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F/Lt A J Grain and Crew
F/Lt A J Grain and crew were posted to 550 Sqdn from 1667 C.U. w.e.f. 11/2/44:
- F/Lt A J Grain DFM (P)
- Sgt J Stanley (F/Eng)
- F/O M R Oliver (Nav)
- F/O E C Jones (A/B)
- F/O H W Batt (W/Op)
- P/O T N Large (MU/AG)
- Sgt J Ellis (R/AG)
F/Lt Grain and crew were killed when Lancaster LL826 was lost on the Mailly raid 3/4 May 1944. On this occasion the crew was not the transferred-in crew, rather it was as listed below:
- F/Lt A J Grain DFM (P) KIA
- Sgt J Stanley (F/Eng) KIA
- F/O M R Oliver (Nav) KIA
- F/O E C Jones (A/B) KIA
- F/O H W Batt (W/Op) KIA
- Sgt K R Dye (MU/AG) KIA
- Sgt J Ellis (R/AG) KIA
- Maj S Whipp KIA
P/O Large, the crew regular MU/AG was not flying, instead Sgt Dye was in the MU/AG position. Also flying with the crew on this flight as a Passenger/Observer was:
- Major S Whipp TD Territorial, 7th Battalion The Duke of Wellingtons Regiment (West Riding)
The entry on the 550 Squadron Roll of Honour is available here.
Other information about the flight and the target available here.
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F/Lt A J Grain
Photo courtesy of Stefanie Bolzen (via Ed Owen) From an item in The Guardian, Sunday 26 May 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/26/my-family-at-war-raf-hero-bereaved-uncle-second-wolrd-war-stefanie-bolzen |