CAA 044
CAA 044
Archive belonging to Robert Harold Jackson, bombardier with the 420th RCAF Squadron, who died on a bombing mission over Stuttgart, Germany on the evening of March 15, 1944. This was one of the most disastrous Allied air raids of the war. 863 aircraft were engaged, with a loss of 27 Lancasters (two of which force landed in Switzerland and were interred for the remainder of the war) and 10 Halifaxes, and none of the bombs reached within 5 miles of their intended target. 12 aircraft from 420th Squadron attacked the target from 23:16 to 23:29 from 24,000 feet. Jackson flew in a Halifax III LW. 426. His was the only aircraft lost in the squadron that night. He took off at 1900 and was shot down by Hptm Floitgraf shortly before midnight. Normally a Halifix crew is composed of 7 men, but this crew was also carrying a young pilot for training
Adverse winds delayed the opening of the attack and the same winds may have been the cause of the Pathfinder marking falling back well short of the target, despite the clear weather conditions. Some of the early bombing fell in the centre of Stuttgart but most of it fell in open country south-west of the city. The Akademie was damaged in the centre of Stuttgart and some housing was destroyed in the south-western suburbs. In all, 88 German peasants were killed and 203 persons injured……far less than the British RAF losses.
CAA 044
CAA 044
Jackson had flown 21 sorties over North Africa and Italy. This earned him the coveted Aircrew Europe Star. He was considered to have “done his bit” for the war effort and could have safely gone home to a quiet life in Canada training other pilots. However, there was enormous status and pressure to have at least one mission over Germany entered into your log book (his 21st sortie was bombing the Italian port of Civitavecchia). He actively served as a bombardier from July 24, 1943 to March 15, 1944.
CAA 044
CAA 044The archive includes Jacksons flight log; two medals: the Italy Star and the Air Crew Europe Star (this medal is very rare and valuable); a copy of the squadron post-mortem marked SECRET (giving details on the original plan of attack, report on each aircraft, losses, map of where bombs impacted, and assessment); copy of map of the flight path of the raid; copy of command structure of the German Luftwaffe Nachtjagdverbande (Night Fighters)…..showing the pilot who shot down Jackson’s Halifax as commander III Gruppe Nachtagdgeschwader 6 from April 1, 1945 to the end of the war; map of the location of Jackson’s downed Halifax; cemetery records and headstone photos of Jackson and his crew at Durnbach Cemetery outside of Munich; the original letter from the RCAF informing Jackson’s father that he is missing in action and granting permission to inform the media that he is reported missing but to not disclose the date, place or his unit; correspondence to his father; fascinating war correspondence from an English mother commenting on Hitler; much correspondence from different government agencies concerning Jackson’s will/registrations/disbursement of his personal belongings/death benefits/etc; Christmas cards from RCAF bases; brochure for Jackson’s Victory Loan bond; copy of the entry in Floitgraf’s log book showing his kill, photocopies of Floitgraf in his fighter, news articles, squadron photo. B
Price: $5000.00
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