Page 47 - Derek Braithet Holland

This is another of the Lancasters the crew flew in, PD 271 T – TARE2. The crew in this picture are
of Flying Officer A. J. L. Ridge (right) who would be awarded the DFC, the crew completing its
operational tour at the end of January 1945.

The one operation the crew completed in this Lancaster was on the morning of the 2 March 1945
nd
to Cologne. Derek did not fly that day and was replaced by a Sergeant Young, this flight engineer
appears in the operational record many times with different crew’s. It is possible he was a spare
Squadron flight engineer or he could have come from either RAF Scampton
(15 Base Headquarters) or from one of No. 1 Groups Heavy Conversion Units.

858 aircraft - 531 Lancasters, 303 Halifaxes and 24 Mosquitos raided Cologne in 2 waves. 6
Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost and 1 Halifax crashed in Belgium. The first raid was carried
out by 703 aircraft and the second by 155 Lancasters of No. 3 Group. In the second raid, however,
only 15 aircraft bombed, because the G-H station in England was not working correctly. The main
raid was highly destructive, with the Pathfinders marking in clear weather conditions. This was the
last RAF raid on Cologne, which was captured by American troops 4 days later.