CREW MEMBER PROFILE |
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Surname: |
BILTOFT |
First Name/s: |
Arthur Henry |
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Service No/s: |
414192 |
Service: |
RAAF |
Branch: |
Navigator |
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Awards: |
1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal, 1939-1945 War Medal |
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SERVICE RECORDS |
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Date |
Event |
Aircraft Flown |
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31 Oct 1940 |
Applied for Air Crew at a Recruiting Train, Mackay Railway Station, QLD |
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21 Feb 1941 |
Enlisted in the Reserve at Sarina, QLD |
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01 Jun 1941 |
No.1 Bombing & Gunnery School, 22 (Observers) Course, Evans Head, NSW |
Anson & Battle |
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17 Aug 1941 |
No.3 Initial Training School, 19 (Pilot) Course, Sandgate, QLD |
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08 Nov 1941 |
Promoted to LAC |
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13 Nov 1941 |
No.2 Elementary Flying Training School, 19 (Pilot) Course, Archerfield, QLD |
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15 Dec 1941 |
Re-mustered as Air Observer |
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16 Dec 1941 |
No.3 Initial Training School, 21 (Observer) Course, Sandgate, QLD |
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31 Jan 1942 |
No.2 Embarkation Depot, Bradfield Park, NSW |
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05 Mar 1942 |
No.1 Air Observers School, 22 Course, Cootamundra, NSW |
Anson |
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17 Jul 1942 |
Awarded Air Observers Badge |
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25 Jul 1942 |
No.1 Air Navigation School, 22 Course, Parkes, NSW |
Anson |
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20 Aug 1942 |
Re-mustered as Navigator and promoted to Sgt |
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05 Sep 1942 |
No.3 Embarkation Depot, Sandgate, QLD |
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10 Sep 1942 |
No.2 Embarkation Depot, Bradfield Park, NSW |
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18 Sep 1942 |
Embarked Sydney on board (ship?) |
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02 Feb 1943 |
Disembarked UK (port?) |
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03 Feb 1943 |
No.11 (RAAF) Personnel Despatch & Reception Centre, Bournemouth |
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20 Feb 1943 |
Promoted to Flt Sgt |
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19 Mar 1943 |
No.50 Group Pool, No.3 Elementary Flying Training School, Shellingford |
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24 May 1943 |
No.9 (Observers) Advanced Flying Unit, Penrhos |
Anson |
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06 Jul 1943 |
No.27 Operational Training Unit, Lichfield; joined JM Shearer crew |
Wellington |
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08 Oct 1943 |
No.1662 Heavy Conversion Unit, Blyton |
Lancaster |
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29 Dec 1943 |
No.576 Squadron ‘X’ Flight, Elsham Wolds |
Lancaster |
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20 Jan 1944 |
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20 Feb 1944 |
Promoted to WO |
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07 May 1944 |
Reported missing on operations over Aubigne-Racan |
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576 Squadron FLYING RECORDS |
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Date |
Aircraft |
Code |
Flight Details |
T/O |
Land |
Flt Time |
Crew |
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20 Jan 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
BERLIN |
1620 |
2350 |
7h30 |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 56x 30lb and 1122x 4lb incendiaries |
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21 Jan 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
MAGDEBURG |
DNTO |
nk |
N/A |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 56x 30lb and 1122x 4lb incendiaries Did not take off; aircraft unserviceable. |
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27 Jan 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
BERLIN |
1720 |
0140 |
8h20 |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 56x 30lb and 1032x 4lb incendiaries |
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28 Jan 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
BERLIN |
2345 |
0430 |
4h45 |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 56x 30lb and 1032x 4lb incendiaries. Returned early; engine failure. |
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30 Jan 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
BERLIN |
1700 |
2335 |
6h35 |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 56x 30lb and 762x 4lb incendiaries. Attacked twice by a Ju-88 at 1919 and at 22,000 ft but the enemy aircraft did not open fire. Both gunners opened up with a short burst on the first attack. The Combat Report is attached below. |
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15 Feb 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
BERLIN |
DNTO |
nk |
N/A |
P1 Sgt A.A. Shearer RAAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load:1x 4000lb, 56x 30lb and 1122x 4lb incendiaries. Did not take-off; pilot became unwell. |
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19 Feb 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
LEIPZIG |
2335 |
0720 |
7h45 |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 56x 30lb and 1122x 4lb incendiaries. |
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20 Feb 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
STUTTGART |
2350 |
0715 |
7h25 |
P1 Fg Off J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 56x 30lb and 1122x 4lb incendiaries. |
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15 Mar 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
STUTTGART |
1910 |
0215 |
7h05 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 96x 30lb and 750x 4lb incendiaries. |
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17 Mar 1944 |
LM469 |
UL-E2 |
Training |
nk |
nk |
1h20 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Fighter affiliation. |
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18 Mar 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
FRANKFURT |
1900 |
0050 |
5h50 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 108x 30lb and 1062x 4lb incendiaries. |
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22 Mar 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
FRANKFURT |
1840 |
0100 |
6h20 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 108x 30lb and 1062x 4lb incendiaries. |
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24 Mar 1944 |
LM438 |
UL-C2 |
BERLIN |
1845 |
0145 |
7h00 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 108x 30lb and 924x 4lb incendiaries. Attacked twice by a Ju-88 to the north of the Ruhr immediately after evading flak and searchlights. Both starboard engines were damaged. The gunners returned fire and claimed the Ju-88 as ‘damaged’. The return flight was made on two engines and a third cut out on landing at Ford aerodrome. The aircraft was too damaged to fly again with 576 and after repairs at AV Roe, was used for training. The Combat Report is attached below. |
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30 Apr 1944 |
ND783 |
UL-C2 |
MAINTENON |
2130 |
0230 |
4h40 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Ammunition dump. Load: 11x 1000lb and 4x 500lb bombs. |
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01 May 1944 |
ND783 |
UL-C2 |
LYON |
2135 |
0445 |
7h10 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Soc. Berliet motor works. Load: 11x 1000lb and 3x 500lb bombs. |
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03 May 1944 |
ND783 |
UL-C2 |
MAILLY LE CAMP |
2200 |
0410 |
6h10 |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Military depot and tank training centre. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’ and 16x 500lb bombs. |
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06 May 1944 |
ND783 |
UL-C2 |
AUBIGNE-RACAN |
0015 |
FTR |
uk |
P1 Flt Lt J.M. Shearer RNZAF |
NOTES: |
Target: Ammunition depot. Load: 11x 1000lb and 5x 500lb bombs. Aircraft failed to return. |
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PERSONAL INFORMATION |
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Details |
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Arthur Biltoft was born on 11 Jun 1918, in Mackay, QLD, son of Arthur Biltoft and Josephine Tait. The family moved at some stage to Sarina, also in QLD. Arthur had a brother, 404325 Fg Off Thomas Tate ‘Bill’ Biltoft, who was a pilot in the RAAF and was also killed on operations in Timor on 16 May 45. Arthur also has a sister, Bette, who served in the WAAF. Arthur was educated at Sarina State School from Jun 1930 to 1931, and Mackay High School from Jan to Sep 1932. From there he went to Remington Business College, Mackay from Sep 1932 to Sep 1933. He went on to study accountancy at Hemingway & Robinson in Melbourne from Apr 1937 to Apr 1939 and again from Aug to Oct 1940. He worked for a while at the cane inspector’s office at Plane Creek Mill before becoming an accounts bookkeeper at the ANPA Pty. Co. Ltd, a distillery in Sarina. Arthur also served with the 42nd Battalion Australian Militia from Nov 1936 to Feb 1941 when he was discharged on transfer to the RAAF. Prior to enlistment he was a clerk bookkeeper at a distillery in Sarina, QLD.
Events of 07 May 1944 ND783 took off from Elsham Wolds to attack an ammunition depot at Aubigne Racan, near Le Mans at 0015 hrs. On its way home from the target, just before 0300, it was attacked by a night fighter (probably a Fw-190A flown by Ofw Hermann Tirchow of 3/SKG 10 - Ivelaw-Chapman thought it to be an Me-110) at 12,000 ft. Shearer ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft. Ford jumped at about 6000 ft followed by Air Cdre Ivelaw-Chapman; he was the most senior RAF Officer to be taken prisoner while in Bomber Command Service, having recently taken up a senior position as OC 13 Base, No.1 Group, at Elsham Wolds. None of the other crew survived. The aircraft exploded on hitting the ground between the villages of St Remy du Plain (now known as St Remy du Val) and Vézot, about 40 km northeast of Rennes. Flt Sgt Ford’s account: ‘Attacked by night fighter near Le Mans on return from the target. Self and A/CDR Ivelaw-Chapman successfully abandoned the aircraft. I joined the Resistance Movement and was told that five (5) bodies had been recovered from the wreckage and were buried by the mayor at St. REMY DU PLAIN Cemetery near Le Mans’.The crew were originally buried at Remy-du-Plain Communal Cemetery but were later reburied in collective grave 21 to 26, Plot XXIX, Row H at the Bayeux War Cemetery. There are also two locations which honour the crew; the Cenotaph in the town centre with the crew’s names inscribed thereon, and a stele beside the field where the aircraft crashed. The Cenotaph also records the priest who buried the crew – he was arrested by the Gestapo and died in a concentration camp. |
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PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS |
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Details |
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Pre-enlistment with the RAAF and serving with the 42nd Battalion Australian Militia (NAA)(Biltoft family) |
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a newspaper cutting from 1941(Biltoft family) |
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Late summer 1943 - Shearer and his RAAF crew when at 27 OTU at the West Door of Lichfield Cathedral. L-R: Jackson, Yates (who didn’t go to 576), Shearer, Ford, Biltoft(Biltoft family) |
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Shearer Crew at 1662 HCU, Blyton. L-R Back: Jackson, Biltoft, Shearer, Ford, McLeod. Front: Drew, Yates (WOp Yates left the crew before joining 576 Sqn and was replaced by Fox(Biltoft family) |
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The crew’s original grave marker at Remy. Despite threats of arrest by the Gestapo, the brave villagers kept flowers at the site |
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Arthur Biltoft’s gravestone at Bayeux (Findagrave). |
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The cenotaph in Remy and the stele at the crash site (aerosteles.net) |
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Various newspaper cuttings remembering Arthur Biltoft and his brother Thomas(Biltoft family) |
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