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In his book The Berlin Raids, Martin Middlebrook states that Paul Zorner's first victim that night was Avro Lancaster ED713 from 576 Squadron. The crew was made up of: P/O R L Hughes RAFVR Pilot Sgt J E F Paton RAFVR - Flight Engineer Sgt J Woodruff RAFVR - Air Bomber Sgt D A H Morris RAFVR - Navigator Sgt J P Gray RAFVR - Wireless Operator Sgt F E A Rivett RAFVR - Air Gunner Sgt F H Lanxon RAFVR - Air Gunner They had taken off from Elsham Wolds at 00:32 on the 24th December on what was to be their first and only operation. Sergeants Woodruff, Morris and Lanxon all managed to escape by parachute and spent the rest of the war as prisoners. The remaining members of the crew were killed and now rest at Hannover War Cemetery. Sergeant Lanxon landed close to the crashed Lancaster and, in spite of losing blood from his wounds, he searched the wreckage in the hope of finding survivors. He had lost his flying boots which had been ripped off when his parachute opened and was exhausted from the cold and loss of blood so he was forced finally to give himself up to local villagers. Bomber Command dispatched 379 aircraft to Berlin that night and 16 Lancasters failed to return which was not as heavy as usual due to the night fighters encountering difficult weather and also a successful Mosquito diversion to Leipzig which confused the German controller. The raid was not a success due to cloud cover over the target and the fact that more than half the Pathfinders had trouble with their H2S radar sets. Also on that night 103 Squadron lost a Lancaster, JB730, flown by F/S M McMahon RAAF and crew and 576 Squadron lost another Lancaster, ED913, flown by F/O J H Richards RAFVR and crew. Paul Zorner went on to serve with NJG5 and NJG100 his final tally of bombers shot down was 59 which made him one of the leading Luftwaffe night fighter aces. He was awarded the Knights Cross on the 9th June 1944 and Oak Leaves on the 17th September 1944 and finished the war with the rank of Major. He was taken prisoner by the Russians and finally released from captivity in 1950. He now lives happily in retirement in Germany.
Acknowledgment We are most grateful to Paul Zorner for providing information and the extract from his diary relating to this item and also for giving his permission for us to use his photograph. Many thanks also to Rene Romainville for his translation of the correspondence. Other publications referred to were: The Berlin Raids by Martin Middlebrook, The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, RAF Bomber Command Losses 1943 by Bill Chorley and The Other Battle by Peter Hinchliffe. | ||
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