The Crew

Thus far, this thread has concentrated almost exclusively on the wreckage of ED908, but after yesterday’s exchanges, it is perhaps now time that we all paused to reflect on the brave men who were flying her, and that I provided a bit more information about the events of 20 July 1944.

The crew were:

Sqn Ldr James Foulsham, DFC, AFC, Pilot, 109 Sqn
Flt Lt John Swarbrick, DFC, Navigator, 109 Sqn
Flt Lt Graham Bice Aungiers, Navigator, 582 Sqn
Flt Sgt Thomas Charles Bower, Wireless Operator, 582 Sqn
Sgt James Gresty, Flight Engineer, 582 Sqn
Plt Off George Reginald MacArthur, RCAF, Mid-upper Gunner, 582 Sqn
Flt Sgt Edgar Walter Roslyn Pratt, Rear Gunner, 582 Sqn
Sqn Ldr John Bentley Weightman, DFC, Pilot, 582 Sqn

At 1420hrs on 20 July 1944, nine Lancasters of 582 Sqn and one Mosquito of 109 Sqn (the Oboe reserve aircraft) took off from Little Staughton as one of two waves (the other which was aborted was from 156 Sqn as mentioned in post #94) to attack the V1 flying bomb launch site in the Forêt du Croc, south of Dieppe, on a daylight raid. Cloud had been forecast.

Ben Weightman would have been at the controls when the aircraft took off, and he would have changed seats with James Foulsham as they prepared for the bombing run. It can only be imagined how unnerving it must have been to the formation flying on a steady course and at a height of about 16,000ft, unable to deviate or take avoiding action because they were following the Oboe track, to find that the skies were unexpectedly clear as they approached the target at about 1620hrs and as they came within the range of the gun battery at Arques-la-Bataille. They would have known that the German defences were able to follow the pre-determined arc of their course. But they pressed on regardless, maintaining course and height.

The Oboe leader Lancaster pathfinder’s task was clear – to mark the target by dropping its bombs when signalled to do so. The events of 20 July 1944 are described briefly in “Beam Bombers – the Secret War of 109 Sqn” by Michael Cumming, and at slightly greater length in “Master Bombers” by Sean Feast, and also in “Pathfinder Force” by Gordon Musgrove from which the following quotation (slightly paraphrased) is taken: After being hit by flak, with its port inner engine on fire and with flames streaming back to the tail-plane, “Foulsham knew that he was too near the target to allow the reserve aircraft, a Mosquito, to take over in time and he also knew that if he jettisoned his bombs the other Lancasters would bomb too soon. Unfortunately this outstanding feat of courage was wasted because the Lancaster immediately behind the leader was hit by flak too and its bombs were released involuntarily, and the other crews released when they saw its bombs go down.”

ED908 (60-Z) went on to drop its bombs, almost immediately after which an explosion caused the port wing to break off before the crew could bale out having achieved their mission. The RAF Little Staughton Operations Record Book states, with clinical detachment, “Only the leader is considered to have attacked the target, and 8 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito are therefore classified as abortive.”

When I started this thread I received a private message asking if any photographs of the crew were available. Having contacted the families for their consent, I now attach some pictures. On behalf of the relatives I would ask only that if anyone is minded to publish or use these photographs elsewhere, electronically or otherwise, that they please first contact me by private message on this forum.

They show all the crew except John Swarbrick, whose family is the only one I have not been able to contact since first visiting France and starting my quest in 2011 to ensure that the members of the crew are not forgotten.

According to information publicly available, John Swarbrick was the son of William Swarbrick and Margery Hargreaves who married in Preston, Lancashire, in 1909. The 1911 census shows that John had an elder brother, William, born in 1910. John was born in 1912. He was the oldest member of the crew at the age of 32 in 1944. As far as I can tell there were no other siblings. Swarbrick was a very common name in Lancashire at the time, and so I have not readily been able to follow what happened to John’s brother, William.

John Swarbrick married Marion Morris in Preston, Lancashire, in 1935. It is known that they had a daughter, Ann Marie, born in Preston in 1944, who appears to have married James F Harrison in Amounderness, Lancashire, in 1965. John Swarbrick’s widow, Marion, remarried and this may have been to John Garth in Preston in 1947, but this is not certain. After this the trail is difficult to follow.

Going back a further generation, William Swarbrick (the elder) was born in Preston in 1885 and was the son of John Swarbrick and Mary Houghton, who married in 1882. William was their only son, but he had two sisters, Fanny (born in 1887) and Mabel (born in 1889). Fanny Swarbrick married David H Moffat in Preston in 1915: they appear to have had two children, Joan (born 1915) and Betty (born 1919). Mabel Swarbrick married George A Adams in Preston in 1911: they appear to have had two children Geoffrey S (born 1913) and Dora K (born 1916). These events have been ascertained simply by searching indexes and have not been verified independently, so my apologies if there is anyone I have mistakenly identified. Unless John Swarbrick’s brother, William, had a male heir, it is likely that any surviving relatives will be from the female line and therefore with a different surname.

If any member of the family, or somebody who knows them, reads this thread and would like to get in touch, I would be delighted to hear from you. There is much information to share.

The epitaph on the headstone of one of the crew in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery is an abbreviated form of a quotation from the History of the Peloponnesian Wars by the Greek historian Thucydides. It seems entirely apposite:

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.

ED908 (60-Z)

The photographs posted to date seem to have run their course, and so the identification of wreckage has now come to what I hope will be only a temporary halt pending further discoveries in France. Over 70 items have been identified so far, many with the help of members of this forum for which I am most grateful. My thanks again to all have contributed their comments.

The lull provides me with an opportunity to share what I think must be a unique set of photographs which I have circulated to the relatives of the crew and which I reproduce here with the consent of the copyright holder whose logo is embedded in the photos.

The pictures tell the story of the Lancaster Oboe-leader attack on Rollez on 12 July 1944, just the second mission of its type, led by ED908 (60-Z).

1. This shows the pilot’s eye view from 60-H of 60-J flying alongside with its D-Day markings clearly visible on the wing. Beyond it is 60-Z being flown by a team from 109 Sqn. A close up of 60-Z from this photograph is shown underneath the four pictures. This is the only photo I have managed to locate of ED908 in action.
2. This is another less clear picture of the aircraft flying in echelon with 60-Z still in the lead.
3. Shortly before reaching the target, there was an Oboe equipment failure in 60-Z and so the aircraft dropped back , its place being taken by the reserve Mosquito from 109 Sqn, HS-W, which is now seen on the far side of 60-J. The aircraft are on the bombing run with their bomb doors open.
4. Finally, a very blurred picture of 60-J dropping its bombs.

It can readily be seen how close to each other the aircraft had to fly in order to ensure a concentrated bombing attack. The rest of the formation would have been following behind, probably in threes. The Operations Record Book of RAF Little Staughton shows that with effect from the attack on Nucourt on 15 July (from which ED908 was withdrawn as its equipment was unserviceable), “ a slightly different technique was to be used in this recently-developed type of attack” and the aircraft were to fly in “a formation of 6 a/c in pairs (in echelon to port) followed by a crocodile of 10 in pairs.”

Eight days after the Rollez attack, ED908 was shot down on what was only its sixth mission as the 582 Sqn pioneer Oboe Lancaster (two other missions having been aborted). It had previously flown a total of 32 missions as OL-J with 83 Sqn before being transferred to the PFF NTU and fitted with Oboe. The photos show that the aircraft had retained its H2S blister, although this equipment would have been superfluous with Oboe installed. An eye-witness comment from one of those flying in 60-G alongside ED908 on 20 July said; “We were going to attack in a twin-line astern formation with slight variations in height to avoid the slipstream of the aircraft in front. We were the second aircraft and flying about 15 or 20 feet above the leader with our port wing just over and slightly behind his starboard wing. We had been practising but this was the first time we had done it operationally.” This same positioning between 60-H and 60-J is exactly what is seen in the photos.

peterfee138,

I think this may be a piece of metal for some sort of attachment. Unfortunately I do not have the piece – everything is in France. I have been unable to work out what it might be – the fragment is very small.

“Also towards the top is a distinct outline shape ? any further info on that? ”

If you extend your top red arrow beyond the hole – there is a triangular type shape or blemish or repair ?

Peter

There seem to have been over 500 views over the Easter weekend but, sadly, no-one has yet been able to offer any help on my last post.

I have been carrying out a bit more research, and I have found a picture which describes the cylindrical object at the bottom left of picture X4 as a protective cap, presumably for the No.30 tail pistol above it?

Aside from any information anyone is able to provide about the tools in X3 (about which I still know nothing), I would be glad to hear from anyone who can confirm the relative sizes of the No.28 and No.30 tail pistols. The arming fork pictured might fit either – are they the same size? I remain intrigued to discover the function of the piece marked “No.28 IZ” which seems to have a larger diameter than the end of the No.30 tail pistol.

I have also found a picture of a piece identical to the large circular rusty item in X4, but without anything other than a general description of it as being one of several pieces of ordnance.

Some identified items: 11 – hydraulic balancer for bomb bay door jacks

The only item to have drawn a response from my last two postings was one I added as an afterthought – the bomb bay jack attachment! However, this is not surprising as it is coming to the time when there are few more photographs to share until such time as the weather improves and maybe our friends in France can find some more items to keep us occupied!

However, I do have some pictures of items found at Little Staughton, ED908 (60-Z)’s base, some time ago by one of the relatives of a crew member. Some pieces we have identified, and others are a mystery. I will leave it for a short while to allow for any further comments on posts to date before I deal with these.

The attached item, a hydraulic balancer, will therefore probably, at least for the time being, be the last in the series of identified items. It seems not to have been installed in the early versions of the Lancaster as it does not appear in the relevant illustration in AP 2062A. It was needed to ensure that the pressure was equalised on both sides of the hydraulic system so that the two bomb bay doors opened evenly at the same time.