Born in Ipswich, 1922, the son of Alfred Alexander Laughlin and Blanche Laughlin, of Paper Mill Lane, Bramford, husband of Grace Laughlin, of Bramford.
William married Grace Benstead in Bramford church, May 1942.
Died 01/08/1942
Aged 20
Suffolk Chronicle 22nd May 1942
Details of the crash of Halifax II W1109 LQ-S on the 1st August 1942 near Dusseldorf
Operations Record 405 Squadron RCAF
Pocklington
31st July 1942
111th Operation – DUSSELDORF
The attack was carried out in two waves, the first taking off at 2344 hours 31.7.42, the second at 0019 hours 1.8.42. Nine of the captains taking part in the raid reached and bombed the target in a cloudless sky but with some haze and smoke from flaming city obscuring vis. Seven a/c saw their own bursts and the general impression of the attack was that it was a complete success and “E” P/O Hill suggested: “It was a better attack than Cologne”. Fires that covered whole city area with a pall of reddish black smoke rolling up, were seen for 30 miles on return journey. One captain jettisoned live Kempen area with starboard engine u/s. Two a/c were cancelled and two are missing, nothing has been heard from them to determine their fate.
“T” Sgt. West missing, nothing heard after take-off.
Crew: CANR76960 Sgt. West, D.E., Captain, CAN.J15591 P/O W.R. Bandeen Observer, 629514 Sgt. Gibbon, D. Flight Engineer, CANR62660 F/Sgt. Maddan, L. J. WOP/AG, CANR105220 Sgt. Howard, J. H. C. AG, 610633 Sgt. Waters, J AG, AUS403034 Sgt. Pearce, R. E. AG/Bombardier.
“S” Sgt. Hunter missing, nothing heard after take-off.
Crew:529359, Sgt. Hunter, J Captain, 1269969 Sgt. O’Brien, J. Observer, CANR83646 Sgt Anderson, E. A. Flight Engineer, 1258982 Sgt. Woodman, S, WOP/AG, Sgt. Bond AG, CANR111773 Sgt. Irish, J. W. AG, 932631 Sgt. Laughlin, W. AG.
Weather: Fine with mod. Vis. Until 0900 hours, then foggy improving to mod. With patches of lifted fog dispersing.
The following details of the crash, in which William was killed along with his crewmates, have been provided by Paul Steentjes, who lives near the site where the Halifax bomber, LQ-S, crashed on the 1st August 1942. Paul’s research included interviews with eyewitnesses.
“The weather that night was clear, and the air raid sirens had been going all night as the raid on Düsseldorf progressed wave after wave. LQ-S most probably got hit when making its turn back to the west having dropped its bombs over the city or possibly Neuss. It was claimed by the permanent heavy flak installation on the east of Anrath. This flak group was part of the protective ring stretching around the Ruhr area.
It is only a few miles from the battery to the point of impact so the plane must have been badly hit, not flying too high and judging by the photos was at least partly on fire.
It continued west and crossed over the eastern part of the village of Vorst then somehow turning back east toward Anrath.
A member of the local von Danwitz gentry, which owns all the land adjacent to the crash site, was a 12-year-old girl at the time still remembers it saying that the sirens went on all night and then the flak. The family was hiding in the farm’s cellars when there was an incredibly loud screaming of engines. They feared the plane would crash on the house. Then there was a loud crash.
The next morning debris and bodies were scattered across the fields.
Another witness, who was 14, said the next morning the whole eastern area of Vorst was covered by a thin oil film as if it had been raining.
He also went to have a look and was turned back by another local kid with a rifle who pretended to protect the site until the army arrived.
A bit later the 14-year old’s older brother, who was in the Waffen SS, bullied his way through the army cordon and brought back a propellor blade, a machine gun and a phosphorous stick, all found on the von Danwitz fields. They buried the Browning and the stick which must still be there now under concrete, but I saw the propellor in his basement – clearly a wooden blade of the type used on Merlin engined Halifaxes.”
Pictures of the crashed Halifax LQ-S taken on the 1st August 1942 by a resident.
William’s crewmates were as follows:
Pilot
529359, Sgt James Hunter, RAF
Family details unknown
Observer
1269969, Sgt John Fawell O’Brien, RAFVR, age 20
Son of John and Isabella Harriet O’Brien, of Norton, Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham.
Flight Engineer
R/83686 Sgt Edward Allison Anderson, RCAF, age 25
Son of E W and Florence Anderson of Acton Ontario
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
1258982, Sgt Stanley Woodman, RAFVR, age 22
Son of Percy and Jane Woodman, of New Southgate, Middlesex.
Air Gunners
651275, Sgt Francis Charles Bond, RAF, age 22
Son of Albert Edwin Bond, and of Cassandra Bond, of Mitcham, Surrey.
Son of George Richard and Nellie Irish.
All the men are buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany
Hi, Sgt.Laughlins widow, Grace was my grandma. Years after the end of WWll Grace gran remarried, a number of years later after having two children (one of them my mum) the family moved to West Yorkshire where her second husband was from.
Gran died in 2018 age 93 after suffering a stroke.
As far as I’m aware grans two brothers Jack and Charlie Benstead both served in the conflict.
My brother recently told me about this website and the records are fascinating.
Thank you, Tim Birch, Adelaide, South Australia