101 Squadron Home Page

Date	Hour	Aircraft	Pilot	Duty	Day	Night	Remarks	Route/Destination
22.12.43	1935	Lancaster H 302	F/O Knights	Navigator	.	5.00	a/c scrapped Jan 47 after 121 missions	Bullseye
24.12.43	1335	Lancaster I 369	F/O Knights	Navigator	2.45	.	A/c to 1656, 1653 CU SOC Jan 47	Warboys and Fighter Affiliation
27.12.43	1035	Lancaster I 369	F/O Knights	Navigator	1.50	.	.	Fighter Affiliation - Airtest

This is W/O Lorenz and his crew (trying out body armour) each one was a different nationality. They baled out on a later trip and were taken prisoners. I am in the background on the right looking away (hands in pockets ?) Behind me Sgt Stevens MUG on my left Sgt Wilf Ferry Flt/Engineer whom I crewed with later It is now looking like the person is WO LAURENS lost 19 Feb 44 in DV267More about WO Laurens and K for King

I am not too sure exactly when this photograph was taken. Sgt Stephens in the background was killed night of 20/1/44 but am 99.9 percent sure this was very early January 1944

27.12.43	1755	Lancaster E 417	F/O Knights	Navigator	.	3.50	A/c missing Op Mailly - Le - Camp 4 May 44	Cross Country
29.12.43	1750	Lancaster P 389	F/O Knights	Navigator		7.10	An approach route which took the stream south of the Ruhr and close to Leipzig included Mosquito diversions at Dusseldorf, Leipzig and Magdeburg. With weather on the outward route and the diversions few fighters intercepted over the target. Target was cloud covered and most bombs fell on the south and south east of the city, though the east of the city was also hit. 388 houses hit, 182 killed, 600+ injured and over 10,000 bombed out.a/c lost on Ops Aachen 25/5/44	Operations Berlin DCO
2.1.44	2350	Lancaster P 389	F/O Knights	Navigator	.	7.25	German control assessed Berlin as the nights target at –40 mins although night fighters failed to intercept over radio beacons and were directed to Berlin itself. 27 Lancaster’s were lost over the target area (7%). An ineffective and unsuccessful raid bombs were dropped over a large area and all fires were contained shortly after starting. 82 houses destroyed with 36 fatalities“Worn out. Landed at B-St-Ed, others went out”	Operations Berlin DCO.
4.1.44	1020	Lancaster P 389	F/O Knights	Navigator	1.00	.	.	Bury St Edmunds > Base
5.1.44	2355	Lancaster E 417	F/O Knights	Navigator	.	8.40	Majority of German fighters kept away by the Mosquito diversionary tactics although 4.5% of the force was still lost. Bert reported that the weather was clear over the target and bombing went well. 504 houses, 20 industrial buildings destroyed, 1,148 houses and 29 industrial buildings seriously damaged. 8 Ships sunk, 244 people killed and 1016 injured.“Cloud and mist on ground clear over target”.	Operations "Stettin" DCO
14.1.44	1655	Lancaster D DV 388	F/O Knights	Navigator	.	5.05	First Bomber Command raid on Brunswick of the War. German controllers had marked the stream shortly after leaving the British Coast and many fighters intercepted near Bremen. A small target, Bremen was slightly damaged. 10 houses destroyed, 14 killed a/c is probably 288 missing Op Aulonoye 11 Apr 44	Operations "Brunswick" DCO
20.1.44	1655	Lancaster E TM 417	F/O Knights	Navigator	.	6.35	Berts aircraft suffered damage this night from night interceptors. The Mid Upper and Rear Gunners were both Killed. Berts flight time for this night was the shortest of all runs to Berlin by some 35 minutes. On further investigation I find that they did get to Berlin and managed to drop their payload. The attack on themselves was after the bomb drop, although German controllers identified the stream early and interceptors were amongst the bombers early on. The target area was covered in cloud and the majority of bombs fell on the east of the city.“2 Gunners Killed. George James from West Brom Rear. Billy Stevens from Scotland mid upper” Sgt Stephens. Aircraft srl No should read E LM 417 Have received info that photos were taken on 14 Jan 1944, this does not tie in with the crew dying the night of the pictures but 6 days later.	Operations "Berlin" DCO

My Uncle spoke briefly of this operation. I know he was pretty shook up over it and didn't even tell his family at the time for fear of worrying them further. He told them he was just home for a few days leave.

These pictures taken by Illustrated news and are authentic. Sgt George James our rear gunner from West Bromich Age 21 was killed the same night. Seated extreme left. The three on his left were part of crewe of P/O Rowe F/O PF Rowe Died 27.4.1944 whose navigator, Sgt Bob Pearson was a particular friend of mine. They were lost without trace some months later. 27th April 1944.

Sgt Billy Stevens from Glasgow aged 20 our mid upper gunner was also killed. Behind the Urn squatting in the flying kit. It was reported they could not have known anything and did not suffer. A further member of our crew was wounded, F/O Ferguson(ABC Specialist) though we did not know till about half hour later as he made every effort to release the m/u gunner. He was awarded the DFC as was our pilot F/O Knights (Later F/Lt) who became 'A' Flight Commander. Top left had side of picture (crew names & aircraft ID) erased for security reasons at the time. F/Lt Robin Knights ended up settling in Borneo

29.1.44	1300	Lancaster C 509	F/O Knights	Navigator	1.00	.	“Sgts Morgan & Hart replacement gunners 2nd tour of Ops”	Air Test
31.1.44	1430	Lancaster C 509	F/O Knights	Navigator	1.20	.	.	Air to Sea Firings
5.2.44	1355	Lancaster H DV 302	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	2.10	.	.	Bombings - Air to Sea Firings
7.2.44	1220	Lancaster F DV 301	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	1.00	.	a/c missing Vierzon 01 Jul 44	Local Flying
12.2.44	1355	Lancaster F DV 301	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	1.05	.	.	SBA & Air Test
15.2.44	1525	Lancaster F DV 301	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	7.35	Largest bomber force sent to Berlin and first time more than 500 Lancaster’s and 300 Halifax’s sent. Although the stream was spotted shortly after leaving the Coast of Britain its northerly route did not allow for interception for many of the fighters. Berlin was once again cloud covered and many bombs failed to fall on the city itself although substantial damage was caused. In particular the Seimensstadt area. Over 2,642 tons of bombs fell on the raid. 1526 dwellings (houses and temporary wooden accommodation) destroyed. 320 fatalities this raid was considered to be the end of the Battle for Berlin.	Operations "Berlin" DCO
19.2.44	2358	Lancaster J 618	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	7.00	The bomber stream again was intercepted early and was under continual attack all the way to the target area. Strong winds caused many aircraft to arrive early and had to wait for the pathfinders to mark the target. Circling caused 4 planes to collide and a further 20 were shot down by flak. The effect of the raid was unable to be established as a further daylight raid had taken place by the time photographic evidence was available.“78 bombers lost on this raid due to strong head wind enforced wait over target. This a/c was lost on Nuremburg Op 31 Mar 44.	Operations "Leipzig" DCO
20.2.44	2345	Lancaster J 618	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	7.30	Target area cloud covered but little fighter interception due to diversionary tactics 2 hrs before take off time. Considerable damage in the centre of the city and in the north east and north west. The Bosch factory making dynamos, injection pumps and magnetos was heavily damaged. This was considered to be a target of high importance. 125 killed and 510 injured.	Operations "Stuttgart" DCO
23.2.44	1645	Lancaster E LM 464	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	0.50	.	A/c crashed in UK on return from Frankfurt 19 Mar 44	Air Test
24.2.44	2038	Lancaster R DV 276	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	4.00	The first bomber command raid on Schweinfurt, the main ball bearing factories of Germany. “Berts aircraft suffered engine loss of power and they bombed the Airfield at Abbeville instead.”This a/c lost on Nurnberg raid	Operations "Schweinfurt" DNCO.
25.2.44	1810	Lancaster J 618	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	8.10	Waves were split into 2 groups so as to confuse German interceptors and reduce losses. The target area showed clear weather conditions and contained little flak defence. Over 2000 tons of bombs were ‘accurately’ dropped. Many of the historical buildings of Augsburg were destroyed. 2959 houses destroyed and a further 5000 damaged. 85,000 – 90,000 people bombed out. Destruction included the Town Hall, 16 churches and 11 hospitals (safely evacuated). Over 1060 fires rage throughout the city, unable to be extinguished as the temperature that night had dropped to minus 18 degrees and hoses froze. Approx 700 killed and 2,500 injured.The second wave caused damage to the North and aircraft component factories.	Operations "Augsburg" DCO
1.3.44	1800	Lancaster U 619	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	0.10	.	. Weather bad for some days. Had terrific Posn. Took off first runway cleared. OCs (SLdr Thompson) plane would not start	Base > Wickenby.
1.3.44	2300	Lancaster U 619	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	8.30	German fighters found interception difficult due the extensive cloud cover. This cloud continued over the target and many crews were unable to clearly see the target area. Damage included hitting the Bosch works and Daimler-Benz motor factory. The railway yards were further damaged after previous raids.	Operations "Stuttgart" DCO
13.3.44	1140	Lancaster V2 DV 407	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	1.10	.	A/c SOC May 45 Scrapped Feb 46	Air to Sea Firing .5 Turret
14.3.44	1140	Lancaster U 619	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	1.30	.	A/c lost Dusseldorf 22/23 Apr 44	Photography
15.3.44	1850	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	8.00	Berts aircraft was attacked by a ME210 over the target area but managed to avoid damage.German fighters managed to intercept the bomber stream shortly before they reached Stuttgart and 37 aircraft were lost. Although clear weather conditions it was very windy and some pathfinders marking were off target. 88 died and over 200 injured with most of the bombs falling in the south west open country side “Attacked by ME210 over target. Pilot did very well evading. Set course home about 20 miles south of fires on target.	Operations "Stuttgart" DCO.
18.3.44	1930	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	5.50	Although the German fighters were fooled by the diversionary tactics some waited and met up with the bomber stream just as the force reached the target. Cloud made it difficult for the interceptors but some 22 aircraft were still lost. Pathfinders marked their target well and a concentrated bombing attack was made with destruction throughout the city. Approximately 6066 buildings were destroyed. 501 people died on the ground and a staggering 55,000 were bombed out that evening.a/c lost over Sterkrade 16/17 Jun 44	Operations "Frankfurt" DCO
22.3.44	1830	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	6.00	The German interceptors were once again confused as to the actual target area but diversions and an indirect route to Frankfurt itself. Although few fighters found the bomber stream they had successes with 33 aircraft shot down. Few areas of the city escaped damage this night with the main concentration falling in the West. A further 948 died, 346 injured and 120,000 bombed out. The damage was considered severe due to the lack of Water and electricity from the raid 4 days earlier.	Operations "Frankfurt" DCO
30.3.44	2210	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	8.00	Many reports have been made into the Nuremberg raid and Berts personal logs indicate that the Pilot (F/L Knights) turned from his indicated South heading to the Northwest and bombed there. Some Pathfinders did indeed lay their markers in the northwest but mistakenly on Schweinfurt. Bert believes this is where they bombed that night. A night that will always be remembered by Bomber Command for all the wrong reasons. More aircraft were lost then people on the ground. A combination of High winds, Full Moon, Clear skies, Ice trails and passing over convergence beacons resulted in the greatest loss in one night by bomber command (96 or 12% of those sent). 101 Squadron lost 7 that night although how many from Berts A flight I am yet to discover. Initial debriefers believed the crews to be wrong when they described so many planes going down around them and had difficulty in calculating the numbers of men lost. “In my Opinion did not bomb correct target. Pilot turned from south heading by my navigation to North West and Bombed fires believing this was Schweinfurt. Gun fire to our left on the way out. Worst losses in one raid 93. (96) We lost 7 on 101. Stood down for some days”	Operations "Nurnberg" DCO.

Much has been written about that fateful night. My uncle described it to me as "farcical". Notes on Nuremberg

His worst night was over Mailly Le Camp 3.5.44.

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I include below an example taken from Berts Sight Log Book. These entries for the night of the Nuremberg Raid

Date	Time	Aircraft	Sextant	Body	Altitude	Remarks
30.3.44	2349:57	Lancaster D773	Mk 1XA 4960/41	Vega	41 09	-
-	2359:55	-	-	Spica	28 51	?
-	0118:49	-	-	Spica	28 00	?
-	0200:22	-	-	Altair	17 13	-
-	0206:41	-	-	Spica	25 03	?
-	0213:01	-	-	Polaris	48 18	Q + 56 Fix with Altair

Escape photos

Issued to crews for falsifying ID's

At this stage the totals of Night flying time is recorded as 235 hrs. On recalculation this is an error and should read 237 hours.

24.4.44	2045	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	10.15	A very detailed report showed the following damage and casualties. 1104 buildings destroyed and 1367 further damaged. 112 Killed, 2945 injured and 30,000 bombed out. Again another accurate marking by 5 Group despite heavy flak and searchlight defences. Considering the amount of damage caused the loss of life was relatively low. “This was our longest trip”	Operations "Munich". This was our longest trip
26.4.44	1455	Lancaster N ME 616	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	0.15	.	A/c lost Vierzon 01 Jul 44	Air Test
26.4.44	2318	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	4.00	An accurate attack due to good pathfinder marking and excellent weather conditions. 313 killed and 1224 injured.	Operations "Essen" DCO
27.4.44	2150	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	8.05	The target was considered important due to its industrial factories but the flight involved a long route on a moonlit night. With Nuremberg still on the minds of the crews many groans were heard at the days briefings. Unlike the Nuremberg the stream arrived pretty unscathed only to be met by the interceptors over the target. 5.6% of the force were lost. A successful accurate attack due to good path finding and it was estimated that 67% of the town was destroyed. German officials described it as the most significant raid on tank production of the war. “Saw mountain tops, Alps. Snow on tops”	Operations "Friedrichschafen" DCO

Again at this stage an error is noticed in the log book. Day time flying is recorded as 186 hrs 20 mins. On recalculation it should have read 180 hrs 15 minutes

1.5.44	2130	Lancaster F DV 301	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	7.10	75 Lancaster aircraft successfully attacked the Berliet motor works and caused severe damage. Other aircraft dropped loads on nearby rail yards and factories. It is unknown whether there were any civilian casualties and all planes returned home.	Operations "Lyons" DCO
3.5.44	2210	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	5.25	My uncle describes the raid as “Shambles” and the worst night of his life. Quite something since they had been attacked twice before and were involved in the Nuremberg raids. Planes were being shot down as they circled over the target area. No command was received to call the bombers in from the master bomber due to an American forces station incorrectly transmitting on the VHF frequency used by the bombers. German fighters arrived during the delay and shot down many aircraft. 5 aircraft also ran into each other over the target area. When the raid was allowed to start it was with extreme accuracy and the military camp/tank depots suffered much damage. 1 Group, which were the second bombing group suffered losses of 28 aircraft from 173 despatched. Bert never did find out the reasons for the losses. “Shambles. Aircraft being shot down while circling. Lost 4 from 101.This was in the direction of Lyon. We were told that about 240 aircraft would take part. We were to fly to a Lat and Long position and circle anti-clockwise until called in by Master Bomber. I believe this was Gp Capt Cheshire. Drop bombs on flares indicated. We circled for some minutes and our bomb aimer (Frank Morgan) calls out he can see fires on the ground and with alarm in his voice another one and another. He saw one going down and realised it was an aircraft. Our pilot called the gunners to be on their marks, but we circled without any trouble. Then a voice broke radio silence and said "Home on the Master Bomber, get your finger out we've waited long enough". Others joined in in the same tone then another voice broke in saying "Shut up or your going to die, die like a man". We were still going round and finally some flares were dropped and we were ordered to go in and bomb. We arrived back after 5hr 25 min no trouble as far as we were concerned but the squadron sufferred. We lost 4 Lancaster’s which in our case was 32 men out of 20 aircraft. I believe this was the only time radio silence was broken and I have not yet found the reason for the delay. I suppose someone knows probably Cheshire. The target was supposed to be a German reserve Panzer Depot. Whether did any damage or even hit the target I dont know”	Operations "Mailly-Le-Camp" DCO.
6.5.44	1135	Lancaster B ME 616	Air Comm Blucke	Navigator	0.55	.	.	Local Flying. Was once 101 CO. F/Lt Knights instructing him
7.5.44	2130	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	4.55	1 Group bombed the target but to no avail with most damage being caused at a nearby village. No aircraft lost “Airfield Ramdur that Germans had evacuated”	Operations "Rennes" DCO.
9.5.44	2255	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	2.30	With the lead up to the invasion many attacks on German defensive positions along the French coast were now taking place. Accuracy of this raid is unknown but it was part of a larger force carrying out raids along the Pas de Calais Promoted F/Sgt 10 May 1944	Operations "Dunkirk" DCO
11.5.44	2150	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	3.45	The Master Bomber stopped the raid due to a thick haze. Although the target was marked all missed their pre determined railway yards.	Operations "Hasselt" DCO
26.5.44	1455	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	0.45	.	.	Air and R/T Test
27.5.44	2000	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	4.15	The Railyards, which were unsuccessfully attacked a few nights previous, were again targeted. This time severely damaged all through traffic was stopped.The nearby suburb of Forst was severely damaged and over 90% of buildings destroyed. Reports from the local inhabitants state that the raid only took a little over 12 minutes in all.	Operations "Aachen" DCO
31.5.44	1245	Lancaster D LL 773	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	0.40	.	This A/c was lost 16/17 June 1944 over Sterkrade	Air Test
2.6.44	2355	Lancaster ME 616 B	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	3.25	Again with D-Day looming smaller and important targets were designated for the nightly raids. This time a radar jamming station was completely destroyed.	Operations "Brenerval" DCO
5.6.44	2240	Lancaster H DV 302	F/Lt Knights	Navigator	.	7.15	Bert was 1 of 24 aircraft formed to support bombing operations on the eve of D-Day. 1012 sorties flown by bomber command that evening in support of D-Day. With their ABC aircraft 101squadron simulated a bomber stream heading for Paris and to create an ABC barrier between the invasion forces in the west and the Luftwaffe's night fighters based mostly in Holland and Belgium. “ No Bombs carried just ABC Flew at 22,000 feet clear vis. Nothing to be seen. 100's of aircraft on return across coast below us. Back over English coast 4-o-clock. Did not know invasion was on till mid-day. Plenty aircraft flying over low early evening. home on leave end of 1st tour of Ops.”D-Day -1 ABC and Chaff. This a/c was the first & last that Bert flew in while with 101 Sqn	Special Duties Patrol. .

Cant remember where I picked this Aerial shot of Ludford taken in 1999. so if anyone can tell me I will add acknowledgemnt. thank you

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