francis 1815847 RAFVR were killed.

(1) As WO. Beaver baled out his parachute as it opened struck him under the chin, forcing his head back and rendering him unconscious. He came to in a field but he could not move and remained in the pouring rain for two (2) days. He was eventually discovered by three (3) German nurses, taken to the nearby hospital at Aachen, where they operated on his broken neck.

After his recovery he was transferred to Dulag Luft, Oberusel, for interrogation. He was then transferred east across Germany to Stalag Luft 6 in Heydekrug, Memelland. He was later to be transferred to Stalag Luft 3 at Sagan-Silesia, Germany.

However, the transfer he had already been transferred to the town of Annaberg-Buchholz, on the Czech border. From there he was transferred to Stalag Luft 1 at Barth. He was then taken to nearby Rostock and transported by sea to Gothenburg in Sweden for repatriation.

He arrived back in England August 1944 and was admitted to Weston hospital near Bristol, on the 15th September 1944. Thereafter transferred to the 2nd ACD on the 31st October 1944. He was finally discharged on the 18th May 1945. Thomas died in 1989 from bone marrow cancer at Ilkeston Community Hospital, aged 66 years.

Burial Details:

Flt Sgt. John Henry Roy Carey. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Grave 6.A.11. Born circa 1916 in Westport, West Coast, New Zealand. Son of Thomas Carey and of Ivy (née Dimmick) Carey of Westport, Nelson, New Zealand

Flt Sgt. William Alfred Owens. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Grave 6.A.13. Birth registered in the 1st Qtr of 1922 in Pontypridd, Glamorgan. Son of Thomas and Elizabeth (née Chamberlain) Owens of Gelli, Glamorgan. Husband of Edna Mary (née Hopkins) Owens of Gelli, Glamorgan, Wales.

Flt Sgt. Norman Alexander MacLeod. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Grave 6.A.12. Son of Norman Alexanda and of Grace (née Bell) MacLeod of Hinakura, Wellington, New Zealand.

Researched by Michel Beckers with assistance from Shane Beaver for Aircrew Remembered. Further information added to this remembrance page by the webmaster. Dedicated to all the relatives of the crew. Reviewed and updated with new information by Aircrew Remembered (Jul 2026)

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