I am having some work done at home and one of the men discovered that I had been in the RAF,he talked about how his Grandfather had been in the Pathfinders.
His name was Cyril Johnson and he was a F/Sgt on, he thinks, 156 Sqdn. at Warboys. He thinks he was a Navigator and was shot down and taken POW around Mannheim, about end 1942 early 1943. He was a POW inStalag 4B and talked about the thousand mile march.
Can anyone elaborate, or did anyone know him? maybe they have the wrong Sqdn. because I have been to the 156 website and cannot find anything.
Many thanks in advance. Den

try this link.. Search UK, British Army Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 - Ancestry.co.uk

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ray w.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...PL._SS500_.jpg

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ray w.

You could try sending a pm via the forum to member '156 Squadron'.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Sgt C Johnson was one of five survivors of Lancaster JA858 from 156 Sqn shot down on ops to Mannheim on 5 September 1943. He was at Stalag IVB at Muhlberg. His POW number was 222826.

Both gunners killed:

CWGC :: Casualty Details

CWGC :: Casualty Details

alieneyes, and all, many thanks, I will show him when he turns up today, and will follow the leads given, again many thanks.
Regards, Den

Hello to all!

The Lancaster JA 858 crashed on 6th September 1943 in the near of my hometown Brenschelbach. It's between Kaiserslautern and Saarbrücken.
I' ve pictures from the wreckage. The plane crashed just about 300 m over the French border.

Kind regards

schalabeer

I'll just add that, according to the Nachtjagd War Diaries Vol. 1 ( Boiten ) the aircraft which shot Lancaster JA858 down is believed to have been that of Hauptmann Hans-Dieter Frank of Stab I./NJG1.

__________________
"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Schalabeer, any chance you can post those photos?

A2362 F/Lt Torres Ferres has himself landing at Volmunster which, according to the map I just looked at, is very close to Brenschelbach. I'd bet the liberation questionnaire of A24878 F/Lt Charles Norton would make for some interesting reading given his evasion.

Martin, does Theo list a time for Hauptmann Frank's claim?

I'll post the Photos tomorrow. Do you have any further informations about the Crew of JA858? Photos, etc. I Know their names, but not much more. Where did the other survivors landed?

Hello all

More details on this aircraft can be found on 156 Squadron RAF - 8 Group Pathfinder Force

In particular:

156 Squadron RAF shows missions flown by this crew.


156 Squadron RAF shows general details of the mission

and

156 Squadron RAF

some details of one of the crew who evidently escaped from POW camp.


I would be VERY INTERESTED in the photos of the crash and would like to publish them on the site.

Regards

Robin Riley 156 Squadron RAF - 8 Group Pathfinder Force

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Hello!

Here are the photos.


Kind regards

schalabeer

Attached Images

	Lancaster nose-art.jpg (133.5 KB, 11 views)
	Kanzel (Large).JPG (45.5 KB, 7 views)
	Lancaster 002 (Large).JPG (100.6 KB, 9 views)
	Motor (Large).JPG (43.1 KB, 7 views)

Outstanding, schalabeer. Thanks for posting them.

All I know about the men on this crew comes from these links:

Prichard:

http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/script/vet...eranID=1060703

Ferres:

WW2 Nominal Roll

Norton:

WW2 Nominal Roll

Simpson:

WW2 Nominal Roll

CWGC :: Casualty Details


Grout:

CWGC :: Casualty Details

Not known if any of the crash survivors are still alive.

The service files of the Australians aboard this aircraft are not digitized and online. From having looked at others which are online most have photos of the man taken on enlistment.

The Australian archives charge $16.50 AUD to digitize each file. Some files are huge and worth the investment.

The time is shown as 00:15.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

I found this description by a Canadian pilot of his time in Stalag 4B

Stories We Remember - RCAF Stories

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

Sgt Cyril Johnson was my grandfather. A lot of the stories he told me as a boy are a bit mixed up. I do remember him mentioning being shot down over Manheim. He also mentioned being taken in by farmers and then being handed over to german troops. Since he never mentioned any attempted escapes as a POW I'm assuming this was how he was captured.
Iknow that the gunners died but haven't yet looked any further into the outcome of the rest of the crew.
Thanks

Rich

Some people of my hometown who were on the crashsite the day after, told me that sheephelders took one or two crew-members out of trees in which they landed with their parachutes.


Kind regards

schalabeer

Get in contact with Zwingli.... aka Leslie, her Father served as a Pathfinder Bomber, and was part of infamous death march. She may give you insight or leads in the right direction.

Good luck,

Jem

Hello!

The Service Report of Torres Davey Ferres is online.
He reports that Cyril Johnson was injured by baling out the plane.
I've ordered the Service Reports of the other Australian crew members.

Kind regards

schalabeer

Hello,

I've got the service reports of the 4 Australian crew-members of JA858. Are there any service reports of the British crew-members? Where could I get such reports?

Kind regards

Schalabeer