CREW MEMBER PROFILE

Surname:

CHEESEMAN

First Name/s:

Harold Norman

Service No/s:

(1620839) 162260

Service:

RAFVR

Branch:

Air Bomber

Awards:

1939-1945 Star, France & Germany Star, 1939-1945 War Medal

Return

SERVICE RECORDS

Date

Event

Aircraft Flown

15 Dec 1941

Attended No. 2 Aviation Candidates’ Selection Board (2 ACSB) at the Old Clarendon Laboratories, Parks Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, where he was recommended for training as a Pilot, later the same day, he enlisted at St Michael’s Hall, Shoe Lane, Oxford, as Aircraftman Second Class (AC2) and mustered as Air Crew Hand (Pilot).

16 Dec 1941

Transferred to the Reserve, pending call-up.

06 Jul 1942

Called up to No. 1 Air Crew Reception Centre (1 ACRC), Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood, London.

24 Aug 1942

Promoted to Leading Aircraftman (LAC), remustering as Cadet Pilot, and embarked UK for Southern Rhodesia (port & vessel n/k)
Date? – Disembarked Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa tbc
Date? – Clairwood Transit Camp, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

01 Oct 1942

No. 1 Initial Training Wing (1 ITW), Hillside, Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia

14 Jan 1943

No. 28 Elementary Flying Training School (28 EFTS), Mount Hampden, Salisbury, Mashonaland.

Tiger Moth

28 Mar 1943

Appointed Acting S/O (acronym n/k).

01 Apr 1943

No. 23 Service Flying Training School (23 SFTS), Heany, Bulawayo, Matabeleland. Exact date not known.

Oxford

19 Apr 1943

Withdrawn from flying training, resuming the rank of Leading Aircraftman (LAC), and remustered as under training Air Bomber.

21 Apr 1943

No. 24 Combined Air Observer School (24 CAOS), Moffat, Gwelo, Midlands.

Battle/Oxford/Anson

14 Jun 1943

No. 48 Air School, Woodbrook, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa; elementary air navigation training.

24 Jun 1943

Reclassified as Aircraftman Second Class (AC2).

21 Oct 1943

No. 42 Air School, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape; air navigator training.

Anson

25 Nov 1943

Joined No. 576 Squadron, 'B' Flight at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire.

Lancaster

04 Feb 1944

Discharged on appointment to a Commission.

05 Feb 1944

Commissioned as Plt Off on probation (emergency) from LAC (LG 04 Apr 44, p1542), awarded Air Bomber’s (B) brevet, and remustered as Air Bomber.

18 Feb 1944

Date? – Embarked Durban, KwaZulu-Natal (vessel n/k)
18 Feb 44 tbc – Disembarked UK (port n/k)

19 Feb 1944

No. 7 Personnel Reception Centre (7 PRC), Spa Hotel, Harrogate, Yorks (using the Spa, Majestic, Queen, Adelphi, and Cecil Hotels for accommodation).

06 Jun 1944

No. 4 (Observer) Advanced Flying Unit (4 (O) AFU), West Freugh, Wigtownshire, Scotland.

Anson

01 Aug 1944

No. 28 Operational Training Unit (28 OTU), Wymeswold, Leicestershire; joins R R J Young crew.

Wellington

05 Aug 1944

Promoted to Flying Officer (war substantive) (London Gazette, 25 Aug 44).

15 Oct 1944

Nos. 11/71 Base, Lindholme, Yorkshire; administrative Base for Nos. 1 & 7 Group heavy bomber conversions.

16 Oct 1944

No. 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit (HCU), Blyton, Lincolnshire .

Lancaster

576 Squadron FLYING RECORDS

Date

Aircraft

Code

Flight Details

T/O

Land

Flt Time

Crew

07 Jan 1945

NG273

UL-Y2

MUNICH

1840

0310

8h30

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Industrial and transport areas. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 1320x 4lb incendiaries

15 Jan 1945

ME801

UL-N2

ZEITZ - TROGLITZ

1745

0135

7h50

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Braunkohle-Benzin synthetic oil plant (low grade MT oil). Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 12x 500lb bombs. Involved in combat with an unidentified aircraft - no claim made.

22 Jan 1945

PD232

UL-O2

DUISBERG

1645

2200

5h15

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Steelwork coking ovens & rolling mills in the Hamborn area of the city and a benzol plant in Bruckhausen. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 16x 500lb bombs.

01 Feb 1945

PD232

UL-O2

LUDWIGSHAFEN

1600

2240

6h40

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Marshalling yards, factories and enemy troop positions. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 1620x 4lb incendiaries

02 Feb 1945

PD232

UL-O2

WIESBADEN

2035

0310

6h35

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Built-up area where large amounts of enemy troops were resting. Load: 1x 4000lb 'cookie', 1604x 4lb incendiaries

07 Feb 1945

PD232

UL-O2

KLEVE

1910

0015

5h05

P1   Fg Off A.H. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Enemy strongpoints. Flown in support of the 1st Canadian Army and the 15th Scottish Division attacking the town. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 16 x 500lb bombs.

07 Feb 1945

PD232

UL-O2

KLEVE

1910

0015

5h05

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: Enemy strongpoints. Flown in support of the 1st Canadian Army and the 15th Scottish Division attacking the town. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 16 x 500lb bombs

08 Feb 1945

PD232

UL-O2

POLITZ

1905

0405

9h00

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Target: The IG Farben synthetic oil plant. AP: 5333.5N 01444.5E. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 10x 500lb bombs.

13 Feb 1945

PD232

UL-O2

DRESDEN

2125

FTR

uk

P1   Fg Off R.R.J. Young
P2   
FE   Sgt K.G. Greathead
AB   Fg Off H.N. Cheeseman
NAV  Sgt G.R. James
WOp  Sgt D.P. Bannister
MUG  Sgt H.E. Ward
RG   Sgt E.W. Webb

NOTES:

Operation THUNDERCLAP. Target: built-up area. Load: 1x 4000lb ‘cookie’, 1180x 4lb incendiaries. At 2125 on the evening of 13 Feb 1945 Roland Young's Lancaster PD232 (UL-O2) took off from Fiskerton to attack the German city of Dresden as part of Operation THUNDERCLAP. The bomber Main Force route took them over the English Channel at Beachy Head to Boulogne then behind Allied lines to a position south of Strasburg where Main Force Lancasters turned North East towards Leipzig. At about 0100 a villager noted that he saw two aircraft collide over the lower Saxony village of Remlingen, 17 Km North of Wurzburg. Both aircraft were travelling in a north-easterly direction when they collided and en-route to the target. Records indicate that the two Lancasters were PD232 and PB183 (LQ-C) of 405 (Pathfinder) Sqn from Gransden Lodge. PB183 was probably a ʺbacker upʺ flying in the Main Force Bomber stream and carrying Target Indicators to reinforce the initial marking. As the aircraft impacted the ground, their bomb loads exploded making craters some 6m wide and scattering their wreckage over a distance of 1 km. The mid-air explosion caused part of one of the Lancasters to be blown 5km northwards where it came down near the village of Birkenfeld. The wreckage continued to burn for several hours and a Luftwaffe detachment arrived from Wurtzburg to guard the wreckage. The Burgermeister stated that he saw 5 engines in the wreckage, but no more. All Young’s crew perished and were buried initially, along with four of the 405 Sqn crew, in the village graveyard of Remlingen. The two Air Gunners, Ward and Webb were only 19 years old. The pilot of the 405 Sqn Lancaster had bailed out and was captured; his crew were carrying an eighth crew member, who also perished. The bodies of four of his crew were never recovered and are remembered on the Runnymede memorial. In Oct 1947 the bodies of the crew were identified in Remlingen village graveyard by Fg Off Bickerton leading a No.3 MREU search team tracing the whereabouts of downed aircrew. They were exhumed and reburied at the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery at Dürnbach.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Details

Harold Norman Cheeseman was born in the Surrey town of Brookwood on February 13, 1920, son of Walter H. Cheeseman and Edith James. He grew up alongside his older brothers, Leslie William (1912 – 1965) and Gerald William (1917 – 1992).

 

Before enlisting in the service, Harold worked for the manufacturing firm James Walker & Co., Woking which during World War II, produced essential fluid sealing products for the Allied war effort. On April 25, 1942, he married Gladys Louisa Bonner at St. Paul's Church in Woking. The couple did not have any children, and Gladys later married Henry Gillespie in 1948.

 

Harold died in air operations over enemy territory on February 14, 1945. He was killed a day after his 25th birthday.

 

PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS

Details

Marriage to Gladys Louisa Bonner