Raymond James Dillon                          Updated: 04 MAR 2021

Airman: a110001.htm Surname: Dillon Init: R J Rank: F/Sgt Service: RCAF Sqdn: 408

P_link: p077.htm Plane: HAM AT224 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Sea SW of Samsø

Crash_d: d150542 Buried_d: b190542 C_link: c110.htm At_Next: Kirke Værløse

Natten 15.-16. maj 1942 kl. 02.00 styrtede HAM AT224 i havet sydvest for Samsø, måske omkring  
her. Flyvehistorisk Tidsskrift skriver: "Hampden mk. 1. AT224 (EQ-). 408 BS, 5 BG, Balderton, Notts.
(Minering: »Pumpkin« i Store Bælt). 2 MIA og 2 KIA. Se Minelægningsområder.

Denne nat var en forholdsvis rolig nat for RAF. Den eneste operation var 50 fly, der foretog minering i
den vestlige del af Østersøen. Operationen var et led i englændernes forsøg på at forhindre de store
tyske krigsskibe »Lutzow« og »Prinz Eugen« i gennemsejling til og fra Norge. To Hampdens og to Wellingtons gik tabt. På hjemturen blev AT224 ramt af flak fra en tysk minestryger, der befandt sig
sydvest for Samsø. Flyet eksploderede i luften og styrtede derefter brændende ned i farvandet Ø-NØ
for Endelave (måske omkring her). Den 16. maj blev liget af piloten, F/Sgt. Raymond James Dillon,
fundet på havet 5 km SV for Samsø af en dansk fisker.  - - " (FT 90-46-4) Se p077MACR.
Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Raymond James Dillon var fra Canada. (Kilde: CWGC)
"They Shall Grow Not Old" fra CATP Museum nævner at han var fra Freeport, Illinois, USA! Se USAAF.
Han er ikke nævnt blandt 379 amerikanere, der døde i tjeneste for RCAF. Se Americans In The RCAF.
Han blev begravet den 19. maj 1942 af den tyske værnemagt uden gejstlig medvirken. 4 flyvere.

In the night 15.-16. May 1942 at 02.00 hours HAM AT224 crashed into the sea south west of
Samsø, maybe about here. See p077MACR.
(Danish) Aviation Historical Review writes: "Hampden I. AT224 (EQ-). 408 BS, 5 BG, Balderton, Notts. (Minelaying: »Pumpkin« in the Store Bælt). 2 MIA and 2 KIA. See Minelaying areas.

This was a rather quiet night for the RAF. The only operation was 50 planes that carried out a
minelaying operation in the western part of the Baltic Sea. The operation was a part of the British
attempt to prevent the big German naval ships "Lutzow" and "Prinz Eugen" from sailing to and from
Norway. 2 Hampdens and 2 Wellingtons were lost. On the return flight AT224 was hit by flak from a
German mine sweeper on a position south west of Samsø. The plane exploded in the air and crashed, burning, into the waters E-NE of Endelave (maybe about here).
The body of F/Sgt (Pilot) Raymond James Dillon was found at sea 5 km SW of Samsø
by a Danish fisherman on 16 May 1942. - -"  (FT 90-46-4)
Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Raymond James Dillon was from Canada. His name is engraved on the Memorial Wall at the BC Museum of Canada.(Source: CWGC)
The Canadian Virtual War Memorial has this. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 29.
See Americans In The RCAF and the map USAAF - American Airmen. "They Shall Grow Not Old" from the CATP Museum mentions that he was from
Freeport, Illinois, USA! He is not mentioned among 379 Americans perished in the RCAF.
He was buried on 19 May 1942 by the German Wehrmacht without ecclesiastical assistance.
See No. 6 Group and the Canadian Squadrons * No. 408 (Goose) Squadron RCAF * 408 "Goose" Squadron Association.
Hampden I AT224 EQ- took off from RAF Balderton on 15 MAY 1942    (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.)  4 airmen.