On the night
of 16/17 September 1942, Bomber Command flew
a all out mission against the German
industrial city of Essen, in the Ruhr area.
As many planes as possible were brought
together for this mission. Also the
Wellington IC X9920 of 15 O.T.U. Sgt
Frederick Seals would be an air gunner of
this crew on this mission. The plane was
captained by Sgt W J Nobbs. The other crew
members were:
Sgt Thomas
Fraser, second Pilot
F/S Donald Miller, wireless operator
Sgt John Stirk, observer
Sgt Ronald Ware, air gunner
The crew took
off from their base Harwell in Berkshire at
2002. It was picked up by the German radars
and intercepted by a night fighter flown by
Lt. Eberhard Gardiewski of 6/NJG2.
The Wellington
was shot down and crashed at 0012 on farmland
between Heiloo and Alkmaar. The whole crew
perished and are buried in Bergen.
