The Fates of ME503 and PA995
In addition to the Harris Crew, two other crews from 550 Squadron were brought down on the Dessau raid. Lancaster ME503 crashed near the village of Sollnitz, south-east of Dessau. Pilot Officer Searn Nielsen and four other crew were killed. The flight engineer and rear gunner survived, both ending up at Dulag Luft and were returned to the UK on April 3, 1945.
Lancaster PA995 ‘Vulture Strikes!’ also went down on this raid just one day after the crew celebrated its 100th successful operation. Flight engineer S. J. Webb, wireless operator F. M. Main, rear gunner Maurice Smith and mid-upper air gunner Stanley Pelham survived and became POWs. Smith managed to escape capture and returned to England on April 11, 1945.
There is evidence that pilot Cyril Jones, navigator John Buckmaster and bomb aimer Leslie Wallace Harvey (all three Canadian) were able to parachute to the ground but were subsequently murdered by the Gestapo or SS. Despite the likelihood of a war crime, the matter was never pursued by the RCAF as a result of administrative challenges. At the close of the war, Magdeburg, the area in which Buckmaster and Harvey were killed was now under Russian control.
Harvey is buried at the Nederweert British Cemetery in the Netherlands. The remains of Jones and Buckmaster were never found.
Lancaster PA995 ‘Vulture Strikes!’ also went down on this raid just one day after the crew celebrated its 100th successful operation. Flight engineer S. J. Webb, wireless operator F. M. Main, rear gunner Maurice Smith and mid-upper air gunner Stanley Pelham survived and became POWs. Smith managed to escape capture and returned to England on April 11, 1945.
There is evidence that pilot Cyril Jones, navigator John Buckmaster and bomb aimer Leslie Wallace Harvey (all three Canadian) were able to parachute to the ground but were subsequently murdered by the Gestapo or SS. Despite the likelihood of a war crime, the matter was never pursued by the RCAF as a result of administrative challenges. At the close of the war, Magdeburg, the area in which Buckmaster and Harvey were killed was now under Russian control.
Harvey is buried at the Nederweert British Cemetery in the Netherlands. The remains of Jones and Buckmaster were never found.
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