Sergeant Harold Wyrill

1432606 Harold Wyrill enlisted 5 May 1941 having volunteered for aircrew at No.2 Recruitment Centre at RAF Cardington. The following day he was put on reserve eventually getting his call up on 30 September 1941 to No.3 Recruitment Centre at RAF Padgate for training as a wireless operator. His following moves were;

8 October 1941 No.10 Recruitment Centre (Signals) at Blackpool.

5 january 1942 No.2 Signals School, which became No.2 Radio School, RAF                               Yatesbury.

30 April 1942 RAF Catterick.

29 July 1942 96 W Wing. RAF Newtownards

16 September 1942 No.7 Signals School, London.

27 January 1943 No.4 Radio School. RAF Madley.

21 April 1943 No.7 Armament and Gunnery School. RAF Stormey Down.

12 May 1943 No.3 Advanced Flying Unit. RAF Bobbington.

15 June 1943 29 Operational Traing Unit. RAF North Luffenham.

17 September 1943 1654 Conversion Unit. RAF Wigsley.

8 December 1943 61 Squadron RAF Coningsby.

Signals School Blackpool. Harold Wyrill 1st on left bottom row.

 

 

Harold in the doorway of ME591 in which they flew two operations to Berlin

ME591 was issued to 61 Squadron on 5 January 1944 and was lost on operations on 19 February 1944, with the loss of all crew.

Left to right – back row:  Kenneth Dean – Flight Engineer, Leslie Cannon- Pilot, George Hull - Navigator, John (Jack) Green (RAAF) – Rear Gunner, Ray Stones, Bomb Aimer – Front Row: Harold Wyrill – Wireless Operator/Gunner, Bert Sherliker Mid Upper Gunner.

The crews operations were as follows;

 

20/21 December 1943    Sgt L Cannon        Captain.                 Frankfurt

Lancaster                       Sgt K H Dean        F/Eng.

EE176                            F/Sgt G J Hull       Nav.

                                     Sgt R Stones        A.B.

                                     Sgt H Wyrill          Wop/Air

                                     Sgt H Sherliker     A.G.1

                                     F/Sgt J M Green    A.G.2

 

23/24 December 1943                                              Berlin

Lancaster   EE186                                  

 

 

1/2 January 1944                                                      Berlin

Lancaster   DV294                                 

 

5/6 January 1944                                                      Stettin

Lancaster    EE186                                

 

14/15 January 1944                                                  Brunswick

Lancaster     LM310                                  

 

21/22 January 1944                                                   Berlin

Lancaster     ME591

                                 

15/16 February 1944                                                  Berlin

Lancaster     ME591                               

 

24/25 February 1944                                                 Schweinfurt

Lancaster    EE186                                   

 

25/26 February 1944                                                Augsburg

Lancaster    JB129                                  

 

1/2 March 1944                                                        Stuttgart

Lancaster    LM452                                  

 

10/11 March 1944                                                    Chateroux

Lancaster     JB129                                   

 

15/16 March 1944                                                     Stuttgart

Lancaster   EE176                              

 

18/19 March 1944                                                    Frankfurt

Lancaster                                                                 Failed to return

ND727             

 

ND 727 issued to 61 Squadron on 5 March 1944 this was its first operation and the crews 13th.

All died on 18/19th March 1944 on the operation to bomb Frankfurt.  Only George Hull and Jack Green were wearing dog tags that night so only they have named graves the other 5 are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial . All their remains were buried by the Luftwaffe in the main cemetery in Frankfurt and were then moved to Durnbach Cemetery after the war and we think/hope he is one of the 22 graves of “A British Airman” in Durnbach with the same date of death but have no concrete proof.

Later investigations found that the plane actually crashed at Rodelheimerstrasse just outside the Beigwald forest east of Frankfurt.

We are grateful to Harold Wyrill's neice Gail Parkes for the information and photos for this story.

Mike Connock