FINAL FLIGHT
George and crew took off aboard PO-K, his 11th sortie to bomb Berlin at 23:24 hours on 1st January 1944. PO-K was carrying a bomb load of 1 x 4,000lb bomb, 48 x 30lb and 900 x 4lb incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the plane after take-off and it did not return to base.
Ten aircraft from 467 squadron took part in the raid, with PO-K being the only aircraft to fail to return safely.
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The final PO-K crew comprised of:
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RAAF Flt Lt Patkin, L B Captain (Pilot)
RAAF Flt Sgt J Mudie (Co-Pilot)
RAF FO Maidstone, R J A (Navigator)
RAF Flt Sgt G A Litchfield (Air Bomber)
RAAF Flt Sgt W D Blackwell (Wireless Operator, Air Gunner)
RAF Sgt R Chambers (Flight Engineer)
RAAF Flt Sgt H D Scott (Mid Upper Gunner)
RAAF Flt Sgt A H Boettcher (Rear Gunner)
F/Sgt A Boettcher, F/Sgt H D Scott, and F/Sgt J Mudie had never flown with George's crew before.
F/Sgt J Mudie arrived at RAF Waddington on the morning of the final mission and did not even unpack his gear. Normally a Lancaster only carried a crew of 7, but on this flight, F/Sgt J Mudie joined the mission as an extra co-pilot for experience & familiarisation, as the crew of PO-K were recognised as a veteran crew.
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Post war enquires and interrogation of local residents established that the aircraft crashed and exploded on impact in a field near the small village of Altmerdingsen on 2nd January 1944, leaving a crater of 25 yards in circumference.
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Jim George, the nephew of Sgt R Chambers, kindly supplied a detailed map of the crash site & location of the original grave site of George and the crew.
The wider location is shown below using Google Maps
Altmerdingsen is 18 miles north east of Hanover, Germany. All eight crew members were killed. Seven of the crew are buried in the Hanover War Cemetery, Germany and Sgt Chambers (RAF) is listed as missing. His name is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Runnymede, Surrey UK.
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Jim identified the pilot of the night fighter that shot down PO-K as Major Prince Heinrich zu Sayn Wittgenstein. At the time of his death he was the highest scoring night fighter ace in the Luffewaffe, achieving 83 victories. Despite being killed in action on the 21st of January 1944 (just 19 days after shooting down PO-K), he still finished as the 3rd highest-scoring night fighter ace.
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On 1 January 1944, Sayn-Wittgenstein was appointed Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) of NJG 2 he had already reached 68 aerial victories. He claimed six four-engined bombers shot down on the same night, including PO-K
Major Prince Heinrich zu Sayn Wittgenstein was flying a night fighter variant of the Ju-88 at the time of shooting down PO-K, coded R4+AA
Entry in Squadron Operations Record Book noting the loss of the crew. Click to enlarge.
