On the left, Sergeant Ronald Emson with his wife Helen, whom he married on 31 October 1942. On the right, the gravestone of Sgt Ronald Emson at the cemetery in Koksijde (source: Internet)
Eighty years ago, on 19 March 1944, one of the Allied aircraft – a British four-engine heavy bomber, the Avro Lancaster B. Mk III ND 705 AS-F of RAF 166 Squadron – was shot down off the coast of Belgium. On 18 March 1944, the aircraft took off from Kirmington airfield, located 232 km north of London, and headed on a combat mission towards Frankfurt. There were eight people on board (the bomber’s crew formally consisted of seven members), including six Britons and two Australians. After completing its mission – whilst returning to its home airfield – the bomber was shot down off the coast of Belgium, either by Luftwaffe fighters or by fire from Flak anti-aircraft batteries. Six airmen were killed (five were buried in Belgium at the military cemetery in Koksijde, West Flanders, and one in France at the military cemetery in Dunkirk), and two were declared missing (they have their own memorial plaques at the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial in the western suburbs of London – near Windsor).
The Avro Lancaster – introduced into combat service in 1942, the finest British heavy bomber of the Second World War, with a total of 7,377 units produced (source: Internet)
One of the bomber’s crew members was Sergeant Ronald Emson, born in 1921. He joined the RAF’s 166 Squadron on 29 January 1944 and was given service number 1500221. He served as the rear gunner, operating the Browning Mk II machine guns. He was killed on that fateful 19 March 1944 and, together with four of his comrades-in-arms, was buried at the military cemetery in Koksijde, Belgium – Section V, Row E, Grave No. 1 (casualty number 1673).
The hydraulically operated Frazer-Nash FN 20 turret for the rear gunner of a bomber, armed with four 7.7 mm Browning .303 Mk II machine guns (source: Internet)Browning .303 Mk II kal. 7,7 mm (źródło Internet)
The collections of the Lubuskie Military Museum in Drzonów include memorabilia of Ronald Emson, donated several years ago by a private individual:
– Logbook no. 51433 for RAF navigators, bombardiers, and gunners, with the handwritten signature of Emson R.; entries in the logbook from 28 June 1943 to 20 February 1944.
– Booklet “The Gospel of St. John”
– Booklet “The New Testament”
– Black and white photograph measuring 127 mm x 74 mm with the original image of R. Emson’s grave, dated 6 May 1944.
– Period colorized photograph measuring 127 mm x 74 mm. 209 mm x 159 mm, taken in a photographic studio, depicting R. Emson in his RAF sergeant uniform and his wife, Helen.
– German-made harmonica
– English-made wooden ruler with millimeter and inch scales and a protractor
– letter and envelope sent on July 4, 1946, from the Royal Air Force Central Depository to R. Emson’s wife (letter reference number FW. 47286)
Collection of memorabilia belonging to Ronald Emson – inventory number LMW-KI-3005 (1–8)
Memorabilia belonging to Sergeant Ronald Emson are on display to visitors in the museum’s permanent exhibition ‘The Polish Soldier 1914–1945’, in a separate display case entitled ‘The Allies’. Also on display here are other artefacts related to aviation during the Second World War, namely a British RAF pilot’s cap, a fragment of the fuselage of an American Bell P-39Q–25BE “Airacobra” fighter aircraft shot down near Szczecin, and a Browning M2 AC .50 (12.7 mm) from an American Boeing B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ bomber that made an emergency landing near Wolsztyn.
Part of the museum’s permanent exhibition – the ‘Allies’ display case
Text and photographs: Tadeusz Blachura
