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November 19, 1943
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November 25, 1943






Target:
Berlin

 November 1943

22nd

This night there is no operation planned for William and his fellow crew-mates

For this night the JP117 was flewn by a different crew.

 

A force 764 aircraft attacked the central and western part of Berlin.

This was the most effective raid on Berlin by the RAF of the war, causing extensive damage to the residential areas west of the centre,

Tiergarten and Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and Spandau.

The weather over the target was 10/10ths cloud, but the pathfinders, relying on their H2s sets found and accurately marked the aiming point with their yellow and red Tis, set to detonate above the clouds. What followed was the most concentrated and destructive bombing raid over Berlin.
Due to bad weather over Germany, most of the night fighters were grounded and consequently the bomber losses were relative light.

  No.78 Squadron

17 aircraft detailed for operation, Target Berlin.

The LW235, LW220, LW313, LW300, JP118, LW228, LW331, JP117, LW330 with Mid Upper Sgt. W. Idden, JP120, LW338, LW318, HR748, LW234, LW237, LW320 and LW319 were prepared for action by the ground crew.

At 16:30 hour the LW338 was first plane to take off and

18 minutes later the JP118 was the last one to join the force.

 

1 aircraft lost in action.
The Philharmonie Hall had been bombed during an attack on the night of November 22-23. The facade had been badly damaged, and so had the front rooms in which the irreplaceable music library had been kept. Important letters, files, documents, orginal scores - everything had been destroyed.

The concert hall itself remained intact, but the windows had been blown out, and glass, at the time, was not available. Besides, concerts could no longer be given there because high piles of rubble cut off the hall from the outside world. And before it could be cleared away, more bombs fell on the Philharmonie Hall on January 30, 1944, when the Anhalter Station, near the hall, was the target. This time the Philharmonie was completely wrecked.
           From Wilhelm Furtwängler a biography by Curt Riess, 1955
Raid over Berlin

 Returned early

LW220

F/O Everett's LW220 returned early due to lack of oxygen shortly after crossing the Dutch-German border at Nordhorn and he dropped his bombs at 52.46N / 07.20E before returning.

Returned early

LW330 EY-O

F/O Carruthers returned early with LW330 due to icing.

Bomb load dropped early.  LW330 landed safely at Breighton airfield at 20.59 hour

Lost in action

LW319 EY-U

Very seriously damaged by flak over the target and on recapturing the coast of East Anglia the pilot attempted to land at RAF station Coltishall, Norfolk. While landing he lost control and crashed at 23:06 hour at Beeston Park, 3 miles north-east of Norwich.

F/L Martin and P/O Salmon were both seriously injured and both died in hospital within twenty-four hours of the crash. All who died were taken to their hometowns for burial.

Sgt. S.G.Bird KIA.     F/O R.A.Blackwell KIA.  P/O A.Parlour Injured.     Sgt. J.Taylor injured.   

Sgt. J.Thompson RAAF Injured.
The Zoo Flak tower in Berlin
a instruction movie for bomber pilots,
how to handle with Flak

November 1943

23th

No operations or standby for No.78 Squadron.


24st

No operations or standby for No.78 Squadron.
William Uyen
November 18, 1943           HisStory during the Air-battle of Berlin           March 31, 1944
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