RAF veterans bury lost comrade
in Berlin
16 Oct 08
Two RAF veterans who were shot down on a bombing
raid over Germany in the Second World War took part in an emotional
funeral today, Thursday 16 October 2008, to bury their lost
comrade-in-arms, Sergeant John Bremner.
Members of the Queen's Colour Squadron carry the
coffin of Sergeant John Bremner into the cemetery followed by the
standard bearers of the Royal British Legion
[Picture: Sgt Nige Green]
Until recently Sgt Bremner's body lay undiscovered at the crash
site of Halifax bomber LW337 which was shot down by an enemy night
fighter during a mission over Berlin on 20 January 1944.
Pilot Officer Reg Wilson and Sergeant John Bushell along with
two other crewmen managed to escape the Halifax as it rapidly
plunged on fire from a height of 17,000 feet (5,182 metres) before
crashing and killing four members of the crew, including Sgt
Bremner who was the aircraft's flight engineer.
John Bushell, who was the rear gunner on the aircraft, remarked
on how lucky he was to escape the stricken Halifax:
"I was struggling to get out when the aircraft went over and I
hit my head on the gunsight, which stunned me at the time but as
the aircraft went over it threw me out."
Today, more than 64 years after that fateful mission, Reg and
John accompanied by Marjorie Acon, Sgt Bremner's sister, who had
travelled to Berlin from Newcastle Upon Tyne, and family members
representing the other crewmen on the aircraft, watched as Sgt John
Bremner's remains were laid to rest with full military honours in
the 1939-1945 War Cemetery in the centre of Berlin.
Reg Wilson (left), the Halifax's navigator, with
Marjorie Acon, Sgt Bremner's sister, at the War Cemetery in
Berlin
[Picture: Sgt Nige Green]
Reg Wilson who was the navigator on the Halifax, emphasised the
importance of attending the funeral as a mark of respect not only
for Sgt Bremner and the others that died in the Halifax but also
for the many thousands of crewmen of RAF Bomber Command who
died during the Second World War:
"We need to remember him and all the others that have gone in
those years," he said.
As an example of the heavy losses suffered by Bomber Command he
added:
"In one raid on Nuremburg in March 1944, 96 aircraft were lost.
We lost more people on that one night than were killed in the whole
of the Battle of Britain."
Halifax LW337, from 102 Squadron, took off with its crew of
eight from its base at RAF Pocklington near York at 1630 hours on
20 January 1944 for a bombing mission over Berlin. However, after
releasing its bombs over the target, and as the bomb doors started
to close, it was shot down by a German ME 110 night fighter at
approximately 1945 hours.
Four of the crew parachuted to safety seconds before the
aircraft crashed into woodland at Hirschgarten Friedrichshagen on
the outskirts of Berlin. They were later taken as prisoners of
war.
John Bushell, who was the rear gunner on the
Halifax, at the laying to rest of Sergeant John Bremner
[Picture: Sgt Nige Green]
Second pilot Kenneth Stanbridge and wireless operator Eric
Church, who had helped to kick out the escape hatch, but who had
had no time to bale out, were recovered from the aircraft
wreckage and are also buried in the Berlin War Cemetery. The bodies
of mid-upper gunner Charles Dupueis and Sergeant John Bremner were
never found until remains recently unearthed at the crash site were
subsequently identified as belonging to Sergeant Bremner.
Today's burial took place after a church service in Berlin
conducted by the Reverend (Flight Lieutenant) David Richardson from
RAF Lyneham and the Reverend Dr Irene Ahrens from St George's
Anglican Church in Berlin. After the funeral the veterans and
family members visited the crash site at Hirschgarten. Sadly, the
only other surviving crew member, Laurie Underwood from Wetherby,
who was interned in Stalag Luft III, made famous as the 'Great
Escape' camp, could not attend the funeral due to ill-health.
But for Reg Wilson the fact that members of Sgt John Bremner's
family could attend was particularly poignant:
"I am so pleased for the sister [Marjorie] who is here today to
see her brother laid to rest; it's a closing chapter for her, to
have her brother finally buried."
102 Squadron had 15 aircraft involved in the Berlin raid that
night, of which seven were lost. It was the squadron's greatest
single loss, of all the bombing raids it carried out in both World
Wars.
