Sergeant Gerald Edward Martin was a crew member of an Avro Lancaster (type
II, serial number LL678, aircraft code JI-L2) of 514 Squadron taking off
from RAF Waterbeach at 23:12 on the night of the 12th June 1944 as one
of three hundred and three aircraft (286 Lancasters and 17 Mosquito's of
Numbers 1, 3 and 8 Groups) carrying out the first raid of the new Oil
Campaign; the target was the Nordstern synthetic oil plant at
Gelsenkirchen, which lies at the centre of the Ruhr. Gelsenkirchen
was a target of strategic bombing during the war and three quarters of
the town was destroyed.
Gerald Martin's Lancaster LL678 was shot down on its return from the raid by a
FW-190A-8 number 171660 of the 9/JF-11 (S.U) flown by
Oberleutnant
Dietrich Shmidt and crash landed at 01:24 on the 13th June in Holland at
Zuidloo, Overijseel. Of the eight man crew, just three survived, for
some of them, it was due to be their last tour of duty. The three
survivors evaded capture; their escape aided by the Dutch resistance.
Gerald Martin hide in a bakery surrounded by Germans and remained hidden in
Holland until liberated in April 1945. After the war Gerald met the
pilot and radio operator of the FW-109 that shot down LL678. Gerald died of cancer in
March 2008.
The Crew of Avro Lancaster Mark
II LL 678 "The Lily Mars" |
|
Crew Member |
Rank |
Serial Number |
|
|
Age |
Status |
Albert Clifford Benham |
Sergeant |
1580616 |
Wireless Op/ Air Gunner |
RAFVR |
21 |
These five members of
the crew were killed and are buried in the
Bathmen General Cemetery. Bathmen is a small village in the
province of Overijseel, 9 kilometres east of the town of
Deventer. The cemetery is about 500 metres west of the centre of
the village. There are eleven identifiable graves in the
cemetery. |
Herbert Samuel 'Bert' Delacour |
Pilot Officer |
AUS/425136 |
Pilot |
RAAF |
20 |
Samuel Alexander Phillips* |
Flying Officer |
J/16550 |
Observer |
RCAF |
|
Roy Geoffrey Picton |
Flying Officer |
151087 |
Navigator |
RAFVR |
|
George Donald Savage |
Flight Sergeant |
1523833 |
Rear Gunner |
RAFVR |
|
F Spurgeon 'Pop' Williams |
Sergeant |
|
Mid Upper Gunner |
RCAF |
|
Survived crash / evading capture. |
Gerald Edward Martin |
Sergeant |
1625906 |
Flight Engineer |
RAF |
|
Survived crash / evading capture. |
George Palamountain |
Flight Sergeant |
|
Bomb Aimer |
RAF |
|
Survived crash / evading capture. |
*The story behind Flying Officer
Phillips being on LL678 that night is that the crew were due to
stand down and F/O Phillips was familiarising himself with the
aircraft. |
"Presenting Lily Mars" was a 1943 film
comedy starring Judy Garland as a small-town girl from Indiana
who dreams of becoming an actress. Also starring are Van Heflin
and Fay Bainter. |
|
Gerald Edward Martin |
Avro Lancaster mark II |
|
RAF Waterbeach was located five and a half miles north of Cambridge.
It was built in 1940 and operated by RAF Bomber Command
until 1945, after which it transferred to RAF Transport Command until
1949, becoming a Fighter Command base from 1950 to 1963. From 1963 to
1966 the airfield was used by the RAF Airfield Construction Branch and then
handed over to the British Army Royal Engineers as Waterbeach Barracks,
although the main runway and control tower remained in use. In July 2011
the Ministry of Defence announced that Waterbeach Barracks would close
and the land sold for housing. Closure took place on the 28th
March 2013. Photographs from 2008 show the original control tower and
many RAF buildings, including several hangers.
Gelsenkirchen was the location of the Gelsenberg Lager subcamp of KZ
Buchenwald, established in 1944 to provide forced labour of
approximately 2,000 Hungarian women and girls for the
Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG factory. About 150 of them died during the bombing
raids of September 1944 (they were forbidden to take shelter during
raids). |
|
Who is Mrs E Martin? In the 1939 Register Edith Martin and her
husband Amos W Martin are living at 78 Ruskin Road, Carshalton. The year
of their respective births is shown at 1890. A search of marriage
records finds an entry for Edith Mercer and Amos W Martin in the March
quarter of 1916 (Croydon 2a, 559). A search of birth records returns
Amos William Martin registered in the December quarter of 1890 in
Islington (1b, 372). A search for the birth entry for Edith Mercer finds
an entry for the September quarter of 1890 in Guildford (2a,100). A
search for the birth record for Gerald Edward Martin finds Gerald E
Martin registered in the March quarter of 1923 in Croydon (2a, 467). The
mothers maiden name is shown as Mercer. A birth in early 1923 would mean
Gerald was 21 in the June of 1944. I believe that Gerald had an older
brother Kenneth N Martin, birth registered in the June quarter of 1921
in the Croydon district (2a, 576), the mothers maiden name is Mercer.
Amos William Martin (born 1890-1891) was living in Newington Green Road,
Islington in the 1891 census with his parents Alfred Amos and Elizabeth
Ann, his older brother Sidney (born 1887/1888) and older sister Rose
Florence (born 1889/1890). Alfred Amos is a carpenter. Ten years later
in the 1901 census the family have moved to Croydon, Sidney is now 13
(place of birth shown as Hammersmith), Rose Florence is now 11 (place of
birth shown as Fulham). Amos William is listed as William Amos is 10
years old and has a younger brother Harry E, aged 8 (born 1892/1893 in
Kilburn). Also at the address is Alfred's mother Thirza (or Thurza) aged
58, born in Great Braxted, Essesx and Alfred's sister Clara Martin, aged
27 and born in Kensington, London.
In the 1911 census the family is still in Croydon (South Croydon),
Alfred Amos is now 45, a carpenter and builder, his wife Elizabeth Ann
is 44, Rose Florence is 21 and Amos William is 20 and shown as being
born in Stoke Newington, London. His younger brother Harry Edward is now
18 and a house painter. The elder son Sidney is not at the same address.
Alfred Amos Martin appears on the 1871 census where he is 4 years old,
born in 1866 and christened at St Mary Magdalen Church in Richmond,
Surrey on the 30th September 1866. His father Amos is 31 years old and
born in Hitwich, Bedfordshire His mother Thirza is 28 and shown as being
born in Great Braxted, Essex. There is a daughter also - Thurza A Martin
aged 2 and born in Twickenham, Surrey.
All the above information from the various census and birth and marriage
records all hang together. However, I have yet to find a connection
either with Alice Martin or Kathleen Matilda Martin. |
|