Date of birth:

July 1st, 1920 (Tullibody, Scotland, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

July 20th, 1942 (Wadden Sea, Netherlands)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Graves Municipal Cemetery Franeker

Service number:

1057117

Nationality:

British

Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) John Robertson Rennie, 1057117, RAF 158 Sqdn., died at 20-07-1942, age 22.

On July 19, 1942, six Halifax II bombers took off from RAF East Moor base near York, England, on a night mission. Their target: the U-boat docks in Bremen-Vegasack, northern Germany, a strategically important target.

At 11:43 p.m., the Halifax II bomber serial number W1179 took off from the base. On board was a crew of seven, including John Robertson Rennie (1057177). His job during this flight was that of "Mid Upper Gunner", positioned in the gun turret halfway up the aircraft. With his machine guns he was able to protect the bomber against possible attacks by enemy fighter planes during the mission.

In the darkness of July 20, around 02:40, the bomber was over the Wadden Sea when it was shot down by the night fighter pilot Major Alfred Helm, a member of Unit II./NJG 2, who took off from Leeuwarden airfield in a BF 110 R4. (claim)

The Halifax bomber, with John and his crew on board, crashed into the Wadden Sea south of Terschelling. None of the crew members survived this crash.

Four days after the tragic incident, on July 24, John's body was recovered from the sea near the municipality of Barradeel. (now part of the municipality of Waadhoeke) He was subsequently buried, as the only member of his crew, in the cemetery in Franeker.

Of the six Halifax II bombers that took off on this mission on 19 July, only four returned safely to the RAF base at East Moor on 20 July

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