LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Henry Ellis BULL
Service No: 413924
Born: Tamworth NSW, 29 April 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 September 1941
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED759), Germany, 30 May 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Reginald and Violet A. May Bull, of Dungowan, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Tamworth NSW
Remembered: Panel 107, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Date: 29-30 May 1943
Target: Wuppertal (Barmen-Elberfield)
Total Force: Dispatched – 719, Attacking – 644
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 12, Attacking – 11; No. 466 Dispatched – 14, Attacking – 13; No. 467 Dispatched – 22, Attacking – 19
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,822
Total Aircraft Lost: 33
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2; No. 466 – 3
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, one heavy raid laying each section of the city in ruins. Krefeld (June 21-22) and Remscheid (July 30-31) suffered the same fate when attacked in clear weather, for fires, once they had gained firm hold, raged unchecked through the innumerable workshops and small factories within the residential area of these cities.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 488
Lancaster ED759 took off from RAF Binbrook on the night of 29/30 May 1943 to attack Wuppertal, Germany. The bomb load was was1 x 4000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) bomb, 48 x 30 lb (14 kg) and 600 x 4lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed at Remscheld-Luttring-Hausen and all the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of ED759 were:
Sergeant Ronald Morrison Anderson (1561599) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harry Ellis Bull (413924) (Pilot)
Sergeant Albert William George Meech (1244865) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Douglas Robert Munday (1321629) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Glenville George Powis (650303) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Francis Charles Sherratt (1338599) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Peter Clifford Willars (1333621) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4985 (Flight Sergeant Tom Taylor (413803) (Bomb Aimer)) on 30 May 1943.
No. 466 Squadron lost Wellington MS494 (Sergeant Lindsay Oliver Howard Upjohn (411972) (Pilot)) on 30 May 1943.
No. 466 Squadron lost Wellington HE212 (Pilot Officer Henry Simon Raoul Lloyd (147904) (RAFVR) (Pilot)) on 30 May 1943.
No. 466 Squadron lost Wellington HZ269 (ilot Officer John Charlwood Launder (160037) (RAFVR) (Pilot)) on 30 May 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
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/6/101
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985