I am returning to Berlin this year with another group of history students and I am preparing case studies on the following airmen buried at The Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery.

Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Roy Laurence BARNES DFC Service No: 127345 7 Sqdn
Wing Commander James Benjamin TATNALL OBE Service No: 28137 7 Sqdn
Sergeant Arthur Mervyn ROGERS Service No: 937101 115Sqdn
Flight Sergeant Raymond Algernon Reeves SMITH Service No: 1335530 166 Sqdn
Sergeant Ronald George POTTER Service No: 1392545 166Sqdn
Sergeant Sidney George REES Service No: 1395869 622 Sqdn

All of them died on 15/2/44. I have tried to research the backgrounds of these men via the internet but with little success. Can you help me answer the following questions?

What planes were they flying on the night that they died? (Lancaster B111?)
What were their plane markings/call signs?
What type and how many bombs were they carrying on that mission?
What length of service did they have?
How long did it take to train them to be pilots/navigators etc?
What did Barnes and Tatnall do to earn the DFC and OBE respectively?

Any other information concerning these airmen and their crew would be much appreciated.
Thanks Jules.

Barnes / Lancaster III JB224 MG-W 7 Squadron ( Oakington )

Tatnall ( OBE ) / Lancaster III JB414 MG-Y 7 Squadron ( Oakington )

Rogers / Lancaster II LL651 A4-A 115 Squadron ( Witchford )

Smith / Lancaster III ED841 AS-L 166 Squadron ( Kirmington )

Potter / Lancaster I ME636 AS-E 166 Squadron ( Kirmington )

Rees / Lancaster I W4268 GI-A 622 Squadron ( Mildenhall )

As a start..... [img]graemlins/poppy.gif[/img]

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

TATNALL:

Tatnall promoted to Sqn Leader on 1 march 1940

promoted to W/C (Temp.) 1 March 1942

to W/C (War Sub) 13 march 1943

per 1-1 1944 OBE (as acting Group Captain)

BARNES:

5 augustus 1942 promoted to P/O

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I should also have said - a very warm welcome to the Forums, Jules !

To research the other questions you have asked, you will encounter difficulties.

Details of the individual aircraft with their bomb loads are available in the relevant Squadron Operational Record Books (ORBs) which can be viewed at the Public Records Office, Kew, near London. These are fascinating to read, but will need at least one whole day there to find and read. They are not available online.

The personnel records are NOT available from any British Government source to anyone other than immediate family members of the deceased. This ruling causes much frustration amongst historians and researchers.

The raid in question was the last-but-one of the so-called 'Battle of Berlin' ( Winter 1943/44 ). This was the time of Bomber Command's worst losses. The raid is covered in some detail in Martin Middlebrook's book 'The Berlin Raids' ( Viking, 1988 ).

It was the heaviest raid of the entire war on Berlin ; 891 aircraft were despatched and 2,643 tons of bombs were dropped which included 470 x 4,000lb 'Cookies' and 15 x 8,000lb bombs. Despite widespread damage including many industrial areas, very many of the bombs dropped in open countryside due to poor visibility.

The Nachtjagd were ready and prepared ; Bomber Command lost forty-two bombers with another five crashed or abandoned over England. Most losses that night were suffered by 7 Squadron (PFF) which lost four Lancasters ; the men lost included a Wing Commander and two Squadron Leaders plus the following decorations : two DSOs, one CGM, eight DFCs, seven DFMs and the OBE. these were highly experienced Pathfinder aircrew and could not be replaced easily.

I hope this is of some help.

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

Thanks Gents for the info which is much appreciated. I was aware of the problems with the PRO.
Just as an aside..I was having lunch with the village postman the other Sunday only to discover that he was an ME 109 enthusiast. In his attic office he had the machine gun of one and several control panels not to mention what looked like a bomb in the garage! The latter was in fact an alcohol fuel pod needless to say it was now empty! He is also in the process of restoring one. The things that people get upto!
Regards
Jules

To add to Martin's information:

W/C Tatnall had just joined 7 Sqn. W/C Tatnal flew as a second pilot in the crew of Squadron Leader John Hegman, A New Zealander and a highly experienced pilot. W/C Tatnall was on a so-called Familiazation flight, to get to know the procedures within the squadron before he would fly with his own crew.

S/L Hegman had first completed a operational tour (53 ops) in the Middle East before joining 7 Sqn. This was to be his 73rd operation. He had been awarded the DSO and DFC and Bar. He was 36 in 1941 when he enlisted for aircrew, and much too old. He said he was 20 and got accepted!!!

On 15 Feb 1944 this crew took off at 17.16 from their base at Oakington.They were shot down over Germany while on the way to target, near Neustrelitz. Only the tailgunner survived. The wireless operator is still missing.

This was a highly experienced and decorated crew and a blow to 7 Sqn when it was lost.

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Very interesting stuff, Stevin !

The unfortunate Tatnall was flying as what termed 'second Dickie'. Many crews felt that 'second Dickies' were bad luck and quite often were - by pure mischance and law of averages.

The effect on the morale of the missing 2nd pilot's own crew could be devastating. Having 'crewed up' and gone through training, getting to know each other, the crew would now be split up prior to having flown even one operation together.

[img]graemlins/poppy.gif[/img]

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

Thanks Martin. Yes, "second Dickies" don't seem to have been very popular. I have heard several stories.

I just updated a page about an B17 crew with the 384th BG who flew their 7th or 8th mission with a "second Dickie"....and was shot down. What is peculiar about this crew is that the original co-pilot insisted he also fly on this mission as he wanted to fly all missions with this crew and complete his tour with them. Thus this B17 had 11 men onboard when it went down. Two men survived.

Lt. Riddel's page

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

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