Essen

Date

23 February 1945

Target

Essen, Germany

Force dispatched

342 aircraft

Aircraft lost

1

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

63 airmen in this archive died on 23 February 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 Donald William Bateman
• Flight Sergeant Henry Thomas Batten (28)
• Pilot Officer Raymond Clifford Brown
• Flight Sergeant Thomas George Campbell (20)
• Flight Sergeant Patrick John Paul Carlon (21)
• Flying Officer Frederick Einar Casher (23)
• Flight Lieutenant William Mackie Constable
• Flight Sergeant William Remington Cookson (23)
• Flying Officer Joseph Alfred Emile Thomas Cousineau
• Pilot Officer Charles Cleghorn Brockie Craigie (21)
• Pilot Officer Leo Patrick Curtin (20)
• Leading Aircraftman Kellems Richards Davey (20)
• Warrant Officer Francis Herbert Dix (24)
• Flight Lieutenant Joseph Garrett Doyle (23)
• Sergeant John Joseph Drake (21)
• Flight Sergeant William Francis Duncan (24)
• Flying Officer Vivian Clive Ely (23)
• Sergeant John Gower Evans (22)
• Pilot Officer Alan Noel Fletcher (24)
• Pilot Officer James Gallagher
• Aircraftman 1st Class Robert Orr Grant (32)
• Flying Officer Clifford Wesley Hall (22)
• Warrant Officer Norman Joseph Hall (24)
• Flying Officer Clifford Seymour Hart (23)

See all 63 who died on 23 February →

Source: RAF Bomber Command Campaign Diary (60th-Anniversary website, via the Wayback Machine) →