THE STORY OF                                                             
 AVRO LANCASTER LM658 

"just one of many"

LANCASTER LM658

On the evening of Saturday August 12th 1944 an Avro Lancaster (serial number LM658) took off from its base at RAF Waltham near Grimsby, Lincolnshire in Eastern England bearing the squadron code HW-W of RAF 100 Squadron, Bomber Command (1 group) as part of an airborne offensive of 379 heavy bombers heading for heart of the Nazi Reich. However, as dawn broke on Sunday morning only six of the seven 100 Squadron Lancs that took off the previous evening were to return to Waltham, LM658 and her crew were posted as missing.

On board LM658 that night was a crew of eight, rather than the usual seven;

Pilot - Flt/Lt Harold (Bill) Paston-Williams of Dorking, Surrey. [biog]

2nd Pilot - Flt/ Lt Christopher Holland of Horsham Sussex. [biog]

Navigator - P/O Gerald Hood of Croydon Surrey.

Bomb aimer - P/O Benjamin Ramsden of Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Flight engineer- Flt/Sgt John Downie of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. [biog]

Wireless operator - Flt/Sgt Laurence Roy Watts of Fawler, Oxfordshire.

Mid upper gunner - Flt/Sgt Robert Stanley Williams of Queensferry, Flintshire.

Rear gunner - P/O B.A. David (R.C.A.F) of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

On this particular night a second pilot, Flt /Lt Holland was present in the cockpit for his operational familiarisation trip, referred to by the crews as a "second dickie."

At around 0110 local time LM658 had crashed in flames on farmland near the town of Hardenberg, to the North of Almelo, Eastern Holland. Four of the crew perished in the crash, four baled out successfully, one of whom would eventually meet a most tragic end.

LM658… Just one of many, one Lancaster, one crew of eight individual men brought together from all walks of life, with a common purpose, to do their duty. This is their story, with particular emphasis on the remarkable and tragic fate of the navigator P/O Gerald Hood, but let it stand as a tribute to all who served with RAF Bomber Command during 1939-45, especially to the 55770 who paid the ultimate price in the name of freedom, their stories should be told and never forgotten.

This site supports the campaign to honour all who flew with Bomber Command during 1939-45 (whatever their nation of birth) with a long overdue campaign medal.

The LM658 Webmaster says: "Hello eveyone. Apologies for the delays - I've been busy learning how to change nappies - but I'm glad to say there's some crew biogs just been included.
Many thanks indeed to everyone who kindly contributed.
Do keep coming back, I've got some great updates on the way along with improved SEO & the chance for you to comment on what we're doing"