Page 3 - William Gordon Frost

It is not known how the crew came to grief but the options are either damage by Flak or by
German night fighter. As no trace of the crew have ever been found one possibility could be that
the aircraft was battle damaged over the target by Flak or from a fighter attack and limping home
was lost over the North Sea. There are two more possibilities that the Lancaster was hit in the
bomb bay by a flak shell hitting the 2,000 Lb bomb and detonating the bomb load, the other
possibility, a German fighter equipped with upward pointing 20mm cannon
known as ‘Schrӓge Musik’ attacked the Lancaster.

This cannon arrangement was fitted to the Messerschmitt BF 110 G of the German night fighter
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unit NJG-4 (Nachtjagdgeschwader 4) (4 night Fighter Wing) based at Gütersloh in North Rhine
Westphalia. The night fighter pilot would either shoot at the wing root or the wing fuel tanks, the
Lancaster falling into the target area and being destroyed.

Geschwaderkommodre (Wing Commander) Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer from this unit that night
shot down using this upward firing 20mm cannon, 9 Lancasters. It is therefore possible that he
engaged this crews Lancaster and the aircraft fell into the target area, it being destroyed.

This brave crew are remembered and their names inscribed on the walls of the Air Forces
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Runnymede memorial at Egham in Surry. This memorial, unveiled by the Queen on the 17
October 1953 is dedicated to the 20,456 airmen and women of the British Empire who were lost in
air operations and have no known grave.

Runnymede Memorial