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RUHR EXPRESS CREW VETERANS OF AERIAL WAR
Skilled Men Flew First Canadian-Built Lancaster
With the R.C.A.F. Somewhere in England, 9 Dec. 1943 —(CP)—A wealth of flying experience, born of extensive training in Canada and brought to maturity in battle, was behind the crew entrusted with the first operational flight to Berlin of the "Ruhr Express," first Canadian-built Lancaster bomber.
The "Express" roared non-stop to the shattered and smoking Nazi capital on the night of November 26, foreshadowing the possible advent of the time when a whole fleet of Canadian-built heavy bombers might be in the air over Germany.
This is the crew:
Pilot: P/O Harold Arthur Floren, 21, of Weyburn, Sask., who had 17 operational trips in his log book before this Berlin attack. He joined the R.C.A.F. direct from school.
Bombardier: F/O William Astbury, 20, of Portage la Prairie, 16 trips. He used to work in his father’s machine shop.
Navigator: F/L William Thatcher, 28, of Hamilton, Ont., 19 trips. Thatcher was an inspector for the British Supply Board before going to war.
Wireless operator: F/O Jerry Souaillard, 21, of Montreal, 28 trips. He, too, left school for the air force.
Flight engineer: Sgt. Elwood Houlding, 21, of Saskatoon, seven, trips. He joined the R.C.A.F. from school as a fitter and remustered to aircrew after crossing to Britain.
Rear-gunner: F/Sgt. Nick Leone, 25, of Toronto, 17 trips. He, like Houlding, became air crew after joining the air force for ground work.
Mid-upper gunner: F/Sgt. Lloyd Annis, 20, of Barrie, Ont., 10 trips. He left the farm for the air.
Floren, Astbury and Leone have always been part of the same crew and made 10 sorties with an R.C.A.F. Wellington bomber squadron before joining the famed "Pathfinders," from whom the entire crew for the "Express" was picked.
"It’s not always the tough targets of the Ruhr that provide the excitement," said Floren. "Nor is it always the bombing raids. What we thought would be a quiet trip to Brest harbour, mine-laying, gave us plenty to think about."
They were coned by eight searchlights when only 1,000 feet in the air and the flak guns tore open the sky around them. Floren got the ship home and landed without mishap despite the bursting of one tire.
They described the Berlin trip in the "Express" as a "successful sortie," the language of brave men inured to the danger in the night skies over Germany.
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Nuncie "Nick" Leone (R/53024)
Son of Adam and Madeline Leone, of Toronto, Ontario.
Enlisted as ground crew then remustered to aircrew.
The 1st operational tail gunner of the Ruhr Express (KB700),
the
1st Canadian Built Lancaster to enter service in WW2.
It was initially assigned to 405 Squadron where Nick
Flew two sorties with KB700 but then it was sent to 419 Sq.
Unfortunately, KB700 was lost after its 49th Sortie,
it was to have been flown back to Canada, after its 50th
sortie, for public display.
Leone & his crew were killed, 17 January 1944 in
Lancaster JA974 while on a Mission to Brunswick.
He is buried at the Hanover War Cemetery, grave 5 C 10. |
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Air Force Casualties
Ottawa, 27 February 1944 — The Department of National Defense for Air has issued official casualty list number 816 as follows:
OVERSEAS
Missing After Air Operations
ANNIS, Lloyd Dyer, W/O. H. R. Annis (father), Barrie, Ont.
ASTBURY, John William, F/O. Portage la Prairie, Man.
FLOREN, Harold Arthur, P/O. Weyburn, Sask.
HOULDING, Elwood Campbell, Sgt. Saskatoon.
LEONE, Nuncie, W/O. Adam Leone (father), 290 Manning Ave., Toronto.
SOUAILLARD, Joseph Jules Henry Olivier, F/L. Montreal.
THATCHER, William, F/L. Steve Tkachuk (father), Hamilton.
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Air Force Casualties
Ottawa, Sept. 28.—The Department of National Defense for Air today issued casualty list No. 1,000 of the Royal Canadian Air Force, showing next of kin of those named from Ontario as follows:
OVERSEAS
Previously Missing—Now Officially Presumed Dead
ANNIS, Lloyd Dyer, W/O. H.R. Annis (father), Barrie, Ont.
LEONE, Nuncie, W/O. Adam Leone (father), 290 Manning Ave., Toronto.
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No Known Victories
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