Mission: Rostock (Heinkel factory)
Date: 20/21st April 1943 (Tuesday/Wednesday)
Unit: No. 75 Squadron (N.Z.)
Type: Stirling III
Serial: BF506
Code: AA-P
Base: R.A.F. Newmarket, Suffolk.
Location: Bögballe, Denmark
Pilot: P/O. Alan Gray Tolley NZ411954 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 21. Killed
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Gerald Albert Raymond Town 1217965 R.A.F.V.R. Age 22. Killed
Obs: Fl/Sgt. William Henry Ellis 1021328 R.A.F.V.R. Age 31. Killed
Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Frank Wakefield Upton NZ404430 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 28. Killed (1)
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Cyril Thomas Cobb NZ412315 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 30. Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Frederick Joseph Earle 1332585 R.A.F.V.R. Age 22. Killed
Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Ian Charles Salt NZ404046 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 20. Killed
Main image - Crash site of BF506 (Courtesy Søren Flenstead - see acknowledgements)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took off at 22.05 hrs. from Newmarket, Suffolk to bomb the Baltic ports of Rostock and Stettin on the Oder together with a mixed force of 425 aircraft. Also airborne at the same time was a small diversionary force of 11 Mosquito’s to carry out the first ever high level nuisance attack on Berlin undertaken by Mosquito’s, they were employed as a diversion for the main force of heavy bombers which had been assigned to attack Rostock and Stettin.
View the full remembrance page here -
We are indebted to Maori Television for allowing us the use of this interview film with Brian and Diane Ramsay in assisting us in contacting relatives. We hope, that with your assistance in the circulation of both this page of remembrance and the interview to contact all the crew. So please send this page link to all your contacts.
The crew were last heard on W/T at 03.00 hrs. signalling “starboard inner on fire”. Nothing further was heard, and the Stirling crashed in flames at Bögballe, 15 km N of Vejle, Denmark. Its demise is reported to have been caused by a night-fighter attack. No further news was received. (2) The Stirling crashed within 100m of a farmhouse that was occupied at the time. The ensuing glow in the sky caused by the flames from the crash helped another Stirling to belly land in a nearby field after which the crew were captured and became pow's. After the crash, nearby Luftwaffe soldiers from the airfield at Rye retrieved the bodies of 6 of the crew, taking them to Esbjerg for burial. When the crash site was excavated on May the 11th, the body of Flight Sergeant Cobb was found and laid to rest with his crew on the 18th. May.
Burial details:
P/O. Alan Gray Tolley. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Coll. grave A.11 11-14 Son of Henry John and Eva Florence Tolley, of Wellington City, New Zealand.
Sgt. Gerald Albert Raymond Town. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Grave A.11. 15 Son of Winnifred Louise (nee Masters) and Ernest G Town of Kent.
Sgt. Town, known as “Jerry”, enlisted in 1941 with his school friend and crew member, Frederick Earle. Both attended Ashford North County Modern boys school from 1932-6, where they are remembered on the Roll of Honour for WW2, he is also remembered on Ashford Civic war memorial.
Fl/Sgt. William Henry Ellis. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Coll. grave A.11 11-14 Born June 1912 in Lancashire, England. Eldest son of Alice Emmeline Rigby b. 1888 and William Ewart Ellis b. 1885. Only brother of Robert Rigby Ellis b. 17 May 1915 Husband of Mary F Stevens (married April 1939) Father of Adrianne M Ellis b. 1940 and Elizabeth Ellis b. 1941. Uncle to Robert’s daughters: Fern Graham (nee Rigby Ellis) b. 1946 and Lynne Truex (nee Rigby Ellis) b. 1949
Fl/Sgt. Frank Wakefield Upton. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Coll. grave A.11 11-14 Born on the 15th of August 1914, son of Frederick Samuel and Isabel Upton of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Fl/Sgt. Cyril Thomas Cobb. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Grave A. 9. 6 Son of Fred and Mary Cobb, of Thames, Auckland, New Zealand.
Sgt. Frederick Joseph Earle. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Coll. grave A.11 11-14 Son of Frederick Earle and stepson of Edith A. Earle of 14, Gladstone Road, Willesborough, Ashford, Kent. Frederick Earle attended Ashford North County Modern Boys School with Gerald Town. They attended the school from 1932-6 and both enlisted at the same time in 1941. They are buried next to each other at Fourfelt. Both are commemorated on the schools Roll of honour for WW2.
Fl/Sgt. Ian Charles Salt. Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery Coll. grave A.11 11-14 Son of Charles Henry and Margaret Crawford Salt (nee Boa) of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.
Researched by: Linda Ibrom for the Aircrew Remembrance Society - dedicated by Brian and Diane Ramsay (nee Upton), Niece of Fl/Sgt. Frank Upton to all the relatives and friends of the crew. Also, a big thank you to Lynne Truex (relative of Sgt. Ellis) for some great photo's and further information. Acknowledgments: With thanks to the following: Brian and Diane Ramsay, Norman Smith, Anders Straarup of the Allied Airmen - Allierede flyvere 1939-45 DK, Auckland Museum - Cenotaph database, for photographs, Theo Boiten - "German Nightfighter War Diaries", the work of the C.W.G.C. Also, many thanks to Søren Flenstead.
Above left to right: Fl/Sgt. Ellis, (Courtesy Lynne Truex) Fl/Sgt. Cobb and Fl/Sgt. Salt (Courtesy Auckland Museum - Cenotaph database)
