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MANSFIELD NR
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MANSFIELD, Nelson

Aircraft Information
Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ND357
Markings GT-G
Memorial information
Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Bergen-op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 29. B. 2..
Epitaph TO THE DEAR MEMORY OF MY BELOVED HUSBAND WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase 2
Panel Number 204
Enlistment information
Service Number 43707
Service Royal Air Force
Group 8
Squadron 156
Trade Pilot
Country of origin if different United Kingdom
Last Operation information
Start Date 14-01-1944
End Date 15-01-1944
Takeoff Station Warboys
Day/Night raid Night
Operation Brunswick. 498 aircraft, all but two of them Lancasters. First major raid on this town of the war. 38 Lancasters Lost (7.6%). The German controller tracked the bomber stream from just off the English coastline and many German fighters entered the stream over Bremen, continuing to score hits until the stream left the Dutch coast on the return leg. Pathfinder losses were unusually high (11 aircraft). The raid was not successful even though the town was not expansive alongside most targets. Many bombs fell in open countryside or in neighbouring towns. Only 10 houses destroyed. 14 deaths on the ground.
Reason for Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at Kolhorn, ENE of Schagen, Holland