LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4320), Germany, 25 June 1943
Date: 24-25 June 1943
Target: Elberfeld
Total Force: Dispatched – 630, Attacking – 554
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 15, Attacking – 14; No. 466 Dispatched – 14, Attacking – 12; No. 467 Dispatched – 12, Attacking – 11
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,663
Total Aircraft Lost: 34
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1
More suitable targets were found during this period in three cities on the fringe of the Ruhr—Wuppertal, Krefeld and Remscheid. None of these contained industries of first magnitude, but each supplied a proportion of the components, special steels, machine tools and textiles on which depended the heavy industry of the Ruhr. Wuppertal consists of the twin towns of Barmen and Elberfeld lying together in a deep, narrow valley. These were attacked separately (Barmen on 29-30 May 1943), one heavy raid laying each section of the city in ruins.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 488
Lancaster W4320 took off at 2336 hours on 24 June 1943 to attack Wuppertal (Elberfeld), Germany. The aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and some crew members evaded capture for a short time.
The crew members of W4320 were:
Sergeant Colin William Broadbent (626263) (RAF) PoW
Sergeant Norman Frank Conklin (413169) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 20 November 1945
Sergeant Clarence Reginald Craven (412915) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 25 October 1945
Sergeant Stanley Roderick Nowlan (414258) (A16401) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 October 1945
Sergeant Frank Bernard Shaw (409603) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 28 March 1946
Sergeant Gordon Stooke (409332) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 31 January 1946
Sergeant Dennis Thomas Toohig (1385973) (RAFVR) PoW
References:
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command losses of the Second World War, Volume 4 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1943, Midland Counties Publications, Leicester, 1996
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985