Cedric Charles Fox

RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY 6. A. 10.

Fox was the navigator aboard Halifax III LV918 which took off 2255 24 May 1944 from Lissett, East Yorkshire. Cause of loss not established (rafcommands.com).
There were four fatalities: Fox + Robert Edward Hardwick, Ralph Reavill & Walter James Rogers. Three crewmen survived and became POWs: Joseph Edward Hounam, Frank Albert Spriggs & Donald Alexander Stewart.

LV 918 was one of 20 158 Sqdn Halifaxes which took part in a 442 aircraft attack on the East and West Marshalling Yards at Aachen. 264 Lancasters, 162 Halifaxes and 16 Mosquitoes of all groups except 5 Group took part. 5 planes from 158 Sqdn, including LV 918, failed to return. In all, 18 Halifaxes and 7 Lancasters (5.7% of the attacking force) were lost.

Taking off at 2255 on May 24th 1944, it was listed 'Missing' by the squadron ORB (TNA Air 27/1049/10) 'Nothing has been heard of this aircraft since it left base.'

Many bombs fell within Aachen itself. 207 people were killed and 121 seriously injured. 14,800 were bombed out. Eilendorf village near the railway yards had 52 people killed.

The Monheim war industries factory and the town's gasworks were among many buildings destroyed. Reports from Aachen asserted that many high explosives were dropped and a fewer than usual number of incendiaries. Only 6 large fires resulted. (Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, An Operational Reference Book, 1939-1945 p.515.