| Aircraft | Avro Lancaster III |
| Serial Number | JB488 |
| Markings | OL-X |
| Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
| Burial/Memorial Place | Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery |
| Grave Reference | 1. H. 13.. |
| Epitaph |
| Phase | 2 |
| Panel Number | 232 |
| Service Number | 1483352 |
| Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
| Group | 8 |
| Squadron | 83 |
| Trade | Flight Engineer |
| Country of origin if different | United Kingdom |
| Abbott A F (F/O) |
| Davies J C H (F/O) |
| Edwards T W (F/S) |
| Smith H F (F/S) |
| Watkins A E (Sgt) |
| Start Date | 21-01-1944 |
| End Date | 22-01-1944 |
| Takeoff Station | Wyton |
| Day/Night raid | Night |
| Operation | Magdeburg- the first major raid on this target. 648 aircraft, 57 losses (8.8%). The Halifax loss rate was especially high at 15.6%. The German controller tracked the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night-fighters were already in the stream before it reached the German coast (using the newly developed Tame Boar methodology). The controller was slow in identifying Magdeburg as the target but this was of little consequence as the fighters were able to stay in the stream for the duration of the approach. Despite the high loss rate, this was not a successful attack. Stronger tail winds than anticipated placed some of the stream over the target before Zero Hour and dropped their bomb load anyway, making the target marking much less effective. German decoy markers exacerbated the situation. No local report is available but it is thought that most of the bombs fell outside of the city. |
| Reason for Loss | Victim of a night fighter, crashing near Stendal |