Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The Vickers Wellington Mk1c, Serial Number T 2879 was delivered to 99 Squadron, Royal Air Force in November 1940 at their base at RAF Newmarket Heath - Now the Rowley Mile Racecourse, Newmarket SUFFOLK.

The aircraft was lost coming back to the United Kingdom from night operations, probably over Frankfurt, Germany, on September 28/29th 1941.

The crew of the aircraft are recorded as

Pilot - Sgt 545441 Ian James ROBERTSON. R A F
Pilot - Sgt 401287 Joseph Stewart PARRY. R NZ AF
Navigator - P.Off J4785 William Raymond James BROWN. R C A F
Wireless Op - Flt Sgt 402524 Hugh Mclennan MACDONALD. R NZ AF

Wireless Op - Sgt 402457 Alfred William Musgrave CHAPMAN. R A AF

Air Gunner - Sgt 1378255 Edward FIELDHOUSE. RAF VR

During the return from the mission it is believed Anti Aircraft fire and the presence of Luftwaffe night fighters had taken their toll and ‘C’ Charlie found itself unable to continue and possibly due to what the crew thought was an impending engine failure and possibly believing that they were closer to the English mainland than they were, the crew bailed out and left the aircraft to its own devices.

Unfortunately the aircraft had strayed some considerable distance off course and the crew came down in the freezing waters, possibly of the North Sea but equally as likely the 'Ijsselmeer', a huge inland 'lake' of 420 square miles and with an average depth of 15ft....and they all perished.

ROBERTSON and McDONALD were washed ashore on the island of Texel and are buried in the cemetery at Den Berg. (1)

BROWN washed ashore at Harlingen and is buried there. (2)

PARRY, CHAPMAN and FIELDHOUSE are recorded as missing to this day.

There is speculation that they may be buried at Harlingen amongst the 'Unknown' RAF graves there.

‘C’ Charlie continued on, unmanned and was attacked and shot at, again, by a German night fighter close to Amsterdam.

Residents on the ground thought they saw the aircraft return fire at the enemy aircraft just before it came down, at about 0742Hrs on Monday 29th September 1941, close to Landsmeer, just north of Amsterdam.

Local civilians defied the risk of being shot by German troops and rushed to the crash site in search of survivors and were bemused to find the aircraft completely unoccupied.

In 1997 a monument was unveiled on Landsmeerderveld on the initiative of the nearby Aircraft Recovery Group 40-45 and ‘Werkgroep Vickers Wellington’. The twin blades of the damaged propeller raised to imitate the V for victory sign symbolising Victory for freedom and democracy over the tyranny of the Nazi menace that spread through Europe in the period of 1939 to 1945.

Each year as members of the Laandsmeer community and their invited guests, including members of the Air Training Corps, 99 Squadron RAF and 99 Squadron Veterans Supporters from Newmarket pay their respects at the memorial in Landsmeer in May and likewise representatives of the people of Landsmeer are invited to pay their respects at the ‘R’ Robert memorial at the Annual Memorial weekend Celebrations in September and again at the more traditional November Remembrance Service

I am a founder member of the Veterans Supporters from Newmarket and, together with my wife, go annually to pay our resects at the C Charlie memorial