20 June, 1943

Avro Lancaster B Mk II (DS668 - code KO-R)
Near Ingrandes-sur-Loire (49)
(contributors : Philippe Dufrasne, Ludovic Guiet, Philippe Laroyenne, Daniel Carville, Frédéric Hénoff, France-Crashes 39-45)

Avro Lancaster B Mk II No. 115 Squadron RAF, DS652 'KO-B' at East Wretham. This aircraft failed to return from a mission to Bochum, Germany,
on the night of June 12/13, 1943, one week before the crash of DS668.
© IWM (CH 19792) - public domain

Crew (No. 115 Squadron RAF):

- Pilot Officer (pilot) Derek Frank Paston BROWN RAF Volunteer Reserve (service number 124415), aged 23 (killed).
Son of Paston Charles and Florence May Brown, Crowcombe, Somerset, England.
Bailed out but fell in the Loire river.

- Sergeant (bomb aimer) Alexander Suttie DAVIDSON RCAF (service number R/134223), P.O.W.
born August 29, 1916, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Son of Thomas and Jane M. (Robertson) Davidson.
Married to Margaret Elaine Davidson. Injured and hospitalized.
Prisoner No. 250716 Stalag IVB/Luft III.

- Sergeant (top turret gunner) Robert Ernest GOULD RAF (service number 1028246), P.O.W.
Prisoner No. 43279, Stalag Luft VII.

- Sergeant (rear gunner) Leonard Francis KING RAF (service number 928303), P.O.W.
Prisoner No. 326 Stalag Luft VI/357.

- Pilot Officer (navigator) Charles Neville PITCHFORD RAF (service number 137108), injured, hospitalized, P.O.W.
Prisoner No. 1664, Stalag Luft III

- Sergeant (wireless operator - gunner) Alan Henry SHEPPARD RAF (service number 537866), escaped.
Born November 4, 1915, Ardingly, Sussex, England.
Escaped helped by the Marie-Claire resistance network via the Pyrenees in September 1943.

- Sergeant (flight engineer) Charles Frank TROTT (service number 577112), escaped.
Born 1 July 1924, Bellingham, London, England.
Bailed out and fell 8 km north of Champtocé-sur-Loire.
Escaped helped by the Marie-Claire resistance network via the Pyrenees in September 1943.

THE STORY

♦ THE NIGHT OF JUNE 19-20, 1943

On 19 June 1943, 12 Lancaster bombers took off from RAF East Wretham between 22:19 and 22:30 towards France for a mine-dropping mission. 9 of them were destined for the Gironde estuary (code name for the area DEODARS) and the other 3 for the La Rochelle sector and the port of La Pallice (code name for the area CINNAMON). These 12 aircrafts carried with them a total of 60 1,500-pound mines. Of the 3 bombers designated for La Rochelle, 2 succeeded in dropping their load, one apparently on the Pointe du Payré, near Jard-sur-Mer (the Operational Record Book of Squadron 115 mentions the PT DE LA PAYRE which is probably the Pointe du Payré - see below) and the other at the north-west tip of the Ile de Ré. The 3^rd aircraft, the Lancaster DS668, piloted by Pilot Officer Derek Frank Paston BROWN, unfortunately did not return from the mission.

The flight was uneventful for Lancaster DS668 and the pilot descended to 1,000 feet to drop the mines and then turned north towards England, climbing to 10,000 feet. Arriving at Champtocé (49), flying straight and level, the navigator had barely given the order to turn when bullets started coming up from underneath and astern. An enemy fighter, which had not been seen, apparently attacked from behind as tracer bullets were seen passing under the wings. The pilot then put the aircraft into a dive and it was at this point that the wings burst into flames and within seconds, appeared to burn from tip to tip. At this time, the two outer tanks were empty, the center tanks contained about 100 gallons each, and the inner tanks were at least three-quarters full. Neither exploded before the crew left the aircraft.

The flight engineer, who was on his seat at the time of the attack, immediately put on his parachute and took his to the pilot. The latter had trimmed the aircraft completely back. Sergeant Trott detonated the Identification Friend or Foe system (IFF) so that it would not fall into enemy hands. He saw the bomber sitting on the edge of the open hatch. The bomber jumped out and Sergeant Trott followed him.

As soon as he heard the first burst, the wireless operator saw the flames under the bomb door ; he put on his parachute and passed the navigator his. He then opened the armoured doors and saw that the rear of the aircraft was alight. He turned and prepared to jump. The navigator and wireless operator followed Sergeant Trott and the gunners escaped through the rear door. Just after jumping, the radio operator, Sergeant Sheppard, saw the out-of-control aircraft performing a half-loop and crashing on the south side of the Loire. The pilot also jumped but fell into the Loire and apparently drowned. His body was later recovered.

Sergeant Trott descended very rapidly as 2 panels of his parachute were missing. He was unconscious when he landed on a pile of hay near a farm. Sergeant Sheppard had a more comfortable descent. Both airmen landed on the north side of the river, near Champtocé.

Sheppard and Trott, who were able to return to England, told their story (see escape reports in appendices) :

- Sheppard landed in a field about 2 km north of Champtocé. He hid his parachute and harness in a ditch, but kept his Mae West*, hoping to use it as a pillow. He then walked due north away from the aircraft. After 3 km, he came to a hollow tree in a row of trees in a field overlooking a road, and hid in it for the night. In the early morning he watched the traffic on the road for 2 hours, then left his tree to go to a farm about 500 m away, which he had been watching for a long time. With the few words of French he knew, he spoke to a peasant who took him to the owner of the farm. He was given food and Sheppard asked for directions to Angers. He saw from his escape map that it would be difficult to cross the Loire. He spent a good part of the day watching the river. Then he went down to the river crossing the Angers-Nantes road, a railway line, and crossed a tributary by a bridge. Near the river he spoke with a peasant who took him to his farm and kept it for 3 days, from 20 to 23 June. The farm was located northwest of Saint-Georges-sur-Loire. Another Frenchman, who spoke English, informed him that he had already met Sergeant Trott and that he was going to try to gather them. The Gestapo had gone to this man's house and he did not return. On 23 June, 3 young Frenchmen took him to a house near Champtocé where Sergeant Trott was. He was given civilian clothes and at nightfall he left the farm.

- The Sergeant Trott landed 8 km north of Champtocé. In the meantime, he missed a barn and fell on a pile of straw. He lost consciousness and when he came to, he heard dogs barking. He took off his parachute and his Mae West, attached to the barn and left them there. He walked about 8 km across the fields, but, as he had twisted his right ankle, and his left was also hurting, he decided to ask for help. He went to a village 3 or 4 km from Champtocé, hoping to make contact with the priest. It was then 4 a.m. on June 20, and the church was deserted. He went to the cleanest house near the church and explained to the people there that he wanted help and if possible to be put in touch with an organization. They took me to a large house north of Champtocé where he was fed and put to bed. The next morning, a man who spoke a little English gave him directions to cross the Loire. He left the house, wearing a civilian jacket. He later learned that the owners of the house had been arrested by the Gestapo, denounced by their gardener. Staying on the main road, he walked through Champtocé, while people were going to church. Two girls approached and realized that he was English. They took him to a place where he was given a complete set of civilian clothes and hidden in a shed in the heart of a vineyard. He remained hidden there for 3 days, and young Frenchmen brought him food. A doctor visited him to treat his ankle. Then he was taken to another house near Champtocé where he found Sergeant Sheppard.

- Sheppard and Trott found themselves in this house in the middle of the night and were taken to a barn at the corner of the vineyard. They stayed there until June 26^th because the Gestapo were searching the area to find them. Then, they were driven to a garage on the road to Nantes, where they spent the night of June 26^th to 27^th, 1943. On June 27^th, they were taken to Nantes where they were taken care of by an organization that organized their onward journey.

* Mae West : nickname given by airmen to their inflatable life jacket, which, once inflated, gave their torso a look reminiscent of the generous chest of the American actress Mae West (born in 1893 and died in 1987).

♦ GERMANS SEARCH FOR SURVIVED CREW MEMBERS

A document found in the Departmental Archives of Loire-Atlantique (see appendices), probably from the French Gendarmerie following a telephone message from the German Gendarmerie, reveals that the German Security Service (SD or Sicherheitsdienst) of Angers had given instructions to the German Gendarmerie on June 21, 1943 to find 4 members of the Lancaster crew, 3 of whom had already been arrested. Descriptions of these 4 airmen were given with a certain precision which may suggest that one (or more) of the arrested airmen had been able to give this information most likely under "coercion". This document specifies :
" On 20.06.1943 around 2:30 a.m. [The RAF loss report states 1:30 a.m., which is explained by the time difference with France, which switched to German time on the instructions of the occupier]. A four-engine English bomber was shot down 1.5 km southeast of Ingrandes (Maine & Loire) by a German night fighter. Three members of the crew, out of a total of 7 men, have been arrested. The following are still fugitives :
1°- Pilot Officer BROWN Peter, 25 to 27 years old, height 1m.77, strong, brown hair, upper teeth slightly forward
2°- Sergeant TROTT, first name ?, 23 years old, height 1m.68, strong, frizzy blond hair
3°- Sergeant DAVIDSON, first name ?, 28 to 29 years old, height 1m.83, average build, red hair
4°- Sergeant SHEPPARD, first name ?, 30 to 32 years old, height 1m.72, average build, light blond hair, receding hairline.

Assumed direction of escape : Atlantic coast or Spanish border."

Reading this document informs us that the Germans did not yet know on June 21, 1943 that the pilot BROWN had drowned in the Loire river. It is therefore assumed that his body was found after this date.

♦ SHOT DOWN BY A NIGHT FIGHTER OF THE 11./NJG* 5

Oberleutnant Erich Gollasch, born on 27 November 1913, of 11./NJG 5, attacked Lancaster DS668 that night, probably from below and behind. His shots set the wings on fire, causing the crew to evacuate the aircraft. This was probably Erich Gollasch's third aerial victory. On 26 June 1943, Gollasch shot down another Lancaster northwest of Angers, most likely DS663 of the same Squadron 115, which fell at Grez Neuville, as well as another on 28 June 1943, also west of Angers, most likely ED377 of Squadron 101, which fell at Angrie. Gollasch was reported missing on the Eastern Front in September 1943.
You can find an article on the IV. Gruppe of the NJG 5 (to which the 11./NJG 5 belonged) in the newsletters n° 10 and n° 11 of our association ABSA 39-45, articles written by Frédéric Hénoff (in french only) : Lettre d'information no 10 - Avril 2019 and Lettre d'information no 11 - Mai 2019.

* NJG : Nachtjagdgeschwader (Night Fighter Wing).

APPENDICES

♦ Gendarmerie document dated June 21, 1943
(source documents : Archives Départementales de Loire-Atlantique)

♦ Loss Report No. K. 65 dated October 13, 1943
(source documents : The National Archives)
- document AIR-14-1442-450 & 451

♦ Operational Record Book of Squadron 115 for the month of June 1943
(source documents : The National Archives)
- document AIR-27-895

On this document, it is stated that two groups of Lancasters from 115 Squadron were sent on a mission on 19 June 1943.
However, there are errors in the document:
- Mildenhall :the planes did not take off from RAF Mildenhall but from East Wretham, 20 miles north-east of Mildenhall.
- it is indicated 10 then corrected by hand 9 Lancasters sent to "Deodars". 9 planes were actually sent to the Gironde estuary.
- the 3 Lancasters (including our DS668) were sent to "Cinnamon" and not "Cinnkvon", that is to say the La Rochelle area.

- document AIR-27-890-11

It is reported that 3 aircrafts took off between 22:19 and 22:30 for a mine-dropping operation in the La Rochelle area.
and that one of them (our DS668) did not return. The other two aircrafts successfully dropped them.
The other 9 aircrafts successfully completed their mission in the Gironde estuary sector.
One of them sustained damage from a fighter attack.
The red arrow indicates, in the 3^rd line, the DS668 aircraft piloted by Derek Frank Paston BROWN.

- document AIR-27-890-12

On these two pages are listed the 12 aircrafts and their crews.
Concerning Lancaster DS668, code KO-R, it is indicated that it took off at 22:19 and that unfortunately it did not return.
Only 11 aircrafts returned to base at around 4:40 a.m. on June 20 (red arrow).