Operation: Essen, Germany

Date: 5th/6th March 1943 (Friday/Saturday

Unit No: 214 (FMS) Sqn, 3 Group, Bomber Command

Type: Stirling III

Serial: BK662

Code: BU:K

Base: RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk

Location: North Sea off IJmuiden

Pilot: Sgt. Harry William Baldock 657240 RAF Age 23. MiA

Flt Eng: Sgt. Peter Roy Kimber 1336307 RAFVR Age 21. MiA

Nav: Fg Off. Hugh Terence Etienne 129058 RAFVR Age 21. MiA (1)

Bomb Aimer: Sgt. William Taylor 1458100 RAFVR Age? MiA

WOp/Air Gnr: Sgt. William Hedley Trotter 1128255 Age 31. KiA (2)

Air Gnr (Mid Upp): Sgt. Ernest Albert Wright 526692 RAF Age 26. MiA

Air Gnr (Rear): Flt Sgt. Alphe Baptiste Amirault R88416 RCAF Age 24. MiA

Above: This is not a photograph of this crew. Only Fg Off. Hugh T. Etienne is depicted standing 3rd from the left

Above: Sgt. William H. Trotter (courtesy of Michel Beckers)

Note: The British Malayan Federation adopted the Squadron after placing the funds to equip it and then officially named 214 Federated Malay States (FMS) Squadron.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Chedburgh in Suffolk at 19:35 hrs to bomb the city of Essen. Some 442 aircraft dispatched of which 56 aircraft turned back early due to technical defects. The city was attacked in 3 waves with 214 taking part in the second. The attack lasted for some 40 minutes with 70% of the bombs being incendiary the remaining 30% a long delay high explosive. The RAF reportedly dropped some 36,429 tons of bombs on the city during the war.

Above: The Krupps works, Essen at the end of the war.

Post bombing reconnaissance photographs showed a massive 160 acres of destruction with the main factory of Krupps suffering 53 buildings destroyed. 3018 houses were destroyed, 2,166 seriously damaged and reports state that around 480 people were killed on the ground.

BK662 was hit by Flak from 1.-3./Res. Flak Abt. 242 and z.b.V.3002 and crashed into the sea 10km west of Ijmuiden at 22:12 hrs (Nachtjagd Combat Archive (1 January - 22 June) 1943 Part 1 - Theo Boiten)

BK662 was delivered to the Squadron the previous month on 28th February 1943 and was the first Mk III Stirling lost by 214 Sqn.

(1) Hugh Terence Etienne was a civil servant in St. Lucia, West Indies, prior to enlisting in the RAFVR in 1940.

13980814 LAC. Etienne was appointed to a commission and promoted to Plt Off. on the 1st September 1942 (London Gazette 2nd October 1942). He was promoted to Fg Off. on the 1st March 1943 (London Gazette 15th June 1943).

(2) William Hedley Trotter worked with South Shields Council within the health department prior to enlisting in the RAFVR. He was talented musician who played the violin and organ and provided concerts for charity.

The body of Sgt. Trotter was eventually washed up on the shore of Texel Island on the 25th May 1943 and was buried the next day.

Above - Village sign at Chedburgh 2013

Burial details:

Above The Runnymede Memorial (Courtesy of the Commonwealth war Graves Commission)

Sgt. Harry William Baldock. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 141. Born in the 3rd Qtr 1919 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Son of James Everett and Elsie (née Rice) Baldock of Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Husband of Anne (née Groves) Baldock of Chatham, Kent, England.

Sgt. Peter Roy Kimber. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 155. Born in the 4th Qtr of 1921 in Camberwell, London. Son of Ernest Henry, a compositor, and Jeannette ‘Janet’ Ann Howie (née Adams) Kimber of Peckham, London, England.

Fg Off. Hugh Terence Etienne. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 124. Son of Auguste and Rosetta Etienne of Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies.

Sgt. William Taylor. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 166. No on-line information found.

Above Grave marker for Sgt. William Hedley Trotter (Courtesy of Michel Beckers)

Sgt. William Hedley Trotter. Texel Cemetery (Den Burg) Plot K. Row 2. Grave 40. Grave Inscription: “EVER IN THE THOUGHTS OF HIS LOVING FATHER, MOTHER AND BROTHERS”. Born on the 11th December 1912 in South Shields, County Durham. Son of William and Dorothy Ann (née Gray) Trotter of South Shields, County Durham, England.

Sgt. Ernest Albert Wright. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 170. He was born on the 29th February 1916 in Hammersmith, London. Son of Edward Terence and Rose Alice (née Jacobs) Wright. Both his parents predeceased him in September 1929 and February 1942 respectively.

Flt Sgt. Alphe Baptiste Amirault. Runnymede Memorial, Panel 181. Born on the 29th August 1918 in Lower East, Pubnico, Nova Scotia. Son of Louis Norbert and Lucy Emilie Amirault of Pubnico, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Researched for the wife of Tiff Jacobs who’s uncle was Sgt. Roy Kimber. We also strongly recommend readers who would like further information to visit the fine 214 Squadron website run by John and Carol Edwards. Thanks also to Michel Beckers. Reviewed and updated by Aircrew Remembered (Nov 2025).

Other sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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