Page 4 - Herbert Benson

The information and images on this page were supplied by Alan Taylor whose late
Uncle was a 576 Squadron pilot who flew from Fiskerton.

He was Flight Lieutenant Herbert Fredrick Benson DFC.
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Born December 13 1909 in Plumstead, South London. Herbert joined the Army in
1935 and transferred to the R.A.F on June 30th 1941.
His service number was 159879.

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Following his training in Florida, he was posted to 576 Squadron from 31 October
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1944 until 9 January 1945. Flight Lieutenant Benson was awarded his DFC on 16
March 1945 when the Lancaster he was flying was severely damaged over Nürnberg
when he and four members of his crew were injured. They were credited with
shooting down a German ME 410 night-fighter.

Following his service at Fiskerton, he transferred to 156 Squadron, a Pathfinder
Squadron part of No. 8 Pathfinder Group based at RAF Upwood in Cambridgeshire.
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Flight Lieutenant Benson DFC and his crew was sadly lost over Hamburg on the 31
March 1945 with only a month of operational flying left in the war. Herbert is buried
with his crew at the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Ohlsdorf,
Hamburg in Germany.