Lancaster LM316 of 460 Squadron RAAF piloted by Flying Officer Alan Roy Mitchell RAAF took off from Binbrook at 1632 hours on 2 December 1943. Lancaster LM316 was lost during an operation over Berlin on the evening of 2/3 December 1943. Mr. Nordahl Grieg, A Norwegian War Correspondent, was a passenger during this operation. All crew members and Nordahl Grieg were killed.

A section of the wing from this Lancaster is on display on a wall in the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin, Germany.

Those killed were as follows:-

Four bodies were exhumed after the war from the Garrison Military Cemetery at Doberitz, Berlin and re-interred in the Berlin War Cemetery.

Headstone for Flying Officer Alan Roy Mitchell

Photo:- Dr. Hans Christian Stichler Feb 2021

Headstone for Sergeant George Hartley Cooper

Photo:- Dr. Hans Christian Stichler Feb 2021

Headstone for Flight Sergeant Ian Rupert Phelan

Photo:- Dr. Hans Christian Stichler Feb 2021

Headstone for Flight Sergeant Ray Osmond Cole

Photo:- Dr. Hans Christian Stichler Feb 2021

Row 7B with headstone for Flight Sergeant Ian Rupert Phelan in the middle

Photo:- Dr. Hans Christian Stichler Feb 2021

Row 7B with the headstone for Flight Sergeant Ray Osmond Cole at the far right

Norwegian poet Nordahl Grieg had escaped to England on board the same ship which carried the Norwegian Royal Family and the Norwegian National Gold Treasure. Nordahl sought permission to take part in a British bombing raid on Germany in 1943. He was able to eventually achieve his goal through the assistance of Laurence Collier, Britain's Minister to the Norwegian Government in exile. Another Norwegian Journalist has placed a Memorial Stone on the exact location where the Lancaster crashed near Döberitz on the outskirts of Berlin. Captain Nordahl Grieg is shown on the plaque. The bodies of Grieg and four of the crew members have never been located.

Memorial stone to War Correspondent Grieg on the spot where Lancaster LM316 crashed

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

Frederick P. Neale beside the Memorial Stone for Nordal Grieg

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

Frederick P. Neale inspecting a section of wing from Lancaster LM316
which is located in the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin, Germany

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

A close-up of the wing section

Lancaster LM316 was one of five 460 Squadron Lancasters lost on this operation. The other Lancasters lost were W4881, DV296, JB608, and JB611.

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

Frederick P. Neale at Doberitz, Berlin, Germany at the site of the original Garrison Military Cemetery

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

Site of the original Garrison Military Cemetery at Doberitz, Berlin, Germany

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

Berlin War Cemetery, Germany

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

Berlin War Cemetery

Photo: F.P. Neale August 2006

1914 - 1918 Australian airmen cemetery at Leighterton, Gloucestshire, England. There is a memorial
service held at the village church and graveside. Some of the relatives of those killed still attend.

Photo: F.P. Neale 2006

Frederick P. Neale at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) office at Maidenhead, UK
trying to locate the resting place of his brother Sgt William George Neale RAFVR of 103 Squadron

Sgt. William George Neale (1711578 )

Photo: F.P. Neale September 2006

Binbrook Village Post Office

Photo: F.P. Neale September 2006

Binbrook Village

Photo: F.P. Neale September 2006

Binbrook airfield. Note the Lightning fighter jet at right of photo near hangar

Photo: F.P. Neale September 2006

460 Squadron RAAF Memorial at Binbrook

Photo: F.P. Neale September 2006

St. Mary's Church, Binbrook

Photo: F.P. Neale September 2006

460 Squadron RAAF Crest in St. Mary's Church, Binbrook

REFERENCES

Lost Bombers
http://www.lostbombers.co.uk

The Last Poems of Nordahl Grieg
I. A. Weatherhead, A. K. Weatherhead

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Frederick P. Neale for his assistance with this web page. Frederick has been trying to locate his brother's grave in Berlin for the last 6 years. He has visited Berlin on three occasions searching for the grave of his then 20 year old brother Sergeant William George Neale (Engineer) of 103 Squadron RAF, based at Elsham Wolds, Lincoln. He was killed in action  in Lancaster III, Serial JB401 code PM-K from 103 Squadron on 2 December 1943, the same night that Lancaster LM316 of 460 Squadron RAAF was lost.

Those killed in Lancaster JB401 were as follows:-

Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Charles Peter Ready
Flying Officer (Nav) Arthur James Wakefield
Sergeant (Air. Bomber) Stanley Williams
Sergeant ( W.op/Air Gnr) Herbert Fox
Sergeant (Air.Gnr) William Ainslow
Sergeant (Air.Gnr) William Edward Cheal
Sergeant (Flight Eng) William George Neale

The crew were originally buried in the Garrison cemetery Doberitz neat Berlin. After the war their bodies were exhumed from this cemetery but only the Pilot and Navigator were identified and reburied in the Berlin War Cemetery.

Frederick P. Neale is also trying to locate Sgt R.E. Page, RAF who was stationed at Binbrook with 460 Squadron RAAF and was a member of Fl/Lt C.C. Gardiner's crew in Lancaster JB600.

I'd like to thank Dr. Hans Christian Stichler for his assistance with this web page.