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This crew was so typical of so many aircrew who flew with RAF Bomber Command- young men from all over the Country and Commonwealth , all aged under 25 some barely out of their teens.

One of the air gunners on this crew was James D. Stewart from Beechwood Avenue Londonderry , is known to me only from occasional words and from silent photographs.

"Jimmy" joined the RAFVR in July 1941 and via various units was posted to 14 Initial Training Wing ( Bridlington ) in january 1943 moving to No 2. Air Gunnery Training School at Dalcross.
His log book describes him as being " slow at times but keen and intersted in his job" , the final exam score was 65.5 %.
Training as an air gunner lasted seven weeks and by 18th May he was posted to 20 OTU at Lossiemouth Scotland.

At Lossiemouth Jimmy was " crewed" up with his pilot and Skipper Sgt. William McClaren and his crew mates.
The crewing up process was very straight forward , a mass of novice aircrew in a hanger being asked to "sort yourselves out" , it was self selection at its very best.
OTU was a hectic two month flying programme which consisted of perhaps two to three flights each day air guunery exercises , navigational flights , formation flying , circuits and bumps.
The old Wellington , now largely retired from the Bomber offensive was their aircraft- old aircraft which had sen active service and now been relegated to a training role , aircraft which would see many young men have a temporay residence before moving on towards operational flying.
The purpose of which was to gel them together as a crew and to teach them the basics , it would perhaps give them a chance to surive long enough to learn when they reached an Operational Squadron.
A short period of leave followed and in Mid August 43 they transferred to 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit at Riccall In Yorkshire - here they picked up their Flight Engineer ( J.Hall) and were "converted" via more flying exercise to fly Halifax MkII's a sturdy four enginned aircraft , slower than the Lancaster lacking its ceiling but in itself a strong and reliable aircraft.
With a total of 36 hours night flying tey transferred to 158 Squadron and started their "tour".
158 Was a Halifax Squadron based at Lisset south of Bridlington , part of Four Group.
This new crew was attached to F/lt. Jim Reynold's "A" Flight.
Their only daylight flying would be training and air tests , from now on they would operate only by night.
Their night flights would take them to occupie Europe against the industrial cities of Germany which would be defended by heavy flak guns aranged in depth supported by radar and searchlight units.
Above all they would be the hunted , hunted by an agressive and well trained nightfighter force which had claimed many hundreds of aircrew and would one which would continue to do so until the last nights of the war.
The chances of McClaren's crew suriving was at best one in five , they knew this and flew as volunteers - their sense of loyality to and care of each other being the bond which supported them.
Their first flight was a cross country exerice flown on 14th August , the next night they flew to central France to Bomb the Dunlop Tyre Plant at Montlucon.
This was considered a "Milk run" a rare easy operation which would spare them the attentions of the massed flak units and Nachtjager verbande which defended the Rhur and Germany's major Cities which would be their main targets.
They returned from Montlucon leaving the plant badly damaged , bombed by an all halifax force from low altitude it was all but destroyed.
Sadly some aircraft dropped their bomb loads on the nearby village of Tizon , this claimed the lives of many local people.
Vichy France made much of this error by way of anti- Allied propaganda.

For McLarens crew the next week consisted of training flights and bombing exercies on the local range out to sea.
Their next outting would leave them in no doubt of what they had signed up for , on the night of 23rd September they went to Mannheim.
This was a heavy maxium effort raid which would introduce them to the Luftwafe's nightfighter force - the cannon armed JU-88's and ME-110's which had recovered quickly from the initial surprise of "Window".
Flak was an ever present danger , radar directed , accurate and moral sapping they had no choice but to fly through it and depend on luck.
The Mannheim raid was not a success , the night fighter force was up in strength and a diversionary raid to nerby Darmstadt failed to lure them - they caught the main force over Mannheim and hunted the bomber which were easy prey against the glare of the searhlights and fires. 32 aircraft were lost mostly to nightfighters - this number being that of an operational squadron.
McLarnes crew were lucky they were caught in searchlights and attacked over the city by JU-88 nightfighters his air gunner s did enough to keep them alive and they returned home to land at Burn before making the short flight back to Lisset.
This introduction to Germany's defended airspace must have let them in no doubt what a tour of 30 operational flights would mean - every night would mean dicing with death , each operational meal of bacon and eggs might be thier last.
Their third operational flight was made on the night of 29th September 1943 , five months after having crewed up in Scotland.
When their halifax NP-"E" (HR715) thundered down the runway at Lisset and the huge wheels left contact with the ground the aircraft would have blended quickly into the darkness and that would be the last sight that anyone would ever see of them and when the sound of their engines faded the last trace of the crew was gone.
This final flight would take them across the north Sea to Bochum in the Rhur , McClarn's crew would never make it.
The inbound route would take them over the narrow channel between the Dutch Islands of Texel and Vlieland and the attentions of Marine Flak battery 815.
The 3rd battery of 815 Marine Flak battery had three 105mm anti aircraft guns in seperate cuppolas , teir gunfire was directed by radar which would accuratelt plot both course and altitude of the incoming bombers - with a traget aquired they would punch shells set to explode around the target , thier taget on this night would be NP-"E" of 158 squadron.
As they approached the coast they would have seen the searchlights , the flash of exploding shells and felt the impact of the barrage sent up by the german gunners.
At 21.15 hours (local time)"E" would have recieved the direct and full attention of the third battery's guns.
The german report describes a "Red ball of fire with dark flames".
"The aircraft exploded in mid-air and burst into several parts.
They tracked the aircraft after she was hit and saw her turn to the south west on fire , the map they later produced poltted her course over Texel to where she crashed into the sea a short distance off texel's west coast , she burnt for a short time before all trace of her was gone.
27 rounds of 105mm brought her down.
What it ws like on the aircraft I can only imagine the intense noise the impact of meatl on the thin skin of the aircraft , the flash of the hit and the roar of wounded engines , the shudders and visual dispaly of flame , no time to be afraid.
The men who shot them down - Lt. Burmeister, Obermaat Albrecht,Maat Penning, Gefreiters Hesse, Schlichting - young men as those in the aircraft.
That meal of eggs and bacon was their last.
The Squadron reord shows that they took off at 1812 (local time and that "since when nothing has been heard of it".
Jimmy's log book - the final entery in red reads- 29/9/43 "Missing - Bochum" and is signed by Jim Reynolds.
Some years later Jim Reynolds wrote to me to apologise for not remembering them , " there were so many" , that one in five chance was but a slender chance of surival.

On Tuesday 5th October Tjeerd Nijboer the ststion officer at Hollum went to Ameland's Waddenzee Beach close to Hollum to investigate the discovery of a body which had been washed up on the beach.
On arrival he found the body of an airman in flying clothes .
He searched the body for signs of identification and soon confirmed the man to be a RAF NCO aircrew , his esacpe kit with photographs matching the youngman and on the inside of his collars the name STEWART , J.D. and on the photographic negaive inside the esacpe kit the name STEWART.
He gives a description thus.
"Height 1.78 m, figure normal , auburn or dark brown hair, on face, hands arms, and legs many frecles, sound teeth, large protruding ears, lined forehead.
On the lefet side of the unirorm jacket , just above the breast a circle with AG and a half wing on the left.
On the left sleeve three chevrons. On both shoulders a black badge with a bird in flight."

"After further examination I found in the collar of the shirt the following letters and numbers :STEWART J.D. T.L> 7758-1557758 and in the waistband of one pair of underpants T.L. 7758. These same letters and numbers were on the inside of one of the socks.

Jimmy was buried the same day in Nes General Cemetery , the only trace of the crew to be found.

The other lads Eddie Sheepard from the Welsh Vally's - when he left home his sister knew in herat he was not coming back.
William McClaren , a man who loved to tinker with the engine of his motorbike, Philip Du- Plat_Taylor the bomb aimer who was standing in for James Farrelly a New Zealander. James had just got married and may have had a short leave , when he returned his crew was gone.
Phillip was a gifted actor and might well have gone on to have a professional acreer, that is where his heart was.
James Farrelly , God knows what he thoguht when he found them gone - James was to die also , he was lsot on 22nd October over Rotterdam , a victim of flak.
Today the only memorials to these lads are in quiet churchs and the Squadron memorial in the snall churchyard at Lisset.
The only one of the crew to have a grave is Sgt James Dickson Stewart , his crew mates remain together in their aircraft.
Offically listed as "missing" they lie peacefully a short distance of the Island of Texel.
May these youngmen rest in peace.

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