Personnel Index - Detail
11/12 April, 1944; AACHEN:
This was Aachen's most serious raid of the war and was delivered by 341 Lancasters led by 11 PFF Mosquitoes. The centre and southern parts of the town received heavy bombing and the air-raid services soon lost control.
A total of nine Lancasters were lost on the operation. One of those reported missing came from 49 Squadron. F/Lt Don Bacon and crew were highly experienced; having survived since November 43 including the Battle of Berlin, many on the unit felt sure they would pass the finishing post to complete an excellent tour. But luck always plays a part, and theirs ran out in the night sky over Belgium at the hands of night fighter ace Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer ('The Ghost of St Trond'); the Bacon crew was his 52nd victim.
Lancaster LL899 (EA-P)
F/L D.J. Bacon DFC Pilot (Killed)
Sgt J.P. Hennessey F/E (Killed)
P/O C.W. Coward NAV (Killed)
Sgt P. Monck W/OP (Killed)
Sgt S.W. Weedon A/G (Killed)
F/O N. Melnick RCAF B/A (Killed)
F/S C.E. Richard RCAF A/G (Killed)
Crew on their23rd operation
There is a small memorial in the church at Sint Lenaarts, Belgium to commemorate this crew.