Raymond William Elliott

Raymond Elliott was the Flight Engineer of Lancaster II LL628 which took off on January 20th 1944 from Linton on Ouse, one of eighteen 426 Sqdn aircraft forming part of a 769 aircraft attack on Berlin. 495 Lancasters took part along with 264 Halifaxes and 10 Mosquitoes. 4.6% of the force was lost. Elliott was killed along with six crewmates – Leslie Neil McCaig (Pilot), Robert James (Navigator), Thomas James Preece (Wireless Operator), Robert Duncan Polson (Air Bomber) and two Air Gunners Ernest Stewart Hawkes and Gerald Ralph. All are buried in the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery. This raid killed 243 civilians and made around 10,000 homeless. Five industrial buildings were destroyed and 41 damaged. Railways were damaged and the Lichtenberg power station put out of action. At least 4 small firms making military electronic equipment and flak fire control systems were destroyed. However, according to Martin Middlebrook, German records also show that ‘a considerable quantity’ of bombs fell outside of Berlin with 45 communities reporting damage with 13 people being killed (The Berlin Raids p.228).

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