by Steve Holmes
Goult Maurice Arthur 19 Sergeant 9th Nov 1944
Myers Charles Alfred 34 Flight Sergeant 9th Nov 1944
Norton John Anthony 22 Flying Officer 9th Nov 1944
Ruston Harry 27 Flight Sergeant 9th Nov 1944
Thompson John Vaas 21 Sergeant 9th Nov 1944
Baker (MID) Maurice William L’Isle La Valett Wing Commander 21st Feb 1945
Gordon John Robert 21 Flight Sergeant 21st Feb 1945
Hunter Calvert Hamilton 31 Warrant Officer 21st Feb 1945
McGovern John Bruce 22 Warrant Officer 21st Feb 1945
Tickner Russell George 24 Flying Officer 25th Feb 1945
Humphrey George Alfred 38 Flight Sergeant 26th Feb 1945
Stevenson Joseph Daglish 25 Warrant Officer 26th Feb 1945
Allman George Gregory 22 Warrant Officer 31st Mar 1945
Brenner Fredrick Charles 31 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Brunton Thomas Louttit 22 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Campbell Clarence 25 Pilot Officer 31st Mar 1945
Catterall Derek Vivian 21 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Cross John Richard 20 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Harding-Klimanek Paul Reginald Sergius 21 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Linney Kenneth William 22 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Lloyd Edward Sidney 20 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Matthews Francis William 31 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Myers Paul Montefiore 20 Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Reed George Sidney 30 Flight Sergeant 31st Mar 1945
Carroll Neville 23 Flying Officer 3rd Apr 1945
Grain Jack 24 Warrant Officer 3rd Apr 1945
Marshall Reginald Earnest 39 Flight Sergeant 3rd Apr 1945
Hughes Gilbert 33 Warrant Officer 3rd Apr 1945
Philo Stanley James Verse 22 Warrant Officer 3rd Apr 1945
Atkinson Kenneth 23 Warrant Officer 11th Apr 1945
Barnes Robert 23 Sergeant 11th Apr 1945
Jones Trevor Robert 19 Sergeant 11th Apr 1945
Tomlinson Phillip Roy 22 Sergeant 11th Apr 1945
Vernon Frederick 26 Flight Sergeant 11th Apr 1945
Whitehead James William 22 Flying Officer 11th Apr 1945
Bell Harold Alfred 32 Flight Sergeant 10th May 1945
Breed John Leonard 24 Flying Officer 10th May 1945
Gilyead Lionel James Douglas 21 Flight Sergeant 10th May 1945
Impett Raymond Charles 32 Warrant Officer 10th May 1945
Kilday Hugh Joseph 31 Warrant Officer 10th May 1945
Welch David 34 Flight Sergeant 10th May 1945’s S
Bennet Arthur 20 Flight Sergeant 2nd Jun 1945
An official RAF photograph of ‘Sherlock’s Crew’ circa 1944. (Top row, left to right) Chalk, Crosby, Holmes, Jones. (Bottom row, left to right) Tammas, Vanrenen, Handley.
John Holmes 1945. Patch is looking out of the window.
Sherlock and friends relaxing outside their billet. (From left to right) Holmes, Chalk, Jones. (Seated) Handley with Patch and Tammas.
Chalk, Holmes and Tammas at Shepherds Grove only a few hours before their doomed final flight.
Henry Poleman Vanrenen
Henry Poleman Vanrenen, much has been written about the pilot who flew ‘Sherlock’s Crew.’ A fiercely proud man, at times outspoken and aloof, occasionally downright rude, But his crew would not have swapped him with any other pilot in the world and owed their lives to his skill and judgement on that final doomed flight when their Stirling bomber crashed near Overloon in Holland.
Len Jones
Reg Tammas
Len Jones
Len Jones with his beloved convertible and an unknown member of the ground crew.
‘Jack’ Chalk with Patch
Doug Handley
Mark Azouz
George Tickner
Keith Prowd
Lofty Matthews
Original crash photographs taken by the villagers of Overloon 1945.
Chuck Hoystead and crew. 1944. (Left to right) Ray Owen, Taffy Stimson, Chuck Hoystead, Jack Hooker, John Barker. Kneeling; Bill Garretts.
(Back row left to right) John Caldwell, Rolf Mann, George Humphrey, Eric Quirk. (front row left to right) George Tickner, Joseph Stevenson.
Copyright
Published by John Blake Publishing Ltd,
3 Bramber Court, 2 Bramber Road,
London W14 9PB, England
www.johnblakepublishing.co.uk
www.facebook.com/johnblakepub
twitter.com/johnblakepub
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those may be liable in law accordingly.
ePub ISBN 978 1 78219 659 4
Mobi ISBN 978 1 78219 660 0
PDF ISBN 978 1 78219 661 7
First published in paperback in 2013
ISBN: 978 1 78219 421 7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by www.envydesign.co.uk
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
© Text copyright Steve Holmes and Ken Scott 2013
Papers used by John Blake Publishing are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
Every attempt has been made to contact the relevant copyright-holders, but some were unobtainable. We would be grateful if the appropriate people could contact us.
