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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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90 Squadron Crest
18/19.11.1943 No. 90 Squadron Stirling III ED996 WP-H Fl/Lt. Leonard A. Smith

Operation: Ludwigshafen-am-Rhein, Mannheim, Germany

Date: 18/19th November 1943

Unit: No. 90 Squadron

Type: Stirling MkII

Serial: EH996

Code: WP-H

Base: RAF Wratting Common, Cambridgeshire

Location: Fußgönnheim near Ludwigshafen, Germany

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Leonard Anthony Smith AUS/416521 RAAF Age 29. Killed

2nd Pilot: Fl/Sgt. John Stuart Selby Fleming NZ/421038 RNZAF Age 27. Killed

Fl/Eng: Fl/Sgt. Edward Northard 1697726 RAFVR PoW No: 263499 Camp: Stalag 4B

Nav: P/O. Jack William Snook 161695 RAFVR Age 25. Killed

Air/Bmr: F/O. John Hampton 136895 RAFVR Age 28. Killed (1)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Stuart Edward Simpson NZ/421995 RNZAF Age 23. Killed

Mu/Gnr: Sgt. Denis Reginald Bailey 1395673 RAFVR Killed

R/Gnr: Sgt. John Wilson Richardson 1300201 RAFVR Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Wratting Common in Cambridgeshire at 17:10 hrs to bomb Ludwigshafen-am-Rhein near Mannheim - some 395 aircraft taking part in a simultaneous raid with 444 other aircraft bombing Berlin. The first time during the war that two large scale attacks made on the same evening.

The bombers commenced their drop at 20:21 hrs - completing it 7 minutes later - the bombers then turned for home which is when Stirling EH996 was attacked by Ofw. Erich Becker (2) of 2./NJG6. He claimed this Stirling at 20:56 hrs, his third claim of the war.

90 Squadron lost another crew during the operation:

Stirling III LK379 WP-F Flown by 22 year old, P/O. Ross McCulloch Simpson AUS/415279 RAAF, from Sydney, Australia - killed with all other 6 crew.

(1) The family of F/O. Hampton lost another son just one month later: 23 year old Sgt. George Hampton 1131389 RAFVR - killed whilst serving as a W/Op/Air/Gnr. with 78 Squadron on Halifax II LW338 EY-Q during an operation to Frankfurt. Al the crew lost their lives.

(2) Ofw. Erich Becker was killed on the 24th February 1944 at Marlow near Warnemünde during air combat. (3 night, 1 day claims)

Above - five of these seven men were killed! Wigram 1942 (possibly on award of Pilots Badges - they were all presented their badges on 28 November 1942): Top three: Fl/Sgt. A.R. Young, Fl/Sgt. John Stuart Selby Fleming (1), Fl/Sgt. Graham Braddock (2) Centre two: W/O. Neil Evan McLeod MacDonald (3) Sgt. Francis Alexander Jack Scott (4) Front (seated) Fl/Sgt. D.B. Thomas, Fl/Sgt. Harold Leslie Raymond Richards (5)

(1) 27 year old, Fl/Sgt. John Stuart Selby Fleming NZ/421038 - Killed on the 19th November 1943 whilst with 90 Squadron. Buried at Rheinberg War Cemetery.
(2) 24 year old, Fl/Sgt. Graham Braddock NZ/421012 RNZAF - Killed on the 29th August 1943. Buried at Dyce Old Churchyard in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
(3) 23 year old, W/O. Neil Evan McLeod MacDonald NZ/42427 RNZAF - Killed on the 28th December 1944 whilst with 33 Squadron. Buried at Bath Cemetery (Haycombe)
(4) 28 year old, Sgt. Francis Alexander Jack Scott NZ/421105 RNZAF - Killed on the 28th May 1944 whilst with 75 Squadron. Buried at Gilze-En-Rijen R.C Cemetery.
(5) 28 year old, Fl/Sgt. Harold Leslie Raymond Richards NZ/42457 RNZAF - Killed whilst serving with 622 Squadron on the 18th November 1943. Buried at Lachalade Churchyard, Meuse, France.

Burial details:

Crew initially buried at Fußgönnheim - reinterred

CWWG at end of the war.

Fl/Lt. Leonard Anthony Smith. Rheinberg War Cemetery Rheinberg Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. Born on the 17th February 1914 at Port Augusta, South Australia, the son of Albert Augustine and Jean Helena Smith, of Ceduna, South Australia.

Fl/Sgt. John Stuart Selby Fleming. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. Son of John Stuart Fleming, and of Norah Fleming (née Hearn), Wellington City, New Zealand.

P/O. Jack William Snook. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. Son of William Morgan Snook and Ada Charlotte Snook, husband of Joan Snook, of Scarborough, Yorkshire, England.

F/O. John J Hampton. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. Son of Thomas and Clara Ann Hampton, of Fazakerley, Liverpool, England. Husband of Mildred Molly Hampton. His brother George is buried at Durnbach War Cemetery. Collective grave 6.A.15-21.

Fl/Sgt. Stuart Edward Simpson. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. Son of James Wensley Simpson and Mercy Grace Simpson, of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Sgt. Denis Reginald Bailey. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. No further details - are you able to assist?

Sgt. John Wilson Richardson. Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Coll. grave 20. A. 28-31. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researcher Michel Beckers for Aircrew Remembered August 2016. With thanks to Steve Heason for Fl/Sgt. Stuart Simpson photograph, Harry Hunn for P/O. Jack Snook photograph - others from the Michel Beckers collection.

KTY 10-07-2017 Page updated

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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