Bob Philips, an engine mechanic for F-Freddy, Squadron Leader Mackenzie's crashed plane, has a most vivid memory of the aftermath of the 97 Squadron crashes for he and some of his fellow ground crew were detailed to go to Cambridge City Cemetery and dig a grave 36 feet long, six foot deep and six foot wide.
"There was no doubt about it, it was not an easy job. We were there all day and sometimes we looked around us, or walked around and saw the graves. We saw that most of them were in their twenties, and it really brought the war home to us. There were perhaps 20 of us there digging, we were brought our meals and there was a great big tea urn ...
It was not just our station who were digging - we had sent some of our blokes, other stations like Wyton had sent their blokes - it seemed that everybody in the Air Force was at the cemetery that day."
The coffins of those who died in the crashes of 16th/17th December would later be placed there, shoulder to shoulder, in a line, amongst them Mackenzie himself, next to two members of our crew - Sandy Grant and Tony Lawrence.
People always remembered the huge number of coffins which left Bourn for burial. Bob Plane of Hardwick remembered it being said that they took the coffins along the road to Cambridge on low-loading lorries, Queen Marys, because so many had died. Other squadrons were also sending their dead.
Yet despite the extraordinary nature of this mass burial at Cambridge, it was not mentioned in the local newspapers, no doubt because the story would be so bad for morale.
"There was no doubt about it, it was not an easy job. We were there all day and sometimes we looked around us, or walked around and saw the graves. We saw that most of them were in their twenties, and it really brought the war home to us. There were perhaps 20 of us there digging, we were brought our meals and there was a great big tea urn ...
It was not just our station who were digging - we had sent some of our blokes, other stations like Wyton had sent their blokes - it seemed that everybody in the Air Force was at the cemetery that day."
The coffins of those who died in the crashes of 16th/17th December would later be placed there, shoulder to shoulder, in a line, amongst them Mackenzie himself, next to two members of our crew - Sandy Grant and Tony Lawrence.
People always remembered the huge number of coffins which left Bourn for burial. Bob Plane of Hardwick remembered it being said that they took the coffins along the road to Cambridge on low-loading lorries, Queen Marys, because so many had died. Other squadrons were also sending their dead.
Yet despite the extraordinary nature of this mass burial at Cambridge, it was not mentioned in the local newspapers, no doubt because the story would be so bad for morale.
The RAF burial ground at Cambridge City Cemetery in modern times
Preparation for the Funerals
December 16/17 1943 & The Battle of Berlin
