158 Squadron Association

"Strength in Unity"

Personnel Detail

SurnameDAY
Forename(s)DENNIS RAYMOND
Service Number1324989
RankSergeant
ServiceRoyal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
TradeWireless Operator
FatePrisoner of War
Awards with 158 Squadron
Awards with another Squadron
Posted In1944-04-13
From Squadron1652 HCU
Comments

On the night of 2/3rd June 1944 a total of 100 Halifax aircraft, including 23 from 158 Squadron, were detailed to attack the Marshalling Yards at Trappes on the western edge of Paris. The operation was part of a series of “Transportation Plan” attacks, designed to deny the Wehrmacht use of the rail system in the wake of the Allied seaborne landings that would take place on D-Day, June 6th. First attacks took place in early March 1944 and continued until after D-Day, by which time the rail centres throughout the occupied countries were, in the main, quite ineffective. Although the threat posed by the Luftwaffe was diminishing, on occasions when the German controllers successfully vectored their fighters towards the bomber streams, casualties were inevitably severe. Zero hours was set for 00.50 and most of the 100 bombers carried out their duty successfully, turning away from the target however, course was established for the channel coast and it was then the Luftwaffe night fighters struck. In total, 16 bombers were shot down and the cost in aircrew lives heavy; 78 died, 20 were taken prisoner and a further 17 evaded capture. Despite these terrible losses, the operation was deemed to have been a success and no further raids by the RAF were considered necessary against this target. LK875 was attacked at about 6,000ft and caught fire inboard to the inner port engine. The aircraft lost height steadily and the fire spread from the wing to the fuselage, eventually crashing between the villages of Criquebeuf-la Campagne and Ecquetot. Only the Flight Engineer, Sgt George Gettings and my father, Wireless Operator Sgt Dennis Raymond Day survived. The following aircrew are buried near the scene of the crash.

 

 

Twice a year, on Victory in Europe Day and Armistice Day, the Mayor of Ecquetot leads the villagers in solemn procession to the village war memorial for a remembrance ceremony, and then on to the graves of the crew members to lay flowers and wreaths. On June 3rd 1994, the 50th anniversary of the crash my father was invited to unveil a new memorial erected by the village in honour of his fellow crew members who lost their lives that night.

LK875 was claimed by Captain Werner Hoffmann Stab I/NJG5, Luftwaffe night fighter ace and recipient of The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military forces of Nazi Germany. Hoffmann was credited with a total of 51 aerial victories and died in 2011 age 93.

 

 

The crew of LK875

 

J/86841 Pilot Officer  Russell Bennett Thompson Pilot in 158 (R.A.F.) Squadron. Royal Canadian Air Force 3rd June 1944, aged 23. ​Born on the 10th March 1921 in Glenella, Manitoba. Son of Harold Bennett Thompson and Edith Margaret Thompson, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Russell was posthumously promoted to Plt.Off with Service No. J86841, wef 30th May 1944. His headstone bears the inscription "In Loving Memory of Our Dear Son and Brother"

 

J/22100 Flying Officer  John Kinnaird Greenway Navigator in 158 (R.A.F.) Squadron. Royal Canadian Air Force ​3rd June 1944, aged 20. John was born 15th September 1920 in Broadstairs, Kent, England. Son of Thomas Charles Greenway and Elsie Greenway (née Haselden), of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. John arrived in Canada on 27th May 1922 and is remembered on the Lloydminster War Memorial, Saskatchewan.

 

J/89867 Pilot Officer  William Alexander Younie Air Bomber in 158 (R.A.F.) Squadron. Royal Canadian Air Force 3rd June 1944, aged 28. Born 5th February 1916 in North Norfolk, Manitoba, Canada. ​Son of William and Jessie Younie (née M’cPherson), husband of Vera Evelyn Younie, of Caeron, Glamorgan. William was posthumously promoted to Plt.Off. with Service No. J89867. His headstone bears the inscription "I Bare You on Eagles' Wings, And Brought You unto Myself"

 

2209172 Sergeant  Thomas John Sheridan Air Gunner in 158 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve ​3rd June 1944, aged 19. Thomas was born in 1924, Cholton, Lancashire. Son of Thomas and Catherine Sheridan of Manchester, Lancashire.

 

429431 Flight Sergeant Vernon Nelson Hansen Air Gunner in 158 (R.A.F) Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force 3rd June 1940, aged 21. Vernon was born Warwick, Queensland, Australia on 28th April 1923. Son of William Henry and Rosie Maud Hansen, of Warwick, Queensland, Australia. Vernon was discharged from the Army 15th October 1942 in order to join the RAAF the following day, he was on his very first operation having been called up as a late replacement due to illness. His headstone bears the inscription "His Duty Fearlessly and Nobly Done. Ever Remembered"

 

 

1324989 Sergeant. Dennis Raymond Day Wireless Operator in 158 Squadron Royal Airforce Volunteer Reserve 7th June 1921-29th November 2003 Wounded the night they were shot down my father was one of two who survived. He evaded for 3 days before being captured on D-Day 6th June, following his capture he was taken to Chartres Civilian Jail and then in turn to the following prison camps. Stalag 133 Chartres-Morancez June 9 to July 2, 1944 Stalag XIIA Limburge July 4 to July 8, 1944 Stalag Luft VII Bankau July 10 1944 to January 19, 1945 Stalag IIIA Luckenwalde February 8 to May 25, 1945 Stalag IIIA Luckenwalde was liberated by the Red Army on April 22, 1945, Dad was transported to Brussels a month later and eventually repatriated on May 27 1945.

 

907306 Sergeant. George Gettings. Flight Engineer in 158 Squadron Royal Airforce 2019-2007 George was born Pengelly, St Teath, Cornwall, England on 2nd June 1919. Son of George Henry and Kathleen May Gettings (née Pethick), of St. Teath, Cornwall. Aided by the French Resistance Sgt Gettings evaded capture in France, he was liberated on 26 August 1944 and returned to RAF Northolt on 28 August 1944.

 

Crew Colleagues

1324989 - DAY, DENNIS RAYMOND