Date: 30th June/1st July 1944
Unit: No. 101 Squadron
Type: Lancaster I
Serial: ME616
Code: SR-B
Base: RAF Ludford Magna
Pilot: P/O. Dan Carrigan Rippon 172870 RAFVR Age 21. Killed
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Ronald Alfred Smith 158911 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
Obs/Nav: Fl/Sgt. Richard William Snell 1321695 RAFVR Age 22. Killed
Air/Bmr: F/O. Francis John Lynham 152007 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Spec/Op: F/O. Harold Herbert King J/35114 RCAF Age 24. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Barry Whitehead 1515878 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Ronald Desmond Stack 2206324 RAFVR Age ? Killed
Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Thomas Robert Hunter 633310 RAF Age 25. Killed
Location: Chateaudun, France
101 Squadron aircraft prepare for a mission.
Reason for Loss.
Aircraft took-off from Ludford Magna at 2215 hrs, to bomb the railway yards at Vierzon, also undertaking radio counter measures with ABC responsibilities. Believed to have been shot down by a night-fighter, crashing near the town of Chateaudun (Eure-et-Loir), where all the crew now lie in the local communal cemetery. F/O King R.C.A.F. was the specialist radio operator, speaking fluent German, these operators would converse directly with enemy crews and ground stations giving false information and directions.
Richard William Snell as a recruit. Early grave marker on Richard’s grave 1946. (Graham Parsons)
Crew of ME616: Back row: R.D. Stack, B. Whitehead, R.A. Smith, W.T.R. Hunter. Front row: F.J. Lynam, D.C. Rippon, R.W. Snell. Missing from photo specialist radio operator H.H. King. (Graham Parsons)
Lancaster LM369 SR-I, being bombed up for a mission. This aircraft was flown by Richard and his crew on an operation to Evreux, on the 11th June 1944.
The last operational page in Richard’s Log Book. It would appear the Richard was updating his Log weekly, as his last six entries are written in another hand, most likely his Commanding Officer. (Graham Parsons)
Richard wearing his Observers Brevet, seen here with his girlfriend, Joyce Phillips on his right.
Richard Snell (front row far right, partly obscured) with fellow airmen at rail station during their R.A.F. training. (Graham Parsons)
Grave registration form. Richard William Snell (Graham Parsons)
Flying Officer Harold Herbert King RCAF. Message found on the Grave of Dan Rippon in 2007.
Fl/Sgt R W Snell’s Medals. R W Snell’s Grave
Crew buried together in Plot 2. Chateaudun Eastern Cemetery, France. Graves 595 to 602.
Page constructed by David King for Graham Parsons, relative of Richard William Snell, also for relatives of Richard’s crew. Special thanks to Graham Parsons for supplying photos and details, with thanks also to the following: Bill Chorley - "Bomber Command Losses", Martin Middlebrook "Bomber Command War Diaries". The Commonwealth Graves Commission.