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23rd December 1944On this day:
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Remembering those who died this day.
- Campbell Frederick William. Pilot OFficer (d.23rd December 1944)
- Campbell Frederick. PO (d.23rd December 1944)
- Clinch Frederick. Sgt. (d.23rd Dec 1944)
- Hewitt Kenneth William. Pilot Officer (d.23rd Dec 1944)
- Hobbs Vivian George. Flight Sergeant (d.23rd December 1944)
- Thomas Peter Alfred. Flight Lieutenant (d.23rd December 1944)
- Thomas Peter Alfred. Flight Lieutenant (d.23rd December 1944)
- Uzelman Peter Francis. P/O. (d.23rd Dec 1944)
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
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Want to know more about the 23rd of December 1944? There are:28 items tagged 23rd of December 1944 available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Stories from 23rd December 1944
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Pilot OFficer Frederick William "Teddy" Campbell. RCAF, 582 Squadron. (d.23rd December 1944) I am desperately searching for any information about Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell, known as Teddy, of 582 Sqd RCAF, age 29, of Pembrooke, Nova Scotia who died in action December 23, 1944. He is my half brother's father and we know nothing at all about him. My 70 year-old brother was adopted and never met or knew his Dad. Very sad circumstances. I am determined to search until I have answers. He died while serving his country and deserves to be recognized by his son for his bravery.
Update:
P/O Campbell was with 582 Squadron at the time of his death; the squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
April Perry
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Flight Lieutenant Peter Alfred Thomas. DFC RAF, 582 Squadron. (d.23rd December 1944) I am desperately searching for any information about Pilot Officer Frederick William Campbell, known as Teddy, of 582 Sqd RCAF, age 29, of Pembrooke, Nova Scotia who died in action December 23, 1944. He is my half brother's father and we know nothing at all about him. My 70 year-old brother was adopted and never met or knew his Dad. Very sad circumstances. I am determined to search until I have answers. He died while serving his country and deserves to be recognized by his son for his bravery.
Update:
P/O Campbell was with 582 Squadron at the time of his death; the squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
April Perry
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Flight Lieutenant Peter Alfred Thomas. DFC RAF, 582 Squadron. (d.23rd December 1944) 582 Squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
April Perry
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Flight Sergeant Vivian George Hobbs. RAF, 582 Squadron. (d.23rd December 1944) 582 Squadron lost 5 aircraft on 23/12/44 whilst on operations to Cologne.
Lancaster PB523, took off from Little Stoughton at 10.29hrs. Crew were
F/Lt Peter Alfred Thomas, DFC, RAF 172593, killed, age 22.
F/Sgt Vivian George Hobbs, RAF 1816098, killed age 20
F/O W.E.Vaughan, RCAF, POW
F/Lt A.R.Whittaker, POW
W/O H.Fuller, POW
Sgt G.Fallon, POW
W/O2 Frederick William Campbell, RCAF J/94493, killed, age 29
The Lancaster is believed to have crashed at Oppiter (Limburg), 4km SE of Bree in Belgium, though it is likely some of the crew baled out over Germany.
F/O Hobbs lies in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, his death being attributed to a collapsed parachute canopy. F/L Thomas was originally buried at Oppiter but his grave is now at Heverlee War Cemetery, while WO2 Campbell RCAF, who was laid to rest alongside his skipper, has been taken to Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Holland.
—From Bomber Command War Diaries - Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt
Lancaster PB523 was one of 27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitoes of 8 Group to attack the Gremberg railway yards.
The raid went very badly. The force was split into 3 formations, each led by an Oboe-equipped Lancaster with an Oboe Mosquito as reserve leader. During the outward flight, 2 Lancasters of 35 Squadron collided over the French coast and their crews were all killed. On approaching the target, it was found that the cloud which had been forecast had cleared and it was decided to allow the bombers to break formation and bomb visually; this move was made because the formations would have been very vulnerable to Cologne's flak defences during the long, straight Oboe approach. Unfortunately the order to abandon the Oboe run did not reach the leading Lancaster, a 582 Squadron aircraft piloted by Squadron Leader R A M Palmer DFC (on loan from 109 Squadron), who continued on with his designated role, even though his aircraft was already damaged by flak. German fighters, who were being directed to intercept an American bomber force, also appeared and attacked. The bombs from Squadron Leader Palmer's aircraft were eventually released and hit the target but his plane went down out of control and only the tail gunner escaped, by parachute. Squadron Leader Palmer, on his 110th operation, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the only Oboe VC of the war; his body is buried in the Rheinberg War Cemetery with the other men who died in the Lancaster.
The formation suffered further losses when another Lancaster and a Mosquito were shot down by Flak ANF fighters and a further Lancaster was abandoned by its crew over Belgium. The losses were thus 6 aircraft out of the 30 dispatched.
April Perry
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Pilot Officer Kenneth William Hewitt. DFM. RAFVR, 406 Sqd.. (d.23rd Dec 1944) Kenneth was my late sister's brother-in-law. I only started researching his career after finding his medals in my sister's affects. Kenneth was awarded the DFM whilst serving with 460 sqdr as a Flight Engineer in Lancasters. At that point he was a Sergeant, at some stage he was promoted to Pilot Officer and posted to 582 Sqdr at Little Staunton. On the 23-12-1944 he took off on a raid over Germany (so far target unknown). The aircraft was shot down by fighter and crash landed. Kenneth was the only fatality.
He was 24 years of age. Intend to continue research to find out why he got his DFM. Peter Sherriff
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Sgt. Frederick Clinch. , 90 Squadron. (d.23rd Dec 1944) My brother Sergeant Frederick Clinch who served with 90 Squadron RAFVR and was killed on the 23rd December 1944. Also my brother Flt/Sgt J. J. Clinch DFM served in 97 Squadron and was shot down over Kiel, Germany on the 26th June 1941. Brian Clinch
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PO Frederick "Teddy" Campbell. Royal Canadian Air Force, 582 Sqdn.. (d.23rd December 1944) Does anyone have any information about POWs who were captured on the day that F W Campbell was killed?
Update
Frederick William Campbell was aged 29 when he was killed on 23rd December 1944. He is buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Grave XVII.B.7. He served with 582 Squadron, RAF. April
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P/O. Peter Francis Uzelman. Royal Canadian Air Force, No. 582 Squadron. (d.23rd Dec 1944) Peter Uzelman flew in Lancaster Mk III 60-P with No. 582 Squadron (Pathfinder). Murray Uzelman
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