The curious case of Pilot Officer Meier

[dave41184]

The curious case of Pilot Office Meier.....

I read this extract a while back from 'Bomb on the Red Markers' by Pat Cunningham which was a little disturbing. The book is a collection of wartime accounts from operational flyers of Bomber Command during WW2. It comes from Flt Lt Frederick James DFC:

'I have often been asked about my emotions during those days. I respond by saying that what is now seen by some as a moral issue hardly weighed then. We were all well aware of what happened from countless cities from Warsaw to Wallasey. And there was a war to be won.

And yet a poignant revelation awaited me. When my first SO (special operator) Pilot Officer Keith Gosling had failed to return, we fatalistically accepted that he's got the chop. It transpired however that it had not been that simple. His pilot on that fill in trip had been a Pilot Officer Meier RCAF, and of German extraction. Having bombed the target and although the aircraft was undamaged , Meier later claimed that he had tried to persuade the crew that bombing was morally wrong. Certainly the bomb aimer was either ordered to bale out, or decided to - his (the bomb aimer's) account varied -and successfully evaded capture.

But twenty minutes later, Meier seems to have put the aircraft into a banked dive and jumped himself, leaving six other crew, including Keith to crash and burn.

Meier became a POW, but in 1945, when his fellow POWs were forced marched westwards he disappeared, re-appearing years later in East Germany seeking to be allowed back into Canada. The Canadian authorities, having investigated the case, became embarrassed and continually stood him off until his death in 1977, finally reckoning him among those of their black sheep who were deemed 'never to have served'. So we learnt that Keith and his fellow crew members may have fallen victim to their Pilot's flawed moral conscience'

Now this is the first and only instance I've ever heard of something like this. Looking through Volume 5 of 'Bomber Command Loses of the second world war' by W R Chorley I found the loss of this crew. The aircraft was from 101 squadron which was part of 100 group on special duties - RCM or radio countermeasure operations which is why there is a crew of eight. The special operator Keith Gosling being the eighth crew member using the jamming equipment so this confirms its the right plane.

The record shows Meier as having bailed out and captured, and Sgt L K Williams as having bailed out and evaded capture, so the record fits the account of the story. The record shows the aircraft as having been hit by flak near Lille in the early hours of the 21st July 1944.

I'm curious to know if anyone has heard this story, or if anyone in Canada who knows about the RCAF can find out anymore about it....

[georgeusa]

This is a truly fascinating story that I have never heard. It also justifies the situations that occur in combat that you really never trust anyone except your buddies that you have already fought with, bled with and have watched people die with. All the rest are tolerated and suspect. I am glad the Canadian government never let Meier return based upon the one airman that did escape. It makes you wonder how many other crews were sacrificed for similar reasons because there was no one left alive to tell the real story.

[dave41184]

It's certainly an interesting one - there isn't a great deal more about Pilot Officer Meier anywhere else other than this which I found earlier:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/42/a1981442.shtml

It mentions him , and the postee makes this quote 'Florence had thought that it was Meier the pilot who had survived and she could not understand how the captain of the aircraft could have survived when six of his crew had died. She quoted the naval tradition that a captain should be the last to leave his sinking ship.'

Again this lends weight to the account from Frederick James which I posted. Anyone out there with RCAF archive access may be able to find out more.

[Fernando]

Hi, all,

Do you remember the movie "Map of Human Heart" ?. Good one.

Fernando

[Nick Millman]

Keith Gosling (176529 RAFVR) is buried at Plot 1. Row A. Grave 2. Cambrai (Route De Solesmes) Communal Cemetery

This Lancaster was reportedly shot down by a night fighter returning from operations to Hamburg. The crew were listed as:

P/O D.L.Meier

Sgt I.H.M.Reid

Sgt D.Tanuziello

Sgt L.K.G.Williams

WO2 J.E.McI Nixon

P/O K.Gosling

Sgt E.E.Boyle

Sgt G.T.Douglas

No record for P/O D L Meier as war dead or missing.

Nick

[dave41184]

I wasn't disputing those particular facts Nick - the losses book states that Meier was captured and that the aircraft was lost on the return leg. What I was trying to establish was whether or not his reasons for bailing out were indeed conscience based rather than the aircraft being hit...

[Nick Millman]

And I wasn't disputing anything just attempting to add some more corroboration to the elements of the story so far!

Nick

[dave41184]

Sorry Nick , I misinterpretted your post - good info!. I guess I just wondered what people thought about it too - if true, it's rather disturbing

[Nick Millman]

Thanks. If true the night fighter attack perhaps undermines the original story. What is also a bit curious is that many 101 Sqn operators were German Jews and given alternative identities in case they were captured - which has confused some records. The surname Meier is certainly German in origin but also associated with Jewish families too.

There is a very fine and insightful novel based on 101 Sqn wartime operations called '101 Nights' (Cassell 1957) by Ray Ollis a former 101 Sqn member and DFC holder. IIRC this has a fair bit on the moral dilemma of the German-speaking "special operators" in each crew and an incident where a "dodgy" special operator attempts to abandon an aircraft in flight. Well worth obtaining and still to be found fairly cheaply.

Nick

[Simon]

Just a bit of further info:

The aircraft in question was Lancaster I LL862 SR-K. The online updates for Bill Chorley's BCL 1944 has the mission as ABC duties to Courtrai, not Homburg as in the book:

http://www.rafinfo.org.uk/BCWW2Losses/1944.htm

Regards

Simon

[AndyL]

There were 16 claims for Lancasters filed that night, mainly for combats over Holland and Germany, and there seems to be nothing that ties in geographically, as the nearest combat claim was just under 200km from Courtrai itself.

And just to double check against it being misidentified as a Halifax, of the 5 claimed, nothing ties in either.

Edited August 30, 2013 by AndyL