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Post by dikbruins on Jan 25, 2015 22:23:03 GMT 12
Can anyone give me more information about Stephen Watts or Archie Matheson (692 squadron) and their flight on 7-11-1944? I am doing research on crashes during WW2 in the proximaty off the dutch island Terschelling. On Terschelling the radar station "Tiger" was based, from this station German fighters where guided to Allied bombers.
I believe (I don't know whether or not this is an new fact) that Watts was shot down by Major Hans Karlowski (or Karlewski), flying a He 219.
Dik Bruins Zwolle - Netherlands member of the dutch airwar research group SGLO.
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Post by apteryx on Jan 28, 2015 10:59:27 GMT 12
Hello Dik
Thanks for your interest in the last flight of S D Watts and A A Matheson in 1944.
You probably already know this from Colin Hanson's informative volume, 'By Such Deeds - Honours and awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force 1923-1999': MATHESON, Flying Officer Archibald Allisdair, DFM. NZ412714; Born Carterton, 23 May 1915; RNZAF 4 May 1941 to (kao) 11 Jul 1944; Navigator. Citation Distinguished Flying Medal (8 Jun 1943): [218 Sqn RAF (Stirling)] A highly skilled navigator, Sergeant Matheson has completed many sorties. In December, 1942, while on an operational flight to Germany the wireless equipment in his aircraft failed. Despite this, Sergeant Matheson guided the bomber successfully to the target and back. On all occasions this airman has displayed great devotion to duty and contributed in no small way to the successes attained. In Nov 1942 Fg Off Matheson joined 218 Sqn, flying 25 sorties to - Bordeaux, Lorient, St Nazaire, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Duisburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Essen and Turin. He also flew mine-laying sorties to the Frisian and Terschelling Islands. On his ‘rest’ tour he instructed with 1657 HCU RAF during which time he also flew two ASR sorties. In Feb 1944 he joined 692 Sqn (Mosquito) of the LNSF and carried out a further 42 sorties including - Berlin(7), Stuttgart(3), Duisburg(2), Cologne(5), Frankfurt, Kiel(2), Mannheim, Ludwigshafen(5), Dusseldorf(5), Bremen, Saarbrücken, Hanover(3). On a 23 Feb 1944 raid on Dusseldorf his aircraft carried the first 4000lb bomb to be dropped on Germany from a Mosquito. Kao Berlin, 11 Jul 1944, with 692 Sqn on his 67th sortie. No known grave. Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. (http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?1149-Bomb-load-for-Mosquito-to-Berlin)
Through my family history interests in New Zealand I've found out something about A A Matheson. He was married at the time of his death but had no children, and his wife later remarried and had two children. AAM's medals were bequeathed to one of them, a daughter, who gave them to the branch of the RSA (veterans' association) in the area where he had lived.
Douwe Drijver, the Treasurer and Researcher of the Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation, has been interested in the the Watts/Matheson crash, so you would be able to find out more from him if you haven't been in contact already.
It would be good if you could post updates on your research into this crash in this forum. Thanks again.
Andrew Matheson
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Post by pjw4118 on Jan 28, 2015 14:34:30 GMT 12
Hello Andrew , its nice to have contact with someone from the Matheson family. Our Ass (NZBCA) has quite a lot of material on Stephen Watts gathered from his family. A chapter covering his RAF career was included in our book , "Kiwis Do Fly " and you should be able to access on line , or from a library. Archie was a bit older than most for aircrew and needed just a few more ops to complete his tour. Stephen Watts had completed his tour and was awaiting the new COs arrival ,,and fatally agreed to take Archie on an op. We understand that Archies wife was living in Featherston but we have been unable to track her any further. Stephen Watts did indeed drop the first " cookie " from a Mosquito , it being a three way race including the CO and the other Flight commander. His letter says " I wasnt second" There is a well publicised photo of two officers sitting astride a cookie by a 692 Mosquito. Despite wearing wings and many ribbons , the caption names him as an engineering officer ! I am happy to add more by email . Peter Wheeler
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Post by dikbruins on Jan 31, 2015 19:33:35 GMT 12
Hello Dik Thanks for your interest in the last flight of S D Watts and A A Matheson in 1944. You probably already know this from Colin Hanson's informative volume, 'By Such Deeds - Honours and awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force 1923-1999': MATHESON, Flying Officer Archibald Allisdair, DFM. NZ412714; Born Carterton, 23 May 1915; RNZAF 4 May 1941 to (kao) 11 Jul 1944; Navigator. Citation Distinguished Flying Medal (8 Jun 1943): [218 Sqn RAF (Stirling)] A highly skilled navigator, Sergeant Matheson has completed many sorties. In December, 1942, while on an operational flight to Germany the wireless equipment in his aircraft failed. Despite this, Sergeant Matheson guided the bomber successfully to the target and back. On all occasions this airman has displayed great devotion to duty and contributed in no small way to the successes attained. In Nov 1942 Fg Off Matheson joined 218 Sqn, flying 25 sorties to - Bordeaux, Lorient, St Nazaire, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Duisburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Essen and Turin. He also flew mine-laying sorties to the Frisian and Terschelling Islands. On his ‘rest’ tour he instructed with 1657 HCU RAF during which time he also flew two ASR sorties. In Feb 1944 he joined 692 Sqn (Mosquito) of the LNSF and carried out a further 42 sorties including - Berlin(7), Stuttgart(3), Duisburg(2), Cologne(5), Frankfurt, Kiel(2), Mannheim, Ludwigshafen(5), Dusseldorf(5), Bremen, Saarbrücken, Hanover(3). On a 23 Feb 1944 raid on Dusseldorf his aircraft carried the first 4000lb bomb to be dropped on Germany from a Mosquito. Kao Berlin, 11 Jul 1944, with 692 Sqn on his 67th sortie. No known grave. Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. (http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?1149-Bomb-load-for-Mosquito-to-Berlin) Through my family history interests in New Zealand I've found out something about A A Matheson. He was married at the time of his death but had no children, and his wife later remarried and had two children. AAM's medals were bequeathed to one of them, a daughter, who gave them to the branch of the RSA (veterans' association) in the area where he had lived. Douwe Drijver, the Treasurer and Researcher of the Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation, has been interested in the the Watts/Matheson crash, so you would be able to find out more from him if you haven't been in contact already. It would be good if you could post updates on your research into this crash in this forum. Thanks again. Andrew Matheson
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Post by dikbruins on Jan 31, 2015 20:37:48 GMT 12
Hello Andrew, Nice to hear from you. Are you a directly related to Andrew Matheson? It is a cynical thing that he and Stephen Watts died just before the completion of their tour. The dutch Loss register by the SGLO (available on the web now, verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/zoek.php) shows a lot of information on this crash, but not the attacker. The book "Luftwaffe night fighter combat claims 1939 - 1945" has this entry of a Mosquito shot down near Terschelling: - 1944-07-11 03:18, by Maj. Hans Karlowski off 2./NJG1, at a heigth off 4.700 m. - The RAF campaign diary 1939 - 1945 (published on the web by the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 60th Anniversary, but no longer on line) shows: 10/11 July 1944 35 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and in the Frisians, 13 Halifaxes and 9 Stirlings on Resistance operations, 4 OTU sorties. 1 Mosquito lost on the Berlin raid. - Geschichte der Deutschen nachtjagd (Gerhard Aders) has a list of confirmed claims on Mosquito's: 10/11 7 1944 Major Karlewski I./NJG 1, He 219 So, since there was only one Mosquito lost that night, it seems very likely that Watts & Matheson where shot down by Karlewski/Karlowski. (Different writing of eastern European names are not unusual.) I know Douwe Drijver, so I shall contact him. On the Dutch island Terschelling local people are busy restoring the bunkers of the former radar station Tiger. The bunker museum is planned to be opened summer this year. The big air control bunker (type L487, "Bertha") was completed stripped after the war, but it is still an impressive object. Especially when you realize what happened in WW2... My goal is handing over more information on the airwar as a background for the bunker museum, and publishing parts of it in the web, as an easy way to get people interested. Greetings, Dik Bruins
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Post by dikbruins on Jan 31, 2015 20:42:49 GMT 12
Hello Andrew , its nice to have contact with someone from the Matheson family. Our Ass (NZBCA) has quite a lot of material on Stephen Watts gathered from his family. A chapter covering his RAF career was included in our book , "Kiwis Do Fly " and you should be able to access on line , or from a library. Archie was a bit older than most for aircrew and needed just a few more ops to complete his tour. Stephen Watts had completed his tour and was awaiting the new COs arrival ,,and fatally agreed to take Archie on an op. We understand that Archies wife was living in Featherston but we have been unable to track her any further. Stephen Watts did indeed drop the first " cookie " from a Mosquito , it being a three way race including the CO and the other Flight commander. His letter says " I wasnt second" There is a well publicised photo of two officers sitting astride a cookie by a 692 Mosquito. Despite wearing wings and many ribbons , the caption names him as an engineering officer ! I am happy to add more by email . Peter Wheeler
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Post by dikbruins on Jan 31, 2015 20:47:41 GMT 12
Hello Peter,
Thanks for your reaction. If you could include me in emailing to Andrew that would be great!
Greetings, Dik
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Post by pjw4118 on Feb 2, 2015 10:59:40 GMT 12
Nice to get some more information Dik. In the Luftwaffe record , was a position of the combat quoted ? In some records I have seen the location quoted , this would assist in perhaps identifying where Watts/Matheson came down.
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rodm
Flying Officer
Posts: 65
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Post by rodm on Feb 2, 2015 18:52:03 GMT 12
The transcription from the Luftwaffe Claims microfilms reads: 05 Ost/BL-27: 4.700 m. 03.18 Uhr The grid reference ("BL 27" in map sheet 05 Ost Sued) equates to a position roughly at 53 40 50 N, 05 11 40 E. Hans Karlewski's Flugbuch (flying logbook) records: A/C Type: "He 219" A/C Registration: "EK" (i.e. G9+EK, G9 = Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, E = aircraft E, K = 3. Staffel, so Karlewski was flying He219 "E" of 3./NJG1) Pilot: "Karlewski" Crew: "Uffz. Vollert" (i.e. Hermann Vollert, his Bordfunker (radio/radar operator)) Reason for flight: "Einsatz" (i.e. operational flight) Take-off Location: "Venlo" Take-off Date: "11.7" Take-off Time: "00.55" Landing Location: "Venlo" Landing Date: "11.7" Landing Time: "04.07" Comments: "Mos. - Abschuss 0316" (i.e. employed against Mosquito incursion, victory claim at 03.16 hrs) Karlewski has added a notation that his victory claim (Abschuss) was confirmed via order Nr 498/44 dated 6.9.44. Lastly, "Karlewski" is how Karlewski himself spelt his own name Cheers Rod
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Post by dikbruins on Feb 7, 2015 20:19:49 GMT 12
Thank you for this exact piece of information Rod! In what way do you have access to these microfilms? Via a book or directly from an archive? Whatever the way, it is very good to get this information.
53 40 50 N, 05 11 40 E (thanks to Google maps) brings me to a position 30 km north of Terschelling, so this is "in line" with the other information.
Another request (to anybody) Are there any photo's of Watts a/o Matheson? Greetings, Dik
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Post by jasonmcphee on Apr 19, 2021 20:44:56 GMT 12
Can anyone give me more information about Stephen Watts or Archie Matheson (692 squadron) and their flight on 7-11-1944? I am doing research on crashes during WW2 in the proximaty off the dutch island Terschelling. On Terschelling the radar station "Tiger" was based, from this station German fighters where guided to Allied bombers. I believe (I don't know whether or not this is an new fact) that Watts was shot down by Major Hans Karlowski (or Karlewski), flying a He 219. Dik Bruins Zwolle - Netherlands member of the dutch airwar research group SGLO.
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Post by jasonmcphee on Apr 19, 2021 20:53:07 GMT 12
Hi all, i am a bit late to this party but Allisdair Matheson was my fathers cousin. Big age diff in that generation. His mother was my grandfathers sister.
I am in possession of his log books from his first training, to Canada, his time in 218 Sqdn as bavigater/gunner in Stirlings, through conversion training and his missions on 692 Sqdn with s/l McKeand and his fateful (and first and only) comvat flight with w/c Watts
His logbooks are immaculate, as you would probably expect from a navigator
Happy to copy his logbooks for anyone interested. And pleased people are still interested in one of our families heroes.
Polus Dum Sidera Pascet The Fellowship of the Bellows: Sqdn 692
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 19, 2021 21:12:59 GMT 12
I would very much like a copy of the logbook please if you are going to scan or photograph it Jason, thanks.
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Post by planewriting on Apr 19, 2021 21:19:38 GMT 12
I would very much like a copy of the logbook please if you are going to scan or photograph it Jason, thanks. That makes two logbooks coming Dave's way in a fortnight that I know about of Canadian trained airmen who went on to Stirlings. The other being that of my cousin John Herring.
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Post by jasonmcphee on Apr 21, 2021 11:28:42 GMT 12
Dave: email me and i will send it
coach.jasonmcphee@gmail.com
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rodm
Flying Officer
Posts: 65
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Post by rodm on Apr 23, 2021 1:30:37 GMT 12
Ignore, I forgot I responded to the original request in 2015 and attempted to repost the same information!!
Cheers
Rod
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Post by apteryx on Apr 26, 2021 17:31:48 GMT 12
Hi Jason Thanks very much for posting in this thread, and for offering to share copies of Archie's logbook. I'll put my hand up for a copy too, and will email you. There is a profile of Archie on the Clan Matheson New Zealand website. If you have any corrections or additions, please let me know. Andrew Matheson
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