~~~~~~~~~~~~~Cover Portrait Description~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Studio portrait of 426895 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Neil Francis Dallaway McGladrigan, 57 Squadron RAAF, who was shot down over Germany on the night of 6-7 December 1944. Flt Sgt McGladrigan and another member of his Lancaster crew who survived the crash, Sergeant Scott RAF, were taken prisoner by police from the nearby town of Gladenbach. Sgt Scott was shot on 8 December 1944, and Flt Sgt McGladrigan was shot several days later on 10 December, after being tortured and interrogated by his captors. Both men were subsequently buried in shallow graves in the woods. A third survivor who landed further from the crash site became a POW, and survived the war. The atrocity was not discovered until 1946, and a war crimes trial was held in 1947. One perpetrator was sentenced to death, one was sentenced to ten years, and another to two years; they were both released after only five years of imprisonment.
~~~~~Military Service, Australian Military Forces, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF.~~~~~
Service No:--- 426895
Born:--- Brisbane Queensland, 8th December 1922.
Enlisted in the RAAF:--- 15th August 1942 at Brisbane, Queensland.
Last Unit:--- No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby, England
Home Town:--- Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling:--- Milora State, Mudgee College, Toowoomba Grammar & Queensland University
Civilian Employment:--- Student Teacher
Last Rank:--- Flight Lieutenant
Fate:--- Executed on 10th December 1944, by German Forces after being made Prisoner of War when No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD264 was shot down by a German night fighter on 6th December 1944, over Germany, aged 22 Years
Final Burial:--- Hanover War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany
Parents:--- William Patrick McGladrigan and Doris Vida May Quick married 14th August 1920, in Brisbane, Queensland.
Roll of Honour:--- Brisbane, Queensland.
Remembered:--- Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Details of Mission and Death:---At 1639 hours on the night of 6th December 1944 Lancaster PD264 took off from East Kirkby detailed to bomb Giessen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated "the aircraft was returning from a raid in Germany when it was shot down by a night fighter at approximately 2100 hours at Erdhausen, 12 miles north west of Giessen." Five of the crew members were killed in the crash, and two became prisoners of war, at the town of Gladenbach, Germany where they were subsequently murdered. One crewman (Sergeant Forward RAF 1666426) landed further from the crash site to become a POW and he survived the war.
~~~~~~~The crew members of PD264 were:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flight Sergeant Frank Alexander Black (429371) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant J Forward (1666426) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Peter Douglas Mann (1601233) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Neil Francis Dallaway McGladrigan (426895) (Air Bomber) PoW, Fatally injured, Died: 10 December 1944
Sergeant Robert Shaw McKillop (1826753) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer William Riddell (185681) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Scott (644319) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Toowoomba Grammar School WW2 Honour Board
Those killed were: Flight Sergeant Frank Alexander Black 429371 RAAF & Flying Officer William Riddell RAF 185681 / Sergeant Robert Shaw McKillop RAF 1826753 / Flight Sergeant Peter Douglas Mann RAF 1601233
Sergeant John Scott RAF 644319 (8 December 1944) and Flight Sergeant Neil Francis Dallaway McGladrigan 426895 RAAF (10 December 1944) were murdered by German policemen after being tortured and interrogated. Both men were subsequently buried in shallow graves in the woods. The atrocity was not discovered until 1946, and a war crimes trial was held in 1947
Details of this incident are covered in the book "Footprints on the Sands of Time" by Oliver Clutton-Brock
~~~~~~Bio details by Contributor: MBeaven (48239022)~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neil McGladrigan, elder son of William & Doris McGladrigan, enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force on 15 August 1942. He was the Air Bomber on Lancaster PD264 which took off from Royal Air Force Station East Kirkby, Lincolnshire, England on 6th December 1944 for a raid on Giessen. The Lancaster was shot down over Erdhausen, Germany, three of the crew, including Flt/Sgt. McGladrigan, survived the crash and were taken prisoners. Flt/Sgt. McGladrigan was shot a few days later after being interrogated and tortured by his captors. He was 22 years of age. He was subsequently buried in a shallow grave in the woods. In 1945 his remains were exhumed and re-interred in Gladenbach Cemetery. In 1947 his remains were removed from the local cemetery and re-interred in Hanover War Cemetery.
Flt/Sgt McGladrigan's name is recorded on the St. Joseph's Nudgee College Roll of Honour.
The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Queensland – Thursday, 6 December 1945.
"ROLL OF HONOUR
McGLADRIGAN – In loving memory of our elder Son & Brother, F./S. Neil Francis McGladrigan, reported missing & now presumed dead following bombing operations on Dec. 6th, 1944 over Giessen, Germany.
A wonderful Son & Brother.
Too dearly loved to ever be forgotten.
Inserted by his fond Parents, Mr. & Mrs. W. P. McGladrigan, State School, Kallangur & Brother, W/O. McGladrigan, Rob., R.A.A.F. returned from United Kingdom."
The atrocity inflicted on Fl/Sgt McGladrigan and the other POW's was not discovered until 1946 and a war crimes trial was held in 1947. One perpetrator was sentenced to death, one was sentenced to ten years and another to two years.
Flight Sergeant, 57 Squadron, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force - Service No. 426895
Contributor: MBeaven (48239022)