The 106 Sqdn left from Coningsby at 1942-09-16 at 20:30

On 16 September 1942, a member of the 106 Sqdn, Sergeant P Witcomb, took off from Coningsby in the United Kingdom. His mission is mentioned elsewhere on WW2 History Europe. You can find the other details of this mission by searching here. Training and cargo flights are not separately mentioned as a mission. The plane left at 20:30.

He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial R5681, code ZN-).

Squadron Leader Howell

Cecil Moreton Howell, Squadron Leader (Pilot), 70332, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

Cecil was born at Solva in 1915. He served his apprenticeship as an engineer with Metro-Vickers from 1934, and gained a degree in engineering before joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, where he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on 15 December 1936.

Cecil was later promoted to Flying Officer at the outbreak of war, and later to Squadron Leader. Cecil served with 106 Squadron, RAF, which was a heavy bomber squadron, equipped with the Avro Lancaster.

On the evening of 16 September 1942, Cecil took off as pilot of Avro Lancaster Mk I, Serial W4179 ZN, from RAF Coningsby, as part of a large force bound for Essen. His Lancaster was shot down, and crashed at Soars, in the north-eastern suburbs of Aachen that night. All seven of the crew were killed, and originally buried at Aachen, but after the war the graves were relocated to Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany. Cecil was 25 years old.

Campaign report of the USAAF:

(Twelfth Air Force:) XII Ground Air Support Command is activated at Birmingham, Alabama; the only Twelfth Air Force command to be completely organized in the US, it eventually will proceed directly to N Africa as part of the Western Task Force (WTF). HQ XII Fighter Command moves from Wattisham to Bushey Hall, England.

Campaign report of the RAF:

16/17 September 1942

Essen

369 aircraft, including aircraft from the training groups. 39 aircraft - 21 Wellingtons, 9 Lancasters, 5 Stirlings, 3 Halifaxes, 1 Whitley - lost, 10.6 per cent of the force.

Although much of the bombing was scattered, this was probably the most successful attack on this difficult target. There were 33 large and 80 'medium' fires. 8 industrial and 6 transport premises were hit. The Krupps works were hit by 15 high-explosive bombs and by a crashing bomber loaded with incendiaries. There was much housing damage. In Essen and its immediate surroundings, 47 people were killed and 92 injured.

Many other towns were hit, in particular Bochum with 50 fires and 4 people dead, Wuppertal with 13 dead, Heme with a large fire in a lorry garage and Cochem, a small town on the Moselle 90 miles south of Essen, which received 1 bomb load destroying 4 houses and killing 15 people.

17/18 September 1942

3 Halifaxes on leaflet flights to France without loss.

This record can also be found on the maps of WW2 History Europe with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.

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