LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations: (No. 466 Squadron Wellington aircraft HF569), Belgium, 4 July 1943
Date: 3-4 July 1943
Target: Cologne
Total Force: Dispatched – 653, Attacking – 589
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 17, Attacking – 17; No. 466 Dispatched – 14, Attacking – 13; No. 467 Dispatched – 19, Attacking – 19
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,808
Total Aircraft Lost: 30
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1; No.466 – 1
The first July raid caused heavy damage in industrial areas east of the Rhine.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 491, 492
Wellington HF569 took off from RAF Leconfield at 2254 hours on the night of 3/4th July 1943 to bomb Cologne, Germany. Fourteen aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid and of these HF569 failed to return. Post war it was established that all the crew had been killed and they are buried in the Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium.
The crew members of HF569 were:
Sergeant Percy Victor Cook (1322755) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer James William Edmonds DFC (142522) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Chalmers Halliday (146010) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Frederick Howard Levi (142513) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Patrick Peter Gordon O’Brien (142835) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
This mission was Pilot Officer Edmonds’ 30th and last trip of his operational tour.
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4844 (Pilot Officer Clifford Edwards (411885) (Pilot)) on 3 July 1943.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records