Schweinfurt
26 April 1944 — Schweinfurt
- Date
- 26 April 1944
- Target
- Schweinfurt, Germany
Narrative
The ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt were among the most heavily defended targets in Germany. On the night of 26/27 April 1944, having bombed the target, a No. 106 Squadron Lancaster was attacked by a night-fighter and a fuel tank in the starboard wing caught fire. Sergeant Norman Jackson, the flight engineer and already wounded, clipped on a parachute, took a fire extinguisher and climbed out onto the wing in flight to fight the flames before being swept off into the night. He survived, badly burned, as a prisoner of war, and was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Order of battle
1 aircraft. Each crew links to the men who flew it; each airman to their own record.
| Aircraft | Type | Squadron | Pilot | Crew | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ME669 | Avro Lancaster | Failed to return |
The fallen
263 airmen in this archive died on 26 April 1944 or the day that followed. For a raid of this kind these are overwhelmingly the night's losses, though a death-date match is not by itself proof an individual flew this operation.
- Flight Sergeant Royston John Edward Adey (21)
- Flying Officer Arthur Raymond Allan
- Flight Lieutenant Clifford Arthur Lawrence Allen (23)
- Leading Aircraftman Donald David Alliston (22)
- Sergeant Frank Iron Anderson
- Flight Sergeant Lionel David Anderson (22)
- Flight Lieutenant Robert Gow Armstrong (22)
- Leading Aircraftman Edward James Bailey (23)
- Aircraftman 1st Class James Frederick Balham
- Leading Aircraftman Allan Ball (24)
- Flight Lieutenant Leo Joseph Banks (31)
- Sergeant Alan Beattie (20)
- Flying Officer Andrew Allan Bell (21)
- Flight Sergeant Duncan Neilson Bell (19)
- Pilot Officer Cyril Arthur Bishop (29)
- Leading Aircraftman Hugh Cecil Blinman (21)
- Sergeant Denis Booth (19)
- Flight Lieutenant Alan Boswell (36)
- Sergeant Fred Ernest Bowler
- Sergeant Robert James Boyce (20)
- Squadron Leader Michael Innes Boyle (31)
- Pilot Officer Harold Arthur Brad
- Flying Officer Reginald Maurice Brooks (23)
- Warrant Officer Class II George Bryson