Breivis, John
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | John |
Surname | Breivis |
Gender | M |
Age | 19 |
Date of Death | 29-08-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of John Breivis and Annie Breivis (nee Andrelanute) of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Avro Lancaster I |
Serial Number | R5897 |
Markings | EA- |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Durnbach War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Coll. grave 11. F. 4-12. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 1 |
Panel Number | 12 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/132533 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 5 |
Squadron | 49 |
Squadron Motto | Cave canem (Beware of the dog) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | United States of America |
Other Memorials
Location | Fiskerton Airfield (Disused) Reepham Rd, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stones with inscribed Metal Plaques |
Memorial Text | RAF Fiskerton. This stone and tree are sited on the airfield in memory of those who served here during World War II |
Location | The National Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Stone Memorial |
Memorial Text | In memory of those who served on 49 Squadron 1916-1965 |
Miscellaneous Information
One of the first two Lancasters to be lost from 49 Sqn |
Both his parents were born in Russia. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/481/16 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/481/15 |
Fellow Servicemen
Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 28-08-1942 |
End Date | 29-08-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Scampton |
Day/Night Raid | Night (90% moon) |
Operation | Nürnberg |
Reason for Loss | May have collided with Wellington BJ701 of 57 Squadron. After the war, Allied investigators visited the village of Kalchreuth where R5897 crashed. They interviewed a number of eye witnesses, including the local Burgermeister, Herr. Ulrich. Although he was not the Burgermeister at the time of the incident, he was at least resident in the village and remembered the events clearly. He recalled an explosion, which he presumed to be the bomb load detonating. Herr Holzenleuchter, the gravedigger, recalled that the dead airmen were buried at 5pm on 1 September with full military honours in the village's New Cemetery. A single cross was erected at the time but the investigators noticed that it bore the names of some of the crew of R5897 but also two from Wellington BJ701. The collective grave was exhumed in 1947 to reveal nine coffins and the investigative team concluded they contained the entire crew of BJ701 and some of the crew of R5897. Sadly, only three of the bodies could be positively identified. All we re-interred in Durnbach War Cemetery. The exact circumstances remain a mystery and perhaps always shall, although there remains a strong possibility that these two machines collided and the explosion heard by Herr Ulrich was in fact the collision rather than an explosion as a single machine crashed into the ground. |