Nathaniel Robert Gyles                                                                          Updated: 17 MAY 2021

Airman: e777211.htm Surname: Gyles Init: N R Rank: F/Sgt Service: RAAF Sqdn: 61

P_link: p169.htm Plane: LAN W4898 Operation: Minelaying Crash_site: Kattegat, S

Crash_d: d280443 Buried_d: e777 C_link: e777.htm At_Next: NO KNOWN

"Natten mellem den 28. og 29. april 1943 foretog RAF krigens hidtil største minering. 226 fly kastede 593 miner i danske farvande og i Østersøen. Da det var
overskyet i flere mineringsområder, måtte bombemaskinerne flyve ekstra lavt for at få landkending, før minerne blev kastet på de rigtige positioner. Dermed blev flyene
lette mål for flak i området. Tyske natjagere var atter aktive, men på grund af den lave flyvehøjde blev kun få natjagerangreb rapporteret. RAF mistede 7 Lancasters,
8 Stirlings, 6 Wellingtons og 2 Halifaxes denne nat." (FT 90-50-13) Af dem gik 11 fly tabt over dansk område. (Kilde: AOD)

Se
Minelægningsområder og Lancaster fotos.

Et af disse, LAN W4898 må være nedstyrtet i Kattegat, muligvis ved Hesselø, som er her. Alle ombord omkom. (Kilde: FAF)

Pilot Officer Nathaniel Robert Gyles, 25 år, var søn af Harry John Willmott Gyles og Eva Gyles, Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia.
Hans navn er på Panel 191 på the Runnymede Memorial blandt mere end 20.000 navne på flyvere, der ikke har en kendt grav. (Kilde: CWGC)

4 flyvere fra LAN W4898 har ingen kendt grav. 1 begravet i Frederikshavn, 1 på Bispebjerg Kirkegård i København og 1 i Sverige. 7 flyvere.

"On the night between 28 April and 29 April 1943 the RAF carried out the biggest minelaying operation so far in the war. 226 planes dropped 593 mines into
Danish waters and into The Baltic Sea. As the sky was overcast at several mining areas the bombers had to fly at an extra low altitude to come in sight of land,
before the mines were dropped at the right positions. That made the planes easy targets for flak in the area. German night fighters were active again, but due to the
low flying altitude only a few attacks by night fighters were reported. The RAF lost 7 Lancasters, 8 Stirlings, 6 Wellingtons and 2 Halifaxes this night."
(FT 90-50-13)
11 of the bombers were lost over Danish territory. (Source: AOD)

One of these, LAN W4898 must have crashed into the Kattegat, possibly at Hesselø, which is here. All on board perished. (Source: FAF)

Pilot Officer Nathaniel Robert Gyles, 25, was the son of Harry John Willmott Gyles and Eva Gyles, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 191, among more than 20,000 airmen who have no known grave. (Source: CWGC)
Virtual War Memorial Australia has this. He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel 43.

4 airmen from
LAN W4898 have no known grave. 1 is buried in Frederikshavn, 1 in Copenhagen and 1 in Sweden. 7 flyvere.
See No. 61 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * No. 50 & 61 Squadrons Association * Minelaying areas * Lancaster photos
Lancaster I W4898 QR- took off from RAF Syerston on 28 APR 1943. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this.)  7 flyvere.