![]() They are now buried in the Becklingen War Cemetery. The recent ceremony honouring the crew of LL-687, was held at a cemetery in Spreckens, Germany, the initial resting place for five of the Canadians on board. Their names are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial in England. The bodies of the crew from LL-725 were never found. Shortly after the war, they were reburied at the Kiel War Cemetery. The men of NP-716 were initially buried in a mass grave outside the town of Meldorf, Germany. The crews of LL-725 and NP-716 perished during the raid. They are both buried in the Becklingen War Cemetery in northern Germany. Unfortunately, the other two crewmen of DS-634, Sergeant Scott’s friend flight engineer Sergeant Bernard Hofforth and bomb aimer Pilot Officer Ernest Goodwin, were killed in action. These men and Sergeant Scott were the seven who survived and were taken prisoner. Pilot Officer Boehmer’s crew were in Lancaster DS-634 when it crashed near Spieka, Germany. I was especially sad about the latter as he had been a good friend.” Apparently, they too had been shot down and all had managed to escape from the aircraft except the bomb aimer and engineer. From there, he was sent to the railway station, where “the lorry stopped at Stade police station, and most of P/O Boehmer’s crew got on board. None of his crewmates survived.Īfter his landing, Sergeant Scott was discovered by villagers and escorted to the police station. He landed, alone, in a small German village. Sergeant Scott was one of the few men who was able to bail out of his aircraft. Of the 31 men of these four crews, 24 were killed and seven captured as prisoners of war. Lancaster DS-634 and LL-725, and Halifax NP-716 also failed to return from the operation. 6 Group, the only Royal Canadian Air Force group in Bomber Command, put in the air that night, four of the 22 that went missing were from 408 Squadron, including LL-687. This operation ended with a record loss of Canadians from the squadron on a single operation during the entire war. Sergeant Scott and his crewmates were in Lancaster LL-687, which took part in a bombing raid targeting the port town of Hamburg, Germany. 6 Group, in the wee hours of July 29, 1944. This passage from Royal Air Force (RAF) flight engineer Sergeant David Scott’s diary likely echoes similar experiences among several other crews from 408 Squadron, part of the Bomber Command’s No. Someone yelled on the intercom, ‘We’re hit!’, and as I glanced at the engine panel to see the condition of the engines, the Skipper gave the order to ‘Bail out!’ With the 73rd anniversary of these events recently past and Remembrance Day approaching, it is fitting to remember and honour those men who sacrificed so much. This was an unimaginable loss for Goose Squadron. Three other aircraft from 408 Squadron were also lost that day. On July 29, 2017, relatives of the crew of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 408 “Goose” Squadron’s Lancaster LL-687, nicknamed “Berlin Special”, unveiled a memorial plaque near the German town where the aircraft was shot down. Click on the photo under “Image Gallery” to see more photos. ![]()
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