In Memoriam: Pilot Officer Edward Harrill 1915 - 1943

[PipsPriller]

At 19.49 on 3rd September 1943 Pilot Officer Edward Harrill was the Air Bomber in a Lancaster crew from 100 Squadron that left RAF Grimsby for Berlin.

The remainder of the crew flying in Lancaster MkIII JA930 (HW-Y) that night were:

Flying Officer William Gardiner, Pilot (from Quebec, Canada)

Sgt Joseph Dunn, Flight Engineer (from Wheatley, Yorkshire)

Sgt John King, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner (from Skipton, Yorkshire)

Sgt Oliver Innocent, Navigator (from Romford, Essex)

Sgt Jack Wales, Mid Upper Gunner (from Worstead, Norfolk)

Warrant Officer Fred Davis, Rear Gunner (from Throckmorton, Texas)

At approximately 00.50 on 4th September their Lancaster is thought to have been shot down by nightfighter crew Oberleutnant Werner Husemann & Fw Rudolf Seufert of the Stab/NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 G-4 from Deelen airfield in the Netherlands, with the loss of all crew members.

Gardiner and his crew had joined 100 Squadron on 8th June 1943 and the trip to Berlin was the twentieth of their first operational tour.

On 12/13th July they had been one of eight crews selected to make a 1,970 mile round trip to raid Turin in northern Italy, at that time 100 Squadron’s longest operational sortie.

On 20th August Edward had received his commission, having previously held the rank of Sergeant and trained as an Air Bomber (or bomb aimer) in the UK and Canada.

100 Squadron’s Summary of Events for the night of 3/4 September 1943 records that “The Squadron offered 22 aircraft and operations were detailed. It being the fourth anniversary of the war, Berlin was an appropriate choice as a target. Out of the 22 aircraft which took off, 18 attacked the primary target , two were abortive and two were missing, one of which (F/O Gardiner) was an experienced crew who had achieved excellent results in their previous sorties.”

My connection to Edward Harrill is simply that I now live in the Somerset cottage where he grew up with his parents and eleven siblings, and I have met two of his relatives.

However, as many of us await Aeroplane Heaven’s release of their Avro Lancaster, it seemed appropriate to mark the 80th anniversary of the loss of Edward and his six comrades from the 55,573 Bomber Command aircrew killed between 1939 and 1945.

Edward Harrill

William Gardiner (centre) & his crew, with Edward Harrill on the far right and Jack Wales second right.

Fred Davis is known to have been absent for this photo. Sgts Dunn, King & Innocent have not as yet been matched to the other three crew members pictured.

100 Squadron’s Operational Record Book entry for F/O Gardiner’s crew.

100 Squadron’s Summary of Events entry for the night of 3/4 September 1943.

(With thanks to Martin Seymour and Steve Smith for photos and additional information)

[harry954v2]

Sgt Oliver Innocent was my dad’s second cousin, he is second from left in the photo you have attached. His cousin (my great uncle) Henry Ernest Joyce died on the 19th November in a training accident over Kirkbride, Cumbria.

Amazed with all the detail and what you have complied. I wonder if there is a location of where they went down, or if they are remembered at the Doeberitz cemetery near Berlin in any way, or if they are simply unknown soldiers.

[PipsPriller]

@harry954v2 Hello and thanks for your comment - are you also a flight simmer or have you found the thread via some research of your own? It is great to be able to match up another member of the crew to the photo but the loss of two family members in such a short time much have been traumatic.

As regards the loss of JA930 that night the evidence suggests that the aircraft exploded over Berlin. As above, research undertaken into the German records suggests that they were shot down by a night fighter.

Edward Harrill’s is the only body known to have been recovered. He now lies in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Berlin.

The remaining members of the crew are commemorated at the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede.

I can DM you links to sites I used to research their story and also to the pdfs of the Operational Record Books for the period of their tour if that would be of interest.

[harry954v2]

I found it through research of my own, traumatic as you say, both of his parents (my nans parents) died within a few years of this happening.

Will pay a visit to Runnymede in the near future.

That would be much appreciated, thank you.