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Lot Essay
Sold with an original wartime letter from the recipient to one of his old crew members from the Nuremburg raid. Written from Moulton Washway, Spalding, the poignant contents discuss the recent breaking of his engagement, together with covering letter of provenance (dated 1.3.1982).
C.G.M. London Gazette 9.5.1944. Recommendation states 'This N.C.O. has carried out two successful attacks as Wireless Operator. On the night of 30-31 March 1944, he was detailed to take part in an attack on Nuremberg. Just north of Frankfurt, the aircraft was attacked by three fighters and sustained severe damage. Sergeant Chapman was wounded in the back, neck and head. Three other members of the crew were wounded including the Navigator. After jettisoning the bombs, course was set for home and it was found by the Bomb Aimer, who came up to take over the navigation from the Navigator who was badly wounded, that only a torn map and pencil were left, all remaining navigational aids having been blown away. Sergeant Chapman endeavoured to obtain an M/F fix but, owing to the distance from base, it was half an hour before he managed to get a fix some 100 miles inside enemy territory. Shortly after this, the Bomb Aimer, who was navigating, passed out owing to his oxygen tube being severed by a bullet. Sergeant Chapman obtained a further fix and went forward and plotted it. He returned to his set where he remained, obtaining a further five Q.D.Ms. By the help of these, the Pilot eventually reached England where a safe landing was made. It was not until the aircraft was safely landed that Sergeant Chapman revealed that he had been wounded. By his high devotion to duty and determination in sticking to his post and working his set in spite of his wounds, he was largely instrumental in saving the aircraft and crew. Sergeant Chapman is strongly recommended for the immediate award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal'.
Sergeant Leslie Chapman, C.G.M., a Lincolnshire man from a village near Spalding, was Wireless Operator of Lancaster R5856 of No. 61 Squadron, one of 795 heavy bombers participant in the major disaster that unfolded during the raid on Nuremberg on the night of 30-31.3.1944. It was Chapman's third operational sortie since joining 61 Squadron, and a long-range mission that became famous as Bomber Command's heaviest defeat: of the 779 aircraft despatched to attack Nuremberg's city centre, 96 went missing and 71 were damaged, causing the R.A.F. to break off mass raids on distant targets.
Lancaster R5856, piloted by Pilot Officer D.C. Freeman, left Coningsby at 21.58 hours and just short of Frankfurt was attacked simultaneously by three Night Fighters - two Ju. 88s and an Me. 110. Sergeant Patfield, the Bomb Aimer, recalled, 'We heard the Gunners firing like mad and a yell from the Rear-Gunner, "Look out Skipper. Three of them coming in." At the same time there was a terrific explosion and, all round, things were whizzing about ...'. One engine was hit, and small fires were started in the cockpit and nose. The astrodome and Pilot's windscreen were both smashed, and the main hatch was blown out. Chapman was hit in the back, neck and head, and the Navigator, Flight Engineer and Upper-Gunner were also wounded. Freeman quickly decided that they could not go on to the target, and after jettisoning the bombs, turned for home. Patfield thought that he too had also been hit but found that he was covered not in blood but in the hydraulic fluid from the severed cables above his head. After checking on the injured men, Patfield scrambled over to take over navigating duties at the blood splattered chart table. All but one of the maps had been shredded in the attack or else had been blown away along with all the navigating instruments. He nevertheless worked out a rough course before sliding unconscious under the navigating table where he remained for the rest of the flight, his oxygen mask having been damage in the attack. R5856 were still 100 miles inside occupied territory and so Sergeant Chapman, disregarding his own wounds, tried to obtain a fix on his wireless, but owing to the distance from base, it was over half an hour before he managed to do so. Soon after he obtained a second fix and then went forward to plot them on the map. Returning to his set, he obtained a further five fixes.
With these the Lancaster found its way home, 'with two wounded men under morphia, two more wounded but still at their posts, one man out through oxygen failure, and only the Pilot and Rear-Gunner properly fit'. Lashed by the continuous icy gale which howled through the smashed windscreen, Freeman finally crash-landed at Foulsham. As with Chapman it was only his third operation and he was duly decorated with the D.F.C.
The crew of R5856 never flew together again. Freeman and the two Gunners were all killed in later raids. Chapman returned to operations and was killed in a crash on 1.2.1945. Detailed for a raid on Siegen, he and his crew took off at 1542 hours, but the port-outer engine was seen to fail. Making a tight circuit, the Lancaster belly-landed on the base at Skellingthorpe where it exploded and caught fire. It was later revealed that the bomber was overloaded by some 166 lbs. All on board were killed with the exception of the Rear-Gunner. Flight Sergeant Chapman was buried in Whaplode Cemetery, Lincolnshire.
Sources: In Action With The Enemy, Alan W. Cooper; The Nuremberg Raid, 30-31 March 1944, Martin Middlebrook.
C.G.M. London Gazette 9.5.1944. Recommendation states 'This N.C.O. has carried out two successful attacks as Wireless Operator. On the night of 30-31 March 1944, he was detailed to take part in an attack on Nuremberg. Just north of Frankfurt, the aircraft was attacked by three fighters and sustained severe damage. Sergeant Chapman was wounded in the back, neck and head. Three other members of the crew were wounded including the Navigator. After jettisoning the bombs, course was set for home and it was found by the Bomb Aimer, who came up to take over the navigation from the Navigator who was badly wounded, that only a torn map and pencil were left, all remaining navigational aids having been blown away. Sergeant Chapman endeavoured to obtain an M/F fix but, owing to the distance from base, it was half an hour before he managed to get a fix some 100 miles inside enemy territory. Shortly after this, the Bomb Aimer, who was navigating, passed out owing to his oxygen tube being severed by a bullet. Sergeant Chapman obtained a further fix and went forward and plotted it. He returned to his set where he remained, obtaining a further five Q.D.Ms. By the help of these, the Pilot eventually reached England where a safe landing was made. It was not until the aircraft was safely landed that Sergeant Chapman revealed that he had been wounded. By his high devotion to duty and determination in sticking to his post and working his set in spite of his wounds, he was largely instrumental in saving the aircraft and crew. Sergeant Chapman is strongly recommended for the immediate award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal'.
Sergeant Leslie Chapman, C.G.M., a Lincolnshire man from a village near Spalding, was Wireless Operator of Lancaster R5856 of No. 61 Squadron, one of 795 heavy bombers participant in the major disaster that unfolded during the raid on Nuremberg on the night of 30-31.3.1944. It was Chapman's third operational sortie since joining 61 Squadron, and a long-range mission that became famous as Bomber Command's heaviest defeat: of the 779 aircraft despatched to attack Nuremberg's city centre, 96 went missing and 71 were damaged, causing the R.A.F. to break off mass raids on distant targets.
Lancaster R5856, piloted by Pilot Officer D.C. Freeman, left Coningsby at 21.58 hours and just short of Frankfurt was attacked simultaneously by three Night Fighters - two Ju. 88s and an Me. 110. Sergeant Patfield, the Bomb Aimer, recalled, 'We heard the Gunners firing like mad and a yell from the Rear-Gunner, "Look out Skipper. Three of them coming in." At the same time there was a terrific explosion and, all round, things were whizzing about ...'. One engine was hit, and small fires were started in the cockpit and nose. The astrodome and Pilot's windscreen were both smashed, and the main hatch was blown out. Chapman was hit in the back, neck and head, and the Navigator, Flight Engineer and Upper-Gunner were also wounded. Freeman quickly decided that they could not go on to the target, and after jettisoning the bombs, turned for home. Patfield thought that he too had also been hit but found that he was covered not in blood but in the hydraulic fluid from the severed cables above his head. After checking on the injured men, Patfield scrambled over to take over navigating duties at the blood splattered chart table. All but one of the maps had been shredded in the attack or else had been blown away along with all the navigating instruments. He nevertheless worked out a rough course before sliding unconscious under the navigating table where he remained for the rest of the flight, his oxygen mask having been damage in the attack. R5856 were still 100 miles inside occupied territory and so Sergeant Chapman, disregarding his own wounds, tried to obtain a fix on his wireless, but owing to the distance from base, it was over half an hour before he managed to do so. Soon after he obtained a second fix and then went forward to plot them on the map. Returning to his set, he obtained a further five fixes.
With these the Lancaster found its way home, 'with two wounded men under morphia, two more wounded but still at their posts, one man out through oxygen failure, and only the Pilot and Rear-Gunner properly fit'. Lashed by the continuous icy gale which howled through the smashed windscreen, Freeman finally crash-landed at Foulsham. As with Chapman it was only his third operation and he was duly decorated with the D.F.C.
The crew of R5856 never flew together again. Freeman and the two Gunners were all killed in later raids. Chapman returned to operations and was killed in a crash on 1.2.1945. Detailed for a raid on Siegen, he and his crew took off at 1542 hours, but the port-outer engine was seen to fail. Making a tight circuit, the Lancaster belly-landed on the base at Skellingthorpe where it exploded and caught fire. It was later revealed that the bomber was overloaded by some 166 lbs. All on board were killed with the exception of the Rear-Gunner. Flight Sergeant Chapman was buried in Whaplode Cemetery, Lincolnshire.
Sources: In Action With The Enemy, Alan W. Cooper; The Nuremberg Raid, 30-31 March 1944, Martin Middlebrook.