Personnel Index - Detail
Chris Beare (2nd from left) the niece of Dennis Blumfield with her son & daughter and her brother, Dennis Holwill.
18/19 July, 1944; REVIGNY:
Two railway targets at Aulnoye and Revigny in France had been selected for attack by 253 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes of 1,3,5 and 8 Groups.
The first crews were away from Fiskerton at 22.38hrs, ahead of 14 other Lancasters from the squadron all bound for the rail junction at Revigny.
At interrogation, crews once again reported an extremely large amount of fighter activity. A glance at Fiskerton's operation board showed 5 crews were still overdue. By 06.00hrs, news had come through that F/O Arnold and crew had safely made Woodbridge, but of the remaining four crews, nothing more was heard; 49 Squadron had received yet another sickening blow, as four crews were reported 'missing'.
The crew of Australian skipper, F/O William Appleyard, were also near to completing their tour; none of the crew survived when they too were brought down over France. Their graves are in Granges-sur-Aube Churchyard near Marne.
Lancaster ND684
F/O W.D. Appleyard RAAF Pilot (Killed)
P/O H.E. Turner F/E (Killed)
F/S D.W. Blumfield NAV (Killed)
F/S G.J. Perry W/AG (Killed)
P/O E.M. Matheson RCAF A/G (Killed)
F/S G.W. Jameson B/A (Killed)
Sgt R.F.H.Viollet A/G (Killed)
Crew on their 26th operation
Driving to the crashsite
Small fragments of the aircraft as still surfacing in the field
In July 2004 Chris Beare travelled to France with her brother and son & daughter to visit the war grave and crash-site of her uncle ....Dennis Blumfield.........her report will either download or open in a new window.