Page 7 - Cecil Thomas Weir

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21 /22 November, 1944; GRAVENHORST (MITTELLAND CANAL)
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On the night of 21 /22 November 1944 a No.5 Group Force of 123 Lancasters attacked the
Dortmund-Ems canal, 10 aircraft from 49 Squadron joined 128 other No.5 Group Lancasters in
bombing the Mittelland canal at Gravenhorst. Take-off started just after 17.30hrs and included
Group Captain 'Ginger' Weir (PB300), Fulbeck's irrepressible Station Commander,
piloting K - King. Main Force, led by 6 Mosquitoes arrived in the target area shortly before
21.00hrs. Orbiting the target, the controller initially ordered the force to stay at pre-briefed bombing
heights, but at 20.58hrs, he then ordered Main Force to attack from below the cloud base which
was given as 4,000ft. These instructions were subjected to severe jamming of W/T which caused
much confusion. The controller next ordered the crew’s to bomb the Southern red T.I's as planned.
Consequently some crew’s bombed through cloud and others from below, with the markers being
visible through the cloud layers. In the light of photo flashes, some 49 Squadron crew’s did obtain
visual identification and despite the communication problems, the canal was
successfully breached.

49 Squadron de-briefs show that the crew’s of Flight Lieutenant Len Mellor (PB373), Flying Officer
Jock Galloway and Flying Officer Carlyle (PB484) bombed below the clouds, whilst five other
crew’s bombed red T.I's from above. This just left the two aircraft being flown by Flying Officer
Maul (PB354) and Group Captain Weir - it has been speculated that one of these two aircraft
exploded after being hit by bombs or light flak, which in turn caused the other aircraft nearby, to
also explode. This speculation is confirmed by the fact that there were no Nachtjagd claims for the
whole raid and all the flak reports in Northern and Western Germany make no reference to a claim
in this area.

The only survivor from this tragic incident was the Group Captain. His own remarkable escape, in
which he was forcibly blown out of an exploding Lancaster does not confirm the cause, Group
Captain Weir had no recollection of what happened. He remembers regaining consciousness
laying on his back on the muddy bottom of the breached and drained canal, his deployed
parachute trailed behind. This miraculous saving of the Group Captain’s life would not have been
possible but for two reasons; one, he wore a seat-type parachute and two No.5 Group's crew’s
being successful in hitting their target and draining over 30 miles of the canal.

Avro Lancaster PB 300 (EA - K - King)

Group Captain C T Weir - Pilot (POW)

Flying Officer F A Wooding - Flight Engineer (Killed)

Squadron Leader P Kelly - Navigator (Killed)

Pilot Officer A W Bishop - Wireless Operator (Killed)

Sergeant P Telford - Air Gunner (Killed)

Flying Officer H W Hayward - Air Bombardier (Killed)

Flying Officer A R Verrier - Air Gunner (Killed)

The Webmasters would like to thank 49 Squadron Association for use of their documents.

49 Squadron Association