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Service of Commemoration for five WW2 Royal Air Force Servicemen

Crew members of Lancaster DS678, a Royal Air Force (RAF) bomber, took off on the evening of 24 March 1944 for a raid on Berlin, Germany but never returned. Sadly, nothing further was heard of their fate. A Service of Commemoration to honour five of the crew members was held Wednesday 27 June at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Niederzwehren War Cemetery in Hessen, Germany.

The service, organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), part of Defence Business Services, was conducted by the Reverend Doctor (Squadron Leader) John Harrison, Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

“It’s a great pleasure to be here to pay tribute to these brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice for King and country. Although the location of their actual graves has been lost over the year it’s fitting that they are commemorated by name and I’m delighted that we have some of their family from the UK, Canada and the USA here with us.”

Tracey Bowers
Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre

"It has been the utmost honour and privilege to conduct the service for these brave men and their families in the Royal Air Force's centenary year; they continue to be the benchmark for our service.”

Reverend John Harrison

The five crew members remembered were:

Sergeant William Bowey

Year of birth: 1922

Place of birth: Sunderland

sergeant-victor-watson Sergeant Victor Watson (known as Johnnie)

 Year of birth: 1924

 Place of birth: London

Sergeant Donald Keeley

Year of birth: 1921

Place of birth: Birmingham

Sergeant John Burke

Year of birth: 1922

Place of birth: Merthyr, Glamorgan

Pilot Officer Leonard McCann

Royal Canadian Air Force

Year of birth: 1921

Ottawa, Canada

Terri Griffin, on behalf of Sergeant Watson’s family, said:

“It has been a fabulous event for the family, so well organised and a great tribute to uncle Johnnie.”

Liane Benoit on behalf of Pilot Officer McCann family, said:

“We are so grateful to the British Ministry of Defence for this honour. It was a beautiful ceremony in a generous and hospitable community and we know they will rest in peace.”

The five were killed and buried in the Prisoner of War (PoW) cemetery at Ohrdruf. After the war, the Missing, Recovery and Exhumation Services (MRES) were unable to identify the graves as the cemetery was under Soviet control and remained so until 1991. Over the years, the graves had been declared as ‘lost’. Now, more than 70 years after their deaths, a special memorial for each of the five fallen crew members has been rededicated in Hessen, Germany.

It is believed that only two crew members of Lancaster DS678 survived but were taken as Prisoner of Wars at Ohdruf.

“These Special Memorials allow us to commemorate the five members of the crew of Lancaster DS678, alongside other Commonwealth war casualties in the CWGC Niederzwehren War Cemetery. Even though their graves in Ohrdruf cannot now be found, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ensures that all those who served and fell are commemorated by name.”

Mel Donnelly
Commonwealth War Graves Commission

 

 

The memorials were provided by the CWGC who will now care for them in perpetuity.