44-8339
Assigned to 214 Squadron Code: BU-G
Object Number - UPL 31068 - B-17G-60-VE #44-8339 delivered to the RAF with Serial #KJ106 Assigned to 214 Squadron Code: BU-G
Delivered Dorval 13/8/44; To RAF KJ106]; 214 Sq BU-G RCM, Oulton, Nfk.; Missing in Action bomber support mission 7/3/45; Struck Off Charge 8/3/45.
Sgt A Jim Goldson, Port Waist Gunner, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Nationality : United Kingdom, POW 7 March 1945
WO J Henderson, Mid Upper Gunner, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Nationality : United Kingdom, POW 7 March 1945
Plt/Off Harry Leonard Henderson, J/95282, Air Gunner, Royal Canadian Air Force, Nationality : Canadian, KIA 7 March 1945, Aged 19
FS J V Mathews, Wireless Operator, Royal Australian Air Force, Nationality : Australian, POW 7 March 1945
FS Hugh McClure McClymont, 1681945, Navigator, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Nationality : United Kingdom, KIA 7 March 1945
Sgt W P Mulhall, Flight Engineer, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Nationality : United Kingdom, POW 7 March 1945
Fg/Off Nicholas Peters, J/45525, Special Operator, Royal Canadian Air Force, Nationality : Canadian, KIA 7 March 1945, Aged 30
Sgt Ken C Phelan, Starboard Waist Gunner, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Nationality : United Kingdom, POW 7 March 1945
Fg/Off George Stewart, 421849, Pilot, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Nationality : New Zealand, KIA 7 March 1945, Aged 22
Plt/Off John William Winstone, 429389, Air Bomber, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Nationality : New Zealand, KIA 7 March 1945, Aged 25
Connections
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Places
- Site type: Airfield
Events
| Event | Location | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Delivered |
Dorval, QC, Canada | 13 August 1944 | Delivered to the RAF |
|
Crashed |
Pippensen, 21614 Buxtehude, Germany | On 7 March 1945 Fortress KJ106 coded BU-G lifted off the runway at Oulton at 18:14hrs en-route to Germany. On board the Fortress was pilot Fg/Off George Stewart at the controls, and the usual crew of nine. This was a very cosmopolitan crew aboard KJ106 with members representing four nations. The night’s operation was Jostle Patrol in support of a bombing raid on Hamburg. While there is some dispute as to what happened on arrival over Germany, it is known that KJ106 crashed near Pippensen, 3 km's from Buxtehude, Germany between 22:17 and 22:30 hrs. The official MRES Report states that cause was flak and another source states the cause was night fighter and yet another, that they were shot down by one of their own. Of the 10 crew members 5 were killed and five were taken as Prisoners of War. According to Sgt Ken Phelan the crew's starboard waist gunner, and, based on comments made by Rear Gunner W/O Harry Henderson, they were shot down by a Lancaster. In one of the books by Theo Boiten, "Night Airwar", Ken Phelan recalls the last moments of KJ106: "Following on from a combat with a night fighter Harry, the rear gunner, came on the intercom: ‘Lancaster dead astern. My God, he's firing at us.’ There was the noise like the sound of pebbles on a tin roof as the .303 bullets tore through the fuselage. One grazed my ankle. The port wing burst into flames. We veered to starboard and started to dive out of control" .... On exiting the plane, Phelan bashed against the starboard tailplane, breaking his left leg and jaw, and dislocating his shoulder. He was taken prisoner but when he returned to the UK at the end of the war he had to go back into an RAF hospital for further treatment or recuperation. |
