Lancaster JB116 at Catfoss airfield.

On the night of 26th / 27th November 1943 a large force of Bomber Command aircraft took part on a raid on Berlin, 61 Squadron were one of the Lincolnshire based Lancaster squadrons that were part of the bomber force. On their return to England thick fog over Lincolnshire was poor so many aircraft were diverted North to land at airfields in Yorkshire. Although the 61 Squadron record book is very poorly written and does not record where the aircraft all landed on this night I believe that one of the 61 Squadron Lancasters, Lancaster JB116, landed at Catfoss airfield safely but in exceptionally foggy conditions and was still at Catfoss on either the 28th or 29th of November 1943 when it was parked on the edge of the airfield at Catfoss when it was struck by a landing Beaufighter EL389. The Beaufighter struck the Lancaster around the mid upper turret area and it broke in two, with it ending up with the nose pointing in the air. The crew listed below appear to have been the crew who flew it on Ops on 26th / 27th November 1943 and were still at Catfoss awaiting a break in the weather to make the return to their home airfield of Skellingthorpe but the aircraft may have been empty at the time of the collision.

Pilot - F/Lt George Henry Harvey RAAF (414025).

Flight Engineer - Sgt James Stuart Kennedy RAFVR (948904).

Navigator - Sgt Reginald Walter Carver RAFVR (1393968).

Bomb Aimer - Sgt Henry Alan Sheppard RAFVR (1391502).

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Noel Stephen Joseph Meehan RAF (551830).

Air Gunner - Sgt Donald Frank Thomas RCAF (R/??).

Air Gunner - Sgt Richard Stuart RAFVR (1681268).

Sgt Henry Sheppard died in Lincolnshire on 12th December 1943 and is buried in Minster-in-Sheppey new Churchyard, Kent. He died as a result of a road accident.
On 29th December 1943 all apart from Sgt Sheppard were flying Lancaster DV399 on Ops to Berlin when the aircraft was hit by flak and set on fire. Sgt Thomas managed to bale out but everyone else was killed. Sgt Thomas became a PoW while his crew are now buried in Berlin War Cemetery. I thank Mr Richard Stuart, nephew of the rear gunner, for contacting me in January 2018 and for the additional information he was able to provide.

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