Sergeant 1585534 Peter Frederick Hanberger

[sharon shepherd]

Can anyone help me with information relating to my uncle the above named who served with 15 Squadron and was killed on active duty on 4th May 1943 flying in a Lancaster Bomber.

[Resmoroh]

Sharon, Welcome, Hi,
It seems most likely that yr uncle Enlisted at Weston-super-Mare during (or after) Sep 1941. He is recorded on the CWGC site as being KIA on (as you say) 4 May 43 aged 20 as a member of 15 Sqn. There are 15 Sqn experts on this Forum. They will, no doubt (and in due course), steer you in the right direction(s) to obtain the maximum amount of information.
Be warned! Some of these requests for information are easy. But some are b****y difficult!! Hope yrs is in the first category. But if not, there are experts here who will guide you into the paths of righteousness (well, at least for RAF WW2 aviation research!!!).
HTH
Peter Davies

[David Wallace]

Hi Sharon
The Amersfoort (Old Leusden) General Cemetery where your uncle is buried has a website that details the loss and has pictures of the crew's graves as well as two of the crew along with a newspaper article. Apparently two of the crew managed to get out of the aircraft and hid in a well and were later found dead in it.
http://home.hetnet.nl/~olgaenron/15%20squadron.htm.
It says that it was not a Lancaster but Short Stirling BK 782 that was coded LS-X.
Regards
Dave Wallace

[Resmoroh]

Sharon,
See what I mean?
Peter Davies

[David Wallace]

Some additional information from Chorley's Bomber Command losses of 1943:
P/O TE Emberson +
Sgt HG Brown +
P/O WC Lambie +
Sgt G Rutherford +
Sgt GA Rodway +
Sgt PF Hanberger +
Sgt HG Mugridge +

t/o 22:46 Mildenhall. Shot down by a night fighter and crashed 01:45 between Houten and Schalkwijk (Utrecht), two communities on either side of the Amsterdam-Rijn Kanaal, SSE of Utrecht. All are buried in Amersfoort (Old Leusden) General Cemetery. Sgt Rutherford was a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

The cemetery website also has a picture of the crash, it is amazing that two of the crew survived the initial impact when you see the picture.
Dave Wallace

[Resmoroh]

Sharon,
I say again - "See what I mean".
Rgds
Peter Davies

[David Wallace]

One last piece, I checked Luftwaffe Night Fighter Claims By John Foreman, the only reported combat that I can see (and I am no expert on Luftwaffe night fighter claims) near Utrecht indicates that they were shot down by Oblt. Lothar Linke who reported shooting down a Lancaster SE of Utrecht at 1:40. The location and time are perfect matches. It was in the new moon period and I am speculating that Oblt. Linke may have mis-identified the type of aircraft. Maybe some of the Luftwaffe experts could see if this makes sense. There is information on Lothar Linke here: http://www.luftwaffe.cz/linke.html
Dave Wallace

[MSIMPSON]

Hi there,
Although no expert myself,I believe that on this occasion John Foreman's book is mistaken in the location it gives for Lothar Linke's claim at 01.40 on the night of 4/5 May 1943.In Tony Wood's list of claims,the location is given as 53133,which, when using the LUMA converter on the excellent Gyges.dk site,gives a location in the vicinity of Workum,which possibly ties in to the loss of Lancater W4888 of 101 Sqn.On the same basis,a more likely candidate for shooting down Sgt. Hanberger's Stirling might be Hauptman Hans-Dieter Frank of 2/NJG1 who,according to Foreman claimed a Stirling west of Zandvoort at 01.47.According to Tony Wood,the location is given as 5378 which works out to be around Houten and Odijk,SE of Utrecht,quite close to where Stirling BK782 came down.
One waits with anticipation for Dr. Theo Boiten's forthcoming book to answer questions like this.
Regards,Mark.

[David Wallace]

Mark
Thanks for the information on the Luma converter and although it took me a long time to figure it out, I eventually ended up with your same location. That makes Hauptman Hans-Dieter Frank of 2/NJG1 the one that brought them down.

Regards
Dave Wallace

[David Wallace]

Information and picture of Hans-Dieter Frank can be found here:
www.luftwaffe39-45.historia.nom.br/ but you may need the google page translater unless you speak Portuguese.
Dave Wallace