Avro Lancaster III / ME732 (QR-P) “P Peter”
61 Squadron (5 group) RAF

ME732 took off from its base at Skellingthorpe Lincolnshire on the evening of Saturday 23/09/44 carrying a crew of eight as part of a raid intended to breach the Dortmund-Ems Canal at a key point near Ladbergen Germany. On the return leg she was brought down by an attack by a night fighter and crashed in the Hoffkamp district of Almelo at 2113 hrs with only the two gunners managing to bale out. ME 732 was one of four 61 squadron aircraft lost that night.

The six men listed below lie alongside Gerald Hood in Almelo general cemetery;

PILOT
Flight Leiutenant 152068 Donald Edward Ross Stone (RAFVR)
Son of Edward and Lillian Stone,
Carshalton Surrey
Unmarried
Age 24

SECOND PILOT
Flying Officer 183600 Norman Frederick Aldred (RAFVR)
Son of Mr & Mrs Samuel Aldred,
Husband of Mrs Maud Matilda Aldred
Penarth, Glamorganshire
Age 23

BOMB AIMER
Flying Officer J/22423 William Stirling Burns (RCAF)
Son of Thomas & Elizabeth Burns
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Unmarried
Age 23

NAVIGATOR
Flight Sergeant 1436352 Ernest Hill (RAFVR)
No further information.

WIRELESS OPERATOR
Flight Sergeant 1204048 Phillip Marcus Matthews (RAFVR)
No further information.

FLIGHT ENGINEER
Flight Sergeant 1629785 Frederick Arthur Scales (RAFVR)
Son of Arthur & Nellie Scales
Leverington Cambridgeshire
Unmarried
Age 20

The two surviving crew members were:

MID-UPPER GUNNER
Flight Sergeant WF Ravenhill (RAFVR)
Baled out, captured and hospitalised with injuries sustained
Survived the war as a POW

REAR GUNNER
Flight Sergeant A Roy Fellows (RAFVR)
Baled out and evaded, sheltered in Hengelo along with “Bill” Paston-Williams and John Downie from LM658.
Appears in Hengelo liberation day group photograph.