Henry Eric Maudslay
Squadron Leader · 62275 · United Kingdom
- Died
- 17 May 1943, aged 21
- Fate
- Killed in action
Biography
Squadron Leader Henry Eric Maudslay, DFC, commanded ‘B’ Flight of No. 617 Squadron and led one of the aircraft sent against the Eder dam on the Dams Raid. He was born on 21 July 1921 at Leamington Spa in Warwickshire and educated at Eton College, where he was a notable athlete, oarsman and distance runner. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1940 and flew with Nos. 44 and 50 Squadrons, with a spell as an instructor, before being posted to the new [[No. 617 Squadron]] as a flight commander in 1943.
On the night of 16/17 May 1943, during [[Operation Chastise]], Maudslay captained Lancaster ED937, coded AJ-Z, in the attack on the Eder dam. His mine appears to have struck the dam’s parapet and detonated as the aircraft passed low overhead, and his Lancaster was badly damaged. He nursed it towards home but was shot down near Emmerich, close to the German–Dutch border; the entire crew was killed. Maudslay was 21. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany.
Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Commonwealth War Graves Commission — Maudslay, Henry Eric and Wikipedia: Henry Eric Maudslay. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.
Burial / commemoration
- Cemetery
- Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany
Operations on this date. 2 raids in this archive were flown on the night of 17 May 1943: Operation Chastise · Operation Chastise - The 'dambusters' Raid. (Cross-reference by date — not in itself confirmation this airman flew it.)
Timeline
-
27 January 1942
Gazetted: DFM
Distinguished Flying Medal -
16 May 1943
Flew Operation Chastise
Pilot, ED937 AJ-Z — Failed to return -
17 May 1943
Died
aged 21
Crew & operations
Flew as Pilot with No. 617 Squadron (Dambusters).
- Operation Chastise (16 May 1943) — aircraft ED937 AJ-Z (Avro Lancaster) — Failed to return
Crew: Michael John David Fuller (Bomb aimer) · John Marriott (Flight engineer) · William John Tytherleigh (Front gunner) · Robert Alexander Urquhart (Navigator) · Norman Rupert Burrows (Rear gunner) · Alden Preston Cottam (Wireless operator)
Awards
-
Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM) — gazetted 27 January 1942
Source: CWGC casualty record: MAUDSLAY, HENRY ERIC → · Commonwealth War Graves Commission