His crew
consisted of:
W/O W.A.
Watson (Pilot)
W/O. W.M. Waterman (Navigator)
F/S J. Butterworth (Wireless Operator)
F/S C. L. Robinson (Bomb Aimer)
Sgt. J. Hurst (Mid Upper Gunner)
F/S R.D. McWha (Rear Gunner)
F/S R.E. Hedges (Flt. Engineer)
"The
Five Aussies" Back row L to R: W/O William
Maitland Waterman (Nav.), W/O Wallace Arthur
Watson Pilot), F/S Charles Lloyd Robinson
(BA). Front row L to R: F/S John Butterworth
(W/op) and F/S Reginald McWha (Rear gunner)
(picture courtesy of Mr. Dave Cheetham)
Hurst and Hedges were English, the rest of
the crew were all Australian. On December
16th, 1943 they took off from their base at
Oakington in Cambridgeshire, in Lancaster
MG- L. The target was Berlin and this was
the 6th mission in what was called the
Battle for Berlin. Bomber Command paid
repeated visits to the German capital late
1943 through early 1944.
Their
Lancaster was claimed by Oblt.
Schnaufer at 18.01 north east of Lemmer at a
height of 5800 meters. Their plane crashed
a few minutes later near the town of Follega,
in a field opposite the farm belonging to
the Bangma family. The son and his mother
were in the kitchen when they heard a
terrific explosion. One of the engines flew
over the top of the farm in a ball of fire
and landed in a ditch behind the farm. Only five bodies were
recovered. W/O Waterman was found six weeks
later in the same ditch.
The other two, W/O Watson and F/S
Butterworth, are listed on the RAF Memorial
at Runnymede.
At practically
the same time another Lancaster of 7
squadron, captained by F/O Francis Rush was
shot down near the city of Alkmaar, crashing
near Stompetoren, killing all but one of the
crew.
F/S
Butterworth's watch (picture courtesy of
Dave Cheetham)
In 1996 a watch belonging to F/S Butterworth
was found. Representatives of the Dutch
branch of the Bomber Command Association,
Cristel and Ger Boogmans, in cooperation in
Dave Cheetham, tried to trace his family.
After a lengthy search his brother was found
and the watch was returned to him.
This newspaper
article about the watch and the search for
F/S Butterworth's relatives appeared in the
Leeuwarder Courant on 3 August 1996. On the
picture are Cristel and Ger Boogmans
(Newspaper clipping via Co Maarschalkerweerd)
Later, during
salvage, parts of the Lancaster were
recovered. Among the big parts that were
salvaged was this engine.
(picture courtesy of Dave Cheetham)