Royan
5 January 1945 — Royan
- Date
- 5 January 1945
- Target
- Royan, France
Narrative
Royan, at the mouth of the Gironde, was held by a German garrison cut off behind the Allied advance, but the town was still home to several thousand French civilians. On the night of 5 January 1945 Bomber Command attacked it heavily, in the belief — largely mistaken — that the civilians had left. Much of Royan was destroyed and hundreds of French inhabitants were killed; the raid became one of the most criticised of the war, a tragic error against a town in a country already being liberated.
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
120 airmen in this archive died on 5 January 1945 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 Charles Adams (23)
- Flight Lieutenant Bernard Mortimer Adilman (27)
- Flight Sergeant Keith Stanley Franz Allen (31)
- Flying Officer Richard Bruce Anderson (22)
- Flight Sergeant Richard James Andrews (23)
- Pilot Officer Clifford Norman Aune
- Pilot Officer William Bainbridge
- Aircraftman 2nd Class John Frederick Bartholomew (19)
- Flying Officer Leonard Ralph Belcher (31)
- Flying Officer Lawrence John Benville (21)
- Sergeant Edward Archibald Bishop (21)
- Lieutenant Boughey
- Warrant Officer William Francis Boughey (24)
- Flight Lieutenant Lorne William Brand
- Flying Officer Harry Patrick Breier
- Sergeant Harold Bryan Spencer Brenchley
- Pilot Officer Francis Norman Brown (19)
- Flight Sergeant Sidney Arthur Brown (20)
- Flight Sergeant Maxwell Browne (23)
- Corporal Bruce Allan Brownjohn (29)
- Flight Sergeant Walter Matthew Burton (24)
- Pilot Officer Norman Arthur Butler
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Peter Hixon Cain (19)
- Flight Sergeant Leonard William Cann (22)
See all 120 who died on 5 January →
Source: Wikipedia — Royan pocket →