Bender, Laurie George
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Laurie George |
Surname | Bender |
Gender | M |
Age | |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 23-09-1943 |
Next of Kin |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | JB971 |
Markings | VR-X |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Reichswald Forest War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Coll. grave 22. A. 2-6. |
Epitaph | AND SOON THE NIGHT OF WEEPING SHALL BE A MORN OF SONG |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 129 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 1809240 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 419 (Moose) |
Trade | Flight Engineer |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Outside Former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Slate Memorial Tablet on Stone Memorial |
Memorial Text | A memorial to Nos 419, 420 and 428 Sqns RCAF who flew from RAF Middleton St George during WW2 |
Miscellaneous Information
This was the crew's first sortie together and Sgt Griffith's first sortie as first pilot, having flown two previously as second pilot |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/40 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/39 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 23-09-1943 |
End Date | 24-09-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Middleton St. George |
Day/Night Raid | Night (25% moon) |
Operation | Mannheim- to bomb the northern part of the city which had not sustained much damage in raids earlier this month. 628 aircraft and the now familiar five American B-17s. 32 aircraft Lost (5.1%). Target marking and bombing were accurate but some creepback took place, meaning that towards the end of the raid, bombs were falling in open countryside and into Ludwigshafen, causing significant damage to the I. G. Farben chemical plant. The neighbouring town of Frankenthal was completely burnt out. |
Reason for Loss |