207007 Sgt. John Henry Phillips Royal Air Force 101 Sqn from:Crewe, Cheshire (d.23rd Aug 1943) John Phillips is my Uncle, he walked 20 miles from Crewe to Stoke with his friends to sign up when he was told his apprenticeship would exclude him from being called up. He trained as a pilot in Winnipeg, Canada but lost his wings after a brawl and ended up as an Upper Gunner on Lancaster ED328 SR-S based at Ludford Magna flying over 20 missions. He was Killed in Action 23/24th August 1943 over Berlin. His Crew were:
- F/S R.C Naffin RAAF
- Sgt D.M Ellis RAF
- F/S N.J Bullen RAAF
- F/S D.J Tressider RAAF
- Sgt J.A Currey RAF
- Sgt J.H Phillips RAF
- Sgt E.J Phillips RAAF
They were all buried at the time with full military honours in the local cemetery and are now buried at the Berlin War Cemetery.
Update:
I was informed on the 14th June 2013 that the LAO, a historic crash investigation team based at the Finowfurt Air Museum nr Berlin had, after weeks of searching found the crash site of my uncle's Lancaster, they have also found an eye witness who was 15 at the time.
Lancaster ED328 SR-S took off from Ludford Magna on the night of the 23rd August for a 300 strong raid on Berlin, the plane was never heard from again and the crew were buried in a local cemetery in Beisenthal, Germany before being buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery.
It appears from accounts that they were attacked by 2 or 3 German Nightfighters and the plane exploded mid air scattering them and the plane over a 1 kilometre area. This is amazing find as it is the 70th year anniversary of their death this year.
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