Sergeant Allan Dickson RAF 1564075 was the son of George Dickson, Hay Street, Coupar Angus. Before joining up Sergeant Dickson was employed with Messrs William Stewart Ltd. Coupar Angus as a baker.
On Sunday 23 July 1944, Allan Dickson was part of the crew of Avro Lancaster III PB208 PG-S of RAF 619 Squadron. Take off from RAF Dunholme Lodge, Lincolnshire, England was at 23.00 hours. The target for that night was Kiel, Germany.
Avro Lancaster PB208 is believed to have crashed southwest of the island of Sylt but may have crashed slightly further north. Pilot Officer Allan Daniel Aumell washed ashore at Thorsminde Beach, in the area of Nissum Fjord. He was laid to rest in Søndre Nissum Cemetery by the German Wehrmacht on 12 September 1944.
Avro Lancaster PB208 crew:
Flying Officer John Parker RAFVR (173134), Pilot, age unknown
Pilot Officer Allan Daniel AUMELL RCAF (J/89210), Air Bomber, age 21
Flight Sergeant James Broll RAFVR (1690453), Air Gunner, age unknown
Sergeant Allan Dickson RAFVR (1564075), Air Gunner, age unknown
Pilot Officer George Alan Grigg RAFVR (176583), Navigator, age 22
Sergeant Norman Mackenzie Rice RAFVR (1821876), Flight Engineer, age 20
Flight Sergeant William Arthur SHARP (1575581), Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, age unknown
The bodies of the other members of the crew were found and concentrated after the war in a grave at Neumunster Civil Cemetery on 9 September 1946: John Parker, George Alan Grigg, William Arthur Sharp, James Broll, Allan Dickson and Norman MacKenzie Rice.
All the crew of Lancaster PB208 are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.
Research by Ken Bruce
Notes:
A German night fighter piloted by Leutnant Heinz Rudolf Molowitz of 9.NJG 3, claimed his only known, two four-engine bombers (4 mots) that night, one at 01:45 hours and the other at 02:00 hours, west of Westerland/Sylt.
Leutnant Heinz Rudolf Molowitz was killed later that same day during aerial combat at Bockhorn, near Vaerl, west of the Jade Bight. He bailed out at too low an altitude for his parachute to deploy. Leutnant Heinz Rudolf Molowitz flew Messerschmitt Bf110 and Junkers Ju88 aircraft.
On 31 March 1944, John Parker, George Alan Grigg, William Arthur Sharp, Allan Dickson, Norman MacKenzie Rice, and John Harold Woodcock were on a mission to bomb Nuremburg, Germany (James Broll replaced John Woodcock for the 23 July 1944 mission). Their aircraft, Avro Lancaster III LM418 sustained heavy damage. Flying Officer John Parker brought home the Lancaster on only two engines. They crash-landed at RAF Woodbridge, Surrey. The aircraft was subsequently burnt out, no injuries were reported.
RAF 619 Squadron were stationed at RAF Coningsby from 9 January 1944 and at RAF Dunholme Lodge from April 1944 through to September 1944.
Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3) was a Luftwaffe night fighter-wing. Two aircraft that served with NJG 3 are displayed together at the Royal Air Force Museum London. They are a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G Werk Nr. 730301, which was surrendered to the British at the end of the war in 1945, and a Junkers Ju 88 R-1, Werk Nr. 360043,[2] which came into British hands in 1943. Both aircraft are unique – each is one of only two intact survivors of their type.
