Boulogne
17 September 1944 — Boulogne
- Date
- 17 September 1944
- Target
- Boulogne, France
Narrative
With the Channel ports still in German hands and badly needed to supply the advancing Allied armies, Bomber Command was turned against their fortified garrisons. On 17 September 1944 a large daylight force struck the defences of Boulogne in support of the Canadian assault, Operation Wellhit. The bombing helped break the garrison, which surrendered within days — one of a series of attacks in which the heavy bombers were used, controversially, as close support against dug-in coastal fortresses.
Sortie details (which aircraft from which squadron, which crew flew, the outcome) will populate this page once the TNA AIR 27 squadron-diary importer arrives.
The fallen
71 airmen in this archive died on 17 September 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.
- Flying Officer John Smith Seaton Aird (30)
- Flight Lieutenant Godfrey Addison Argument (23)
- Leading Aircraftman Geoffrey Frank Austen
- Corporal Ronald Arthur Bailey (28)
- Pilot Officer John Douglas Baker (21)
- Aircraftman 1st Class Colin Boyd Begg (28)
- Pilot Officer George Samuel Crawford Bell (23)
- Flight Lieutenant Peter William Bickford
- Flight Lieutenant Roy Russell Boulter (23)
- Flight Lieutenant George William Brown (23)
- Flying Officer Edward Cyril Buckland (19)
- Corporal Norman William Cant (21)
- Corporal John Redmond Coleman (26)
- Warrant Officer Edward Douglas Haig Collard (27)
- Pilot Officer Neville James Costin (25)
- Pilot Officer Douglas Dawson
- Flight Sergeant David William Coll Ellison (20)
- Leading Aircraftman Francis William Farrar (38)
- Lieutenant Dunstan Patric Farrell (19)
- Flight Sergeant Dennis Fletcher (29)
- Pilot Officer Donald George Flood
- Flight Lieutenant Alastair Glasgow Gibb (25)
- Flight Sergeant Nolan Alexander Good (21)
- Air Mechanic Hugo Hahn (18)
See all 71 who died on 17 September →
Source: Wikipedia — Operation Wellhit →