Flight Sergeant Douglas James Morrison Dunn RAFVR (1554921) navigator, age 23 was killed in an aircraft accident whilst landing at Foggia Main airfield in Italy on 9 June 1944. Dunn was the son of Andrew and Jeanie Dunn of Rosefield Farm, Balbeggie, Perthshire.
Extracts from AIR 27/822, RAF 104 Squadron Operations Record Book, June 1944.
Detail of Work Carried Out:
Target: Szolnok, Hungary, June, 1st Aircraft Vickers Wellington X,LN754
Crew: Sgt. Bailey M.W., F/S Dunn D.J., Sgt. Silor F.A., F/S Flenk G.J., Sgt. Mitchell R.F.
Up: 22.00, Down: 03.50
Details of Sortie or Flight: Bombs dropped 1st Burst seen right in middle of the railway, remaining bombs of the stick fell on open ground.
Target: Aircraft despatched to attack bridge over the River Tiber, June 3rd, Aircraft Vickers Wellington Y.LP201
Flight Sergeant Dunn was the Navigator onboard Vickers Wellington BX LN899.
Crew: Sgt. Bailey M.W., F/S Dunn D.J., Sgt. Silor F.A., F/S Flenk G.J., Sgt. Mitchell R.F.
Up: 00.50, Down: 03.35
Details of Sortie or Flight: Two bombs hung up and were jettisoned North of river near coast. Bursts seen-low cloud obscured the target on the run up, bombs were seen to overshoot by about 20 yards and fell in the river and also on the bank.
Target: Aircraft despatched to attack marshalling yards at Niš, Yugoslavia (Serbia), June 8th, Aircraft Vickers Wellington Z.LN899
Crew: Sgt. Bailey M.W., F/S Dunn D.J., Sgt. Silor F.A., F/S Flenk G.J., Sgt. Mitchell R.F.
Up: 00.25, Down: 04.45
Details of Sortie or Flight: Aircraft blew up on landing, presumed due to a hang up of a 500 lb bomb. Pilot and Bomb Aimer Escaped, the Rear Gunner was killed, Navigator seriously wounded and died shortly after admittance to hospital, Wireless Operator was seriously wounded.
Sergeant Robert Fairbairn Mitchell RAFVR (1592422), age 19, was the rear Air Gunner on LN899. He is buried at the Bari War Cemetery, a port city on the Adriatic Sea in Italy.
Flight Sergeant Douglas James Morrison Dunn was 23 years old and is also buried at Bari War Cemetery and is also commemorated on the St Martins War Memorial.
Perthshire Advertiser, 21st June 1944
“DEATHS – On Active Service
“DUNN.-1554921 Flt./Sgt. D. J. M. Dunn, age 23, youngest son of the late Mr Andrew Dunn and Mrs Dunn, Rosefield Farm, Balbeggie, has died of wounds in Italy.”
Foggia is located near the Adriatic Sea in Italy, opposite Naples. By 9 June 1944, the Allied armies have advanced north of Rome which had fallen 4 days earlier. The Soviets were getting ready to start Operation Bagration, attacking the German Army Group Centre and advancing to the Vistula River and Warsaw. In the west, the Allies had landed in Normandy on D-Day and were pushing inland. In the Pacific, US forces were about to commence air strikes on the Marianas Islands, as a prelude to invade Saipan. In Burma, the Battle of Kohima was nearly won, ending the Siege of Imphal.
Since August 1943, the Allies had been bombing the oil fields and installations in Romania (Rumania), mainly around Ploiești (formerly Ploești). The German army was being starved of fuel to run their war effort. The bombing of marshalling yards and railway infrastructures forced the German to travel more often by road, forcing them to use up their remaining precious petrol and diesel fuel stocks.
AIRCRAFT OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE, 1939-1945: VICKERS WELLINGTON. (ME(RAF) 6297) Wellington Mark II, Z8524 ?U?, of No. 104 Squadron RAF, about to be loaded with 500-lb GP bombs for a sortie, on a landing ground in North Africa. The front turret has been removed from this aircraft, which also carries 52 operation symbols on its nose. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205126787
ROYAL AIR FORCE: OPERATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, 1939-1943. (CM 3949) Armourers ride trolley loads of 250-lb GP Bombs to Vickers Wellington B Mark IIs of No. 104 Squadron RAF at LG 224/Cairo West, Egypt, before a night operation against enemy columns retreating after the Battle of El Alamein. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205209102
ROYAL AIR FORCE: OPERATIONS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, 1939-1943. (CM 3927) Vickers Wellington B Mark IIs of No. 104 Squadron RAF await their bomb loads at LG 224/Cairo West, Egypt, before undertaking night operations against enemy columns retreating after the Battle of El Alamein. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205212138
