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Nicholson, William

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) William
Surname Nicholson
Gender M
Age 25
Date of Death 04-11-1944
Next of Kin Son of William and Ellen Robson Nicholson, of Lane Cove. New South Wales, Australia. B.A.
NICHOLSON W 855

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LV936
Markings HD-D D-Dog

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 31. G. 4.
Epitaph THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT
Ribbon Stone 0329 (Block 4, Column 21, Row 4)

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 219

Enlistment Information

Service Number 423855
Service Royal Australian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 466 (Australian)
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Australia

Other Memorials

Location International Bomber Command Centre, Canwick Avenue, Lincoln LN4 2HQ
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed stone tablet
Memorial Text RAAF 466 Sqn Driffield Halifax LV936 'HD-D' JH WN DU AD JV MW HK
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Location Memorial Gardens, North End Park, Driffield, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Marble Memorial
Memorial Text A memorial to the men and women of 462 and 466 Sqns RAAF who served in Bomber Command during WW2
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Miscellaneous Information

Survived the crash with serious injuries. Local people fetched a horse-drawn farm cart to convey him to hospital but he was dead on arrival. Some sources say he was shot dead by one of the four people who attended the scene but there is no evidence to support this claim and no action was taken after the war.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1926/22
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1926/21

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.

Duncan A (P/O)
Underwood D (P/O)
Wilson M M (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 04-11-1944
End Date 05-11-1944
Takeoff Station Driffield
Day/Night Raid Night (77% moon)
Operation Bochum. 749 aircraft, 28 losses (3.7%), mainly due to night-fighters. 346 Free French Squadron lost 5 out of its 16 Halifaxes. A very successful attack with severe damage to the centre of Bochum. More than 4000 buildings were destroyed, including the steel works. 994 people were killed. This was the last major raid on Bochum
Reason for Loss Hit by flak five minutes after the bombing run, setting the aircraft on fire. Two further bursts set each wing ablaze and the order to abandon was given. As the pilot was clipping on his parachute, the starboard wing detached, the aircraft flipped onto its back and exploded. The pilot, 425697 F/Lt. "Big" Joseph Herman RAAF, was blown clear without his parachute and free-fell 12,000 feet before instrinctively grabbing hold of something he brushed against during his descent. It turned out to the his mid-upper gunner's feet (432023 F/Sgt. John Martin "Irish" Vivash RAAF) and together they descended the final 5,000 feet and landed heavily, but survived. Specifically, Vivash landed on Herman's chest and broke two ribs. Despite this they managed to evade capture for five deays before being handed to the police when they sought help at a farmhouse. The Gestapo officials refused to believe their miraculous story until they were taken to the landing site and uncovered the single parachute. This is thought to be the only occasion on which a single parachute saved two people. The aircraft crashed near to the small village of Neviges, Germany. The Flight Engineer, 189617 Sgt. Harry Knott RAF also survived the incident and evaded capture until 9 November but was captured as he attempted to cross the Rhine. Joe Herman returned to his homeland after he was liberated and became a crop duster and commercial pilot. He had 4 children, 15 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren - so far.

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.