De Villiers, Paul
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | Paul |
Surname | De Villiers |
Gender | M |
Age | |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 30-07-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of Dr J. H & Mrs Marie De Villiers, of Newtimber, Newlands, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Avro Lancaster III |
Serial Number | EE172 |
Markings | OF-O |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Becklingen War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 14. E. 12. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 154 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 89112 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 8 |
Squadron | 97 (Straits Settlements) |
Trade | Air Bomber |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Church of the Holy Spirit, RAF Coningsby, Coningsby, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stained Glass Window |
Memorial Text | A stained glass window remembering 97 Sqn in the Church of the Holy Spirit, RAF Coningsby |
Miscellaneous Information
He had enlisted into the Admin Branch and in the 1940 RAF List he has just been Commissioned, commission as Pilot Officer 8 November 40, and then F/O before relinquishing his seniority and becoming a Bomb Aimer. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/767/14 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/767/13 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 29-07-1943 |
End Date | 30-07-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Bourn |
Day/Night Raid | Night (4% moon) |
Operation | Hamburg. 787 aircraft, 17 losses (2.2%). For the second consecutive raid, Brig. Gen. Anderson, the commander of the American 8th Air Force, flew as an observer on this operation. PFF used H2S to mark the target but were approximately 3km east of the centre of the city but was at least concentrated, leading to concentrated bombing with little creepback. This raid caused a firestorm resulting from very high summer temperatures and low humidity following a particularly dry spell. Most of the fire crews were in the west of the city following the raid of three nights earlier and few could make the journey to the new fires due to rubble blocking roads. The fires quickly joined into one mass of fire, drawing so much oxygen into the area that it caused storm-force winds. The fire raged for over three hours after the raid and only subsided when all combustible material was consumed. Approximately 40000 civilian deaths mostly from asphyxiation resulting from lack of oxygen. The raid led to an exodus of over 1.2 million people fearing another raid. |
Reason for Loss | Coned by searchlights from 1./Flakscheinw.Abt.501(0), 1. & 2./Flakscheinw.Abt.530(0) & 4./Flakscheinw.Abt.608(0) of 3.Flak Div & attacked by a N/F flown by Fw Wilhelm Kurreck 8/NJG3 at 01.33hrs, crashed at Wohnste, South West of Buxtehude to the South of Hamburg. |