Pilot Officer Maurice David Green (78263) served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War. At the time of death, he served with R.A.F. 248 Squadron. His Last Will and Testament lists his place of residence as Ballinavalley, Neills Hill, Belfast.
Green joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in August 1939. As an observer, he undertook pilot training. He received his call-up on 1st September 1939, completing training at No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at R.A.F. West Freugh, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. He joined R.A.F. 248 Squadron on 30th March 1940 at R.A.F. North Coates, Lincolnshire, England.
A posting to No. 1 OTU at Silloth followed on 31st May 1940 for further training. With that completed, Green rejoined R.A.F. 248 Squadron on 25th June 1940. He flew Blenheim Bombers with R.A.F. 248 Squadron during the Battle of Britain between July and October 1940. The Northern Irish Pilot went missing in action presumed killed on 20th October 1940.
Imperial War Museum Photo MH 42: (Part of the Royal Air Force Gosport Collection). Bristol Blenheim Mark IVF N6239 WR-L of R.A.F. 248 Squadron on the ground at R.A.F. North Coates, Lincolnshire, England. Maurice David Green served in this squadron in 1940. Copyright Royal Air Force Photographer.
Mission to Norway
Green was part of a crew that took of at 0716hrs from Coastal Command base R.A.F. Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands on Bristol Blenheim IVF L9453. The plane coded WR-Z was referred to as “Z for Zebra”. Along with two other Blenheims, the reconnaissance mission was to find a shot-down German crew between Stadtlandet and Trondheim on the Norwegian coast. Intercepted radio messages suggested a floating dingy of German survivors would be picked up by a Luftwaffe floatplane.
While in the air off Ballen, Hemnfjorden Sør-Trøndelag, Norway, Bristol Blenheim L9453 came under attack from a pair of Messerschmitt ME109s from 4/JG77 at 1023hrs. Luftwaffe Unteroffizier Ludwig Fröba claimed the victory. Pilot Officer Sydney Russell “Paddy” Gane of Duncon, Argyllshire, Scotland baled out as the plane went down. Pilot Officer Green and Sergeant Norman James Stocks remained on board as the Blenheim entered the sea. This was one of only 2 losses for R.A.F. 248 Squadron during this period of the war.
We had lost seven of our most experienced men in the space of a day.
Pilot Officer Alfred Fowler (R.N.Z.A.F.) 248 Squadron.
A 16-year-old local boy Erling Karlsen watched as the Luftwaffe pilots strafed the wreckage. Afterward, he rowed out with friends to try salvaging some of the plane. As Gane’s parachute fell, the Messerschmitt gunners shot the British pilot. Norwegian locals would later fund Gane’s body and bury him on the hillside at the nearby Stamnes Farm.
The farmer did not want the burial near his farmyard so locals dug a grave on the hillside. German soldiers helped to carry the body on a door taken from a nearby boathouse. He was reinterred at Stavne Cemetery, Trondheim on 31st August 1946. Pilot Officer Maurice David Green has no known grave. His name is on Panel 8 of the Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England.