A CLASSIC 'LANCASTER' AIRCREW EUROPE CASUALTY TRIO.
To: 1600016 Sgt D.R.BAIRD. NAVIGATOR (12 Squadron) R.A.F.Who was Killed-In Action on 4th JULY 1943.Shot down over Belgium by Luftwaffe (ME110) Night Fighter Pilot Hptm.Wilhelm Telge (II/NJG1)LANCASTER III ED820. (PH-A) took off from RAF WICKENBY ( Lincs ) at 22:37 on the evening of 3rd July 1943 en-route to attack Koln. The bombing run completed, the Lancaster turned for home, but was intercepted and attacked over Belgium by Telge. The aircraft crashed at 03:05 between Walhain (Brabant) and Ernage ( Namur ) . Only one crew member, Sgt H. Williams, the bomb aimer, survived the crash and was taken prisoner of war and as POW No.1351 was held in camps L1/L6/L4/L1. The rest of the crew are now buried and remembered with honour in Haverlee War Cemetery, Belgium along with many many other aircrew casualties lost during the massive air campaign of WW2.
Telge was himself killed in action during a close night interception over the centre of Berlin in the early hours of 1st September 1943 when his aircraft rammed an RAF bomber (*Thought to be 419 Squadron HALIFAX JD270 (VR-P) from RAF MIDDLETON-St-GEORGE, which went out of control and crashed SW of Berlin with the loss of four of the crew of seven. The three survivors who baled out and were taken P.O.W. reported being 'clipped' on the port wing by a 'single engine fighter' but this was in fact the two engine ME 110 flown by Telge) The starboard side of Telge's aircraft was seriously damaged in the collision. Oblt. Freymann and Fw. Telsing managed to bail-out of the stricken machine before it hit the ground. Wilhelm Telge's body was found in the wreck of his aircraft. Wilhelm Telge was laid to rest in the Gemeindefriedhof Badeleben, Germany 
THE ENTIRE CREW OF LANCASTER III -ED820- (PH-A) WERE:
Pilot: J/8380. F/O. Arnold Raymond HERRON. RCAF - Age 27 (K.I.A.)
Navigator: 1600016. Sgt. Donald Robert BAIRD. RAF- Age 30 (K.I.A.)
Wireless Op: 1026801. Sgt.Thomas Eric EDMONSON- RAF- Age 21 (K.I.A.)
Bomb Aimer: Sgt H. WILLIAMS. (P.O.W.)- Stalag Luft I. Barth)
Flight Engineer: 627752. Sgt. Malcolm Lionel GREEN - RAF - Age 21 (K.I.A.)
Mid-Upper Gunner: 654128. Sgt Arthur Leonard BASELEY - RAF - Age 27 (K.I.A.)
Rear Gunner: R/147647. Sgt Maurice Emile COMBRES - RCAF Age 21 ( K.I.A.)
Maurice COMBRES joined the RCAF in 1942 and was on his 23rd mission when he was killed. He had flown in Wellingtons, prior to the transition to the Lancaster. Please see Photo Album for a picture of Maurice. He grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada and joined the RCAF in 1942. He served for a year and one half and was on his 23rd mission when he died at age 21. The province of Saskatchewan commemorates its war dead by naming landmarks after them and a lake in Northern Saskatchewan was named after Maurice.
ALL MEDALS ARE MINT AS ISSUED WITH OFFICIALLY NAMED FAMILY CONDOLENCE SLIP. ALSO AN ORIGINAL CONTACT NEGATIVE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE FIRST EMERGENCY INTERMENT CROSS WITH NAMES OF FOUR OF THE CREW OF 'A' FOR ALBERT. DONALD ROBERT BAIRD was 30 and the son of Robert Beck Baird & Violet Frances Baird of DEGANWY, CAERNARVONSHIRE, WALES. Another "Welsh" R.A.F. hero's medals have at last come home and are no longer missing.
PER ARDUA AD ASTRA. (Through Hardship To The Stars)
Telge was himself killed in action during a close night interception over the centre of Berlin in the early hours of 1st September 1943 when his aircraft rammed an RAF bomber (*Thought to be 419 Squadron HALIFAX JD270 (VR-P) from RAF MIDDLETON-St-GEORGE, which went out of control and crashed SW of Berlin with the loss of four of the crew of seven. The three survivors who baled out and were taken P.O.W. reported being 'clipped' on the port wing by a 'single engine fighter' but this was in fact the two engine ME 110 flown by Telge) The starboard side of Telge's aircraft was seriously damaged in the collision. Oblt. Freymann and Fw. Telsing managed to bail-out of the stricken machine before it hit the ground. Wilhelm Telge's body was found in the wreck of his aircraft. Wilhelm Telge was laid to rest in the Gemeindefriedhof Badeleben, Germany 