F/Sgt. Peter Ager (8 missions)

Peter was a member of crew 92, on the June 16th 1944 the aircraft piloted by F/Sgt. F.J. Haldenby would participate on a raid to Sterkrade, Germany. On route to the target a Luftwaffe night-fighter attacked their Halifax three times. The following was published on the BBC U.K. web site.

This is the story of my Uncle, Flight Sergeant Peter Ager, and the young Canadians he flew with for just a few weeks in the early summer of 1944.

Peter was born on 3rd October 1924 in Ongar, Essex and was killed whilst on active service over Europe on 17th June 1944. He was only 19 and is buried at Zundert Churchyard in the Netherlands. He was one of the 55,573 men of Bomber Command who lost their lives in World War II.

This was the crew’s 8th operation and sadly, Pilot Officer Adrian (Bill) Good and Pilot Officer Abi Boehmer also died. However, four of the Halifax Bomber crew escaped with their lives. They were Sergeant Fred Haldenby, Flight Sergeant Ed Downing, Sergeant Jack Dougherty and Sergeant Tom Inverarity. 
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Peter Dennis Victor Ager was the eldest son of Horace and Winifred. Horace was a Butcher and had served in the York and Lancs Regiment during the First World War, surviving a gas attack at Paschendale.
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Peter had always wanted to join the RAF and after working as a lorry driver, aged 18 he volunteered, joining up on 14th March 1943, initially as ground crew. Just over a year later, after completing technical training at RAF St Athan, he was promoted to Flight Sergeant and on 12th April 1944 was posted as a Flight Engineer to 1664 Heavy Conversion Unit at Dishforth, Yorkshire. He joined the Canadians here, the crew comprising the Pilot, Fred Haldenby, (20) from Holyrood, Ontario, the Rear Gunner, Abi Edward Charles Boehmer, (21) from Ottawa, the Wireless Operator, William Adrian Good, (21) from Mountain Grove, Ontario, the Navigator, Ed J. Downing (24) from Peterborough, Ontario and the Bomb Aimer, Jack Hanam Dougherty, (23) from Chatham, Ontario.

Peter was the youngest of the seven and was to spend just 10 weeks with them. Jack Dougherty recalled Peter as “a very alert and keen young airman who went out of his way to be kind and pleasant to the Canadians who formed the rest of his crew. He was 4 years younger than me and 6 years younger than Ed”. Jack also described Fred Haldenby as an extremely good pilot, a “natural”. As Flight Engineer, Peter was responsible to the Pilot for checking the fuel load, monitoring engine performance and reporting to the ground crew afterwards.

The crew were together at Dishforth for 4 weeks and were kept busy, undertaking 16 training flights in the older Mark V Halifax’s. These involved “Fighter Affiliation” and High Level Bombing. They completed their training on 9th May 1944 and were posted to 434 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force at Croft, Yorkshire, the base shared with 431 Squadron. 434, known as the Bluenose, were taking delivery of new Mark III Halifax Heavy Bombers.

The crew spent two weeks familiarising themselves with these aircraft and according to Jack’s log book, completed 7 training flights and were in the air for about 20 hours in all before being declared ready for operations.
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On the evening of May 27th, two and a half weeks after joining 434, the Crew were sent on their first mission in Halifax WL-Z. With 42 other Halifax's from the Canadian 6 Group they were ordered to attack a V1 site at Le Clipon, in the Pas de Calais. Their Halifax was over the target at between 6,000 and 7,500 feet with Mosquitoes marking the target with green indicators at which the bombers were to aim. Unfortunately however, the markers fell in a line a mile long and the bombing was scattered. Peter’s crew landed at 00.45 and all the attacking force returned home safely.
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A few days later and in the run up to D-Day, the Crew were given a weeks leave. The Canadians went down to London whilst Peter headed home to see his family, and Cath Penrucker, to whom he had become engaged just a few months before. 
Cath was a munitions worker in Chelmsford and described Peter as “very easy going”, much like his father. Cath remembers that Peter often used to pick her up from work in his lorry, on one occasion trying to teach her to drive it. The young couple used to go dancing and often went to the pictures although once he had joined up, his leave rarely lasted for more than a weekend.

During his time in the RAF, Peter and Cath wrote to each other virtually every day but sadly none of these letters survives. Cath recalls that he told her that the crew had been out night after night and also that he’d ensure that the bombs they dropped would be for her in retaliation for being bombed out of the East End.

This was to be the last time he saw them and Peter’s brother Tony, remembers nearly missing saying goodbye that day, cycling down the road to Ongar Station to catch Peter before he left.
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Jack Dougherty recalled…..“early on the morning of June 6th, we received a signal to report back to Croft. We were briefed that afternoon to mount a raid on Conde sur Noireau bridge in order to delay the advance of the SS Panzer Lehr Armoured Division towards the beachhead area of Normandy. I recall that we rested on the grass for ages that evening until it was time (dark enough), to arrive over Normandy at the optimum time. We took off at 22.55 in our aircraft ‘W’ for a flight over the English Channel to Normandy. That night I got a front row seat of hundreds of naval vessels with their navigation lights on, streaming back to England after the successful landing of thousands of troops and their supplies on the beaches of Normandy. It is a sight which I will never forget” 
The crew landed safely at 05.20, one of 1,100 aircraft of Bomber Command supporting the Normandy landings. Their attack was reported as successful with crews over the targets at between 2,000 and 4,000 feet releasing 900 tons of high explosives which left the target plastered with craters. 
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After a few hours sleep, the crew undertook their third mission, again using Halifax WL-W to attack the rail yards at Versailles. The target was accurately bombed and they returned safely. Unfortunately however, 6 of the Allied aircraft failed to return and 26 men were killed.
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After one days rest, the crew were in action again when on the evening of June 9th they joined a one hundred bomber force from 6 Group to attack the Luftwaffe airfield at Le Mans. Jack Dougherty recalled that there was 10/10 Cloud Cover over the target but there were no major civilian centres nearby and were given permission to use their “G” ground radar to locate the target and release 400 tons of bombs through the cloud. During the mission, the Allied Bombers engaged two enemy aircraft and three others were sighted. 
The daylight reconnaissance showed a great concentration of craters in the central portion of the landing ground, with scattered damage to the aircraft dispersal areas on the perimeter and 11 aircraft on the ground damaged or destroyed.
Peter and the crew landed safely at 06.15 having been airborne for 9 hours.
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They had their 5th operation on June 12th when with 88 other Halifax's they attacked the rail yards at Arras. Mosquito’s marked the target and the Bombers released 300 tons of high explosives. Daylight reconnaissance showed that the turntable near the locomotive sheds had been destroyed by a direct hit and 20 craters knocked out all lines leading to Douai, Lille, Amiens, Doullen and Etaples.

Although the attack was successful, this was a bad night for 434 with three aircraft destroyed by the enemy and 14 fellow members of Peter’s squadron killed, including his Commanding Officer, 26 year old, Wing Commander Chris Bartlett, DFC and Bar.
Others also suffered that night with a total of 29 men killed and 6 of the 88 aircraft destroyed. Jack described this as the worse operation that he had been on and he saw 6 aircraft being shot down within the space of 10 minutes.
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Having landed at 5am in the morning, the crew grabbed some sleep before being sent off at 8pm on a 4 hour cross country exercise.
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As the liberation of France continued, there was no let up in the pace of activity for the crews of 434 and the following evening, June 14th, they were sent to attack the rail yards at Cambrai. Whilst waiting to take off, there was an unfortunate accident when a member of the ground crew was blown by the slipstream of one Halifax into the propellers of another. Although badly hurt, the man was treated successfully by the Mobile Surgical Unit from Northallerton.

The crews eventually dropped 700 tons of high explosives but reported haze and cloud over the target and bombing was scattered. All 434 crews landed safely but 2 planes from 6 Group were destroyed and all 7 crew from one of these aircraft were killed.
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After a few hours sleep, the crew were ordered to undertake what was to be their penultimate mission with an attack of the docks and harbour at Boulogne. The Germans were mustering a collection of ships and there was concern that their fast Motor Torpedo Boats could cause havoc amongst the allied ships reinforcing the Normandy Beachhead. Crews used 250lb bombs fused to explode at the bottom of the harbour to cause huge waves to destroy vessels and damage the doors of the submarine pens.
A total of 130 Halifax's and 32 Lancaster's were over the target at between 14,000 and 16,300 feet, releasing 700 tons of high explosives. The targets were reported as well marked by the Mosquito’s and large fires and numerous explosions were seen. One explosion was particularly large and although cloud made assessment difficult, the crews judged the attacks successful.
Jack described this as their easiest mission because it was still daylight for much of the mission, they were over occupied territory for a short time and had the advantage of a Spitfire escort. 
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The next evening, Friday 16th June 1944, they set off on what was to be their final mission. When the destination was announced, all crews were dismayed that their target was the Sterkrade-Holten synthetic oil plant on the north-western outskirts of Essen. Located within the heavily defended Ruhr Valley, this guaranteed a very difficult operation and one from which, almost inevitably, some would not return. 
The Haldenby crew in their Halifax WL-W took off from Croft at 22.54 and headed for Germany. However, they were fated not to make it and soon after crossing the English Channel and whilst over Holland, they were attacked by a Ju 88 night fighter armed with 20mm cannon. The German attacked the rear gun turret, killing Abi Boehmer, before making a second strike aimed at killing the pilot. The cannon shells just missed Fred, but Peter who was standing next to the Pilot attempting to douse an engine fire was killed. The German then came in for a third attack and aimed once again at the Pilot but this time killed Bill Good, the Wireless Operator.
At this point, the aircraft went into a terminal spin and the four remaining crew made their escape, in Jack’s case, only just before the aircraft hit the ground.

Early the next morning, a Dutch military policeman was sent to the scene and discovered the wreckage and the three young men’s bodies. Peter, Abi and Bill were buried by the Germans at Zundert Protestant Church on 22nd June. Peter still lies there alongside 12 other allied airmen lost around the same time. Shortly after the War, the remains of Bill and Abi were removed to the nearby Bergen Op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery.
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Back in Yorkshire, the terrible losses suffered that night soon became clear. Of the 99 Canadian aircraft sent, 12 were lost of which 8 came from 431 and 434 Squadrons. So on this one night Croft lost roughly a quarter of those sent. 56 airmen had failed to return of whom 34 had been killed - what a sad morning it must have been.
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Peter was just 19 when he died and left behind his parents, his younger brother, Tony, and his Fiancée, Cath. Abi was only 21 when he died, and Bill Good, also 21, left behind his young widow Edna and their baby daughter Dawn. 
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Fortunately, Fred Haldenby, Jack Dougherty, Ed Downing and Tom Inverarity managed to escape alive but only Tom evaded the Germans. He spent the rest of the war living on a Dutch farm and was eventually liberated by the advancing British.

Fred, Jack and Ed were to spend the rest of the war as POWs, thankfully surviving the harrowing ordeal of the infamous Long March, a terrible forced march in the bitter winter of 1944/45 as the Germans moved prisoners westwards and away from the rapidly advancing Russians. 
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After liberation, Jack, Fred and Ed were sent to Bournemouth to recover and during their stay they visited Peter’s Mother and Father in Essex. The two young Canadians were politely received but later described the meeting as a little awkward, perhaps the contrast between the young Canadians and their informality and Peter’s parents English reserve or it could simply have been the painful memories of the loss of their oldest son being revived. On parting, the Agers gave Jack and Fred a photograph of Peter and Jack in turn gave the Agers a photo of the crew.
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After the War, memorials were dedicated to the men of 6 Group Bomber Command and Peter’s name is inscribed on the War Memorial in Ongar, located inside the parish church of St Martins. Memorials to all those who died whilst serving with 434 and the other Canadian Squadrons have since been erected at Croft and in Canada.
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The four survivors of the Ju88 attack were eventually repatriated to Canada. Jack and Ed became lifelong best friends and married sisters. Sadly, Ed died in 2003.

It was a huge privilege for me to travel to Canada in May 2004 and stay for a few days with Jack and Marg. Jack also kept in contact with Dawn (Bill Good’s daughter) and we shared a memorable lunch with her and her husband at Jack and Marg’s.

Nick Ager
Ketton
December 2005