Squadron Operations: Summary Information

Overview

Listed below is the information available for operations to this target flown by 550 Squadron.

Operation Summary: The column headers should be fairly self-explanatory. The term "aborted" as used here covers a number of possibilities:

• the operation was cancelled before crews were briefed
• the crews have been briefed as to the target, and in some cases the planes may even have been bombed up and the crews on-board at their stations awaiting take-off, before the op has been stood-down
• finally a number of cases where the op was already under way and the planes en-route but for whatever reason the operation was aborted (e.g. the master bomber orders the attack cancelled due to weather conditions at target adversely affecting targeting).

Aircraft Deployed: When a link to a particular aircraft is given, this indicates aircraft known to have taken part in this raid (in the records currently available to the web-site author). A record of whether the aircraft returned or failed to return (FTR) is also logged.

Servicemen Deployed: Names of the crew in the operation.

Station Summary: This section is the information from the RAF North Killingholme Station Record Book for the operational date (if available).

Definitions of the abbreviations used are available: here.

Manageable Lists

The amount of data in the database is growing and this is resulting in the "all operations/targets" list getting rapidly bigger and thus slower to generate. There are options to display shorter, more quickly generated, reports if you want to home in on something specific. For example, there are options to generate reports on operations to a single target, or by single aircraft (to all targets) or by single aircraft to a single target. There is, on the database-reports summary page, a short user guide (PDF format) on how to do this.

Operation/Target: Wemars-Cappel (28 Aug 1944 - 28 Aug 1944)

Operation Summary
Target	Out	Back	Aborted (Y / N)	Comments
Wemars-Cappel	28 Aug 1944	28 Aug 1944	N	Ten aircraft and crews were detailed to attach a buzz-bomb sight ay WEMARS-CAPPEL in daylight. It is greatly regretted to have to put on record the loss of S/L K MacAleavey the "A" Flight Commander, who was also a member of the crew of "E". S/L K MacAleavey was a very popular Flight Commander and a well known member of the Navigation Union. [Ed: in fact S/L MacAleavey survived the crash to become a POW. See below under PA991.]

Aircraft Deployed			Servicemen Deployed
Aircraft Service Number	Returned or FTR	Comments	Crew Details
PA991	FTR	Missing. [Ed. PA991 had just bombed the Wemars/Cappel launching site near Amiens, when it received a direct hit from a flak battery near Dunkirk. The Lancaster went down in flames and exploded. The pilot, P/O Beeson, and 3 other members of the crew escaped by parachute, but the wireless operator and the two gunners were killed. Sergeants JK Norgate, HS Picton and JA Trayhorn were thus the last fatal casualties in the Bomber Command campaign against the V-1 flying bomb. (Source http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aug44.html)]	S/L K MacAleavey (Nav) F/O S C Beeson (P) Sgt K J R Hewlett (F/Eng) F/Sgt F Neal (A/B) Sgt J K Norgate (W/Op) Sgt J A Trayhorn (R/AG) Sgt H S Picton (MU/AG)

Summary Statistics

Based on the data in the lists displayed above, and keeping in mind that data is still being updated and thus not yet complete, the following statistics are generated:

Aircraft Deployment Statistics

Aircraft deployments	1
MAX Aircraft deployed in single operation	1 (Wemars-Cappel, 28 Aug 1944)

These details were last updated: 20 June 2024

Note

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