lancaster nd988 shot down dortmund -ems canal raid info

[adreas schmidt]

i know its a bit out of the forum but im looking for any info on lancaster nd988 QRE
shot down on a raid on the dortmund ems canal from 61 sqn 23 sept 1944
the crew were f/O I Campbell (great uncle)
Sgt J Hoad
Sgt R Cole
F/S M Miln
Sgt J McCabe
Sgt S Wickland
Sgt H Lea *********only survivor pow

im trying to find relatives of the crew as i have raf information on the events following the crash, i will be building a website dedicated to this crew and want to include as much as i can, does anyone have any advice as where to start looking or advertising? any help will be much appreciated.

[byterock]

Start here

CW War Graves Commission

You will get all of their SN and Nationalities. Odds are some of the crew were Canadian, Australian or NZ

You can then go the the differing National archives to find their service records.

After a quick check found there are all buried at REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY and M Miln was from NZ the rest were RAF or RAFR

[adreas schmidt]

lancaster nd 988 update wechte germany

since last year i had located a relative of nd988's navigator r cole ,hopefully he will join me in a trip to the town of wechte where the wreckage was found in the near future, other relatives are invited for the trip, i will be making a short documentary on the trip, any assistance from the german side will be most appreciated, so anyone who lives near wechte please contact me mike@nd988.com

[HILL60]

Hi there you might already have this information:
Raid on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, Germany (by 136 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes) 23/24 September 1944. (RAF losses on this raid were 11 aircraft)
A 61 Squadron Lancaster III ND988/E-took of at 1907 to bomb the banks of two parrallel branches of the canal at a point near Ladbergen, about 20 km NNE of Munster, and was brought down 8km NNE of the target area, crashing at Wechte, 5km WNW of Lengerich, at 2330. Taken POW was the sole survivour an RAF gunner. His six comrades were all buried at Lengerich, but later moved to Reichswald Forest, 5km south of Kleve.
The pilot was FO Ian Melville Campbell RNZAF -aged 23 years on his 5th or-6th operational mission. (His service number is NZ426213)
The Air Bomber was FS Montague John Miln RNZAF Aged 24 years on his 5th mission. (Miln's service number is NZ427508). So both Campbell and Miln were New Zealanders.

Regards Hill 60
New Zealand

[adreas schmidt]

nd988

thanks for that hill 60 i had some of it but not the pieces to fill in the gaps,im going to wechte next year to visit the site i met up with a relative of the navigator who is living in england, id like to find the relatives of miln in nz somehow, many thanks