Arthur Haydn Davies – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 207 Squadron

Sergeant Arthur Haydn Davies – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 207 Squadron

Early Life and Family Background

Arthur Haydn Davies

Arthur Haydn Davies was born in 1915 in Swansea, the son of Hayden Davies and Katie William. Although he does not appear in the 1921 Census, he grew up in the city during the interwar years, a period marked by economic hardship and social change across South Wales.

Marriage and Early Adult Life

In 1934, Arthur married Annie Irene Woodman in Swansea, beginning their married life together in the years immediately preceding the Second World War.

1939 Register

By the time of the 1939 Register, the couple were living at 24 Carlton Terrace, Swansea. Arthur was recorded as an Electrician’s Mate, while Annie Irene undertook household duties, reflecting the domestic stability the couple had established before wartime service intervened.

Service with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Avro Lancaster I

Arthur enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, where he trained as aircrew and attained the rank of Sergeant. He was posted to No. 207 Squadron, a Lancaster unit operating from RAF Spilsby in Lincolnshire. By 1943, the squadron was heavily engaged in Bomber Command’s strategic offensive against Germany, flying the Avro Lancaster I on deep‑penetration night raids.

The Operation of 18 October 1943

The night of 18 October 1943 formed part of Bomber Command’s sustained autumn offensive against industrial and military targets deep inside Germany. For No. 207 Squadron, operating from RAF Spilsby, the evening began like so many others: crews gathering in the briefing room, the shutters drawn, the map boards lit, and the red string stretched across Europe to mark the route in and out. The operation required a long flight across the North Sea, through heavily defended airspace, and into the heart of the night‑fighter belt.

The Avro Lancaster I carrying Sergeant Arthur Haydn Davies and his crew lifted off into a moonless sky, joining the bomber stream as it formed over England. Once across the coast, the aircraft settled into its long outbound leg, climbing to operational height and maintaining strict radio silence. The German air defence system — the Kammhuber Line — combined radar, searchlight belts, and night‑fighter “boxes” designed to trap and destroy incoming bombers.

As the bomber stream penetrated deeper into German airspace, the Lancaster carrying Arthur and his crew was picked up by radar and then coned by searchlights, a deadly moment for any bomber. Once caught in the brilliant white beams, the aircraft became a fixed, illuminated target, unable to hide in the darkness. Within moments, a night‑fighter had been directed into the cone.

The attacker was Hauptmann Paul Szameitat of 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, flying a Dornier Do 217 N‑1 from Schleswig airfield. Using airborne radar to home in on the trapped Lancaster, he closed from below and behind — the classic night‑fighter attack position — and opened fire with cannon and machine‑gun bursts. The Lancaster stood little chance. Once struck, it fell away from the searchlight cone, trailing fire. Witnesses from other aircraft later reported seeing a bomber descending in flames, though in the confusion of night operations it was impossible to identify which. The aircraft broke up as it fell, and the crash left only one survivor from the seven‑man crew.

No wreckage was recovered, and the exact crash site was never formally identified. The aircraft was simply recorded as lost without trace, a stark phrase that became tragically familiar in the squadron’s Operational Record Book. Within days, telegrams were dispatched to families across Britain, and in Swansea the South Wales Daily Post reported that Arthur Haydn Davies was missing in action.

Arthur Haydn Davies
Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
credit - findagrave 

The Crew of the Lancaster

Sergeant Davies was lost alongside his fellow airmen — Sergeant Alfred Keith Emery, Sergeant George Wilfred Laybourn, Sergeant Ronald Henry Morel, Pilot Officer Bruce Lindsay Negus, and Flying Officer Albert William Stringer. All were declared missing following the loss of their Lancaster and are commemorated together, their names preserved on the Runnymede Memorial as a united crew who never returned.

Commemoration

With no known grave, Sergeant Arthur Haydn Davies is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, which honours RAF personnel who fell during the war and have no known resting place. His sacrifice, shared with his entire crew, stands as part of the enduring legacy of Bomber Command and the extraordinary risks undertaken by those who flew into the darkness with no guarantee of return.