McCauley | Denis Alphonsus
Biography
Denis Alphonsus McCauley (service number 1394837) was killed on 21 February 1945 when his RAF aircraft crashed near Deurne. He was 22 years old and a Flight Sergeant with the Royal Airforce Volunteer Reserve, 50 Squadron. He was initially buried at Woensel Cemetery ‘the Old Tower’ in Eindhoven and reburied in Grave II.B.1. at CWGC Cemetery in Overloon on 10 May 1947. His grave bears the inscription ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on him, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for him, R.I.P.’
Military career
It is not known exactly when Denis enlisted in the Royal Air Force but, given his age, it must have been at the beginning of the war.
He was posted to No 50 Squadron at RAF Skellingthorpe on Lincolnshire, along with the rest of the crew he flew with on the fatal night.
The crew was as follows:
Pilot | |
Flight Engineer | Sergeant Denys William Lewis 1836806 RAFVR |
Navigator | |
Air Bomber | |
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner | |
Air Gunner (Middle) | |
Air Gunner (Rear) |
The crew flew 15 missions before 21 February, 1945.
On that night they took off from RAF Skellingthorpe at 17:02 in Avro Lancaster I (VN-X) with serial number LL741. This was named ‘Expectant’ and was a Mark 1 delivered to 50 Squadron in 1943. By 1945 it had completed 92 Operations. They flew with around 165 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitoes to attempt to attempt to break the Mittelland Canal at Gravenhorst. The mission was successful with reports that the target had been rendered totally unserviceable. However, 13 Lancasters were lost with 53 crew losing their lives, 19 taken as prisoners of war and 11 evading capture.
LL741 succeeded in dropping fourteen 1,000 lb. bombs at 20:37 over enemy territory from an altitude of about 10,000 ft. During the bombing it was hit, presumably by flak. However, according to witnesses, all four engines were still working when the Lancaster began its return journey.
At about 09:15, when approaching Deurne at 7,000 ft. the aircraft was attacked by a German night fighter, thought to be Hauptmann Heinz Rokker, causing a fire on both sides of the cockpit. Freddie’s nephew believes that the Night Fighter Aces claiming to have shot down ‘Expectant’ were using the ‘Upward Firing Cannon’ (Schrage Musik) – hence the fires on both sides of the cockpit.
The pilot ordered the crew to leave the aircraft. Sgt. Lewis made his way to the front escape hatch when he saw Flt. Sgt. McCauley preparing to jump as well. Both crew members exited the ‘plane but it appeared that Denis’s parachute was on fire, causing him to fall to his death. The rest of the crew, did not manage to escape from the ‘plane and were killed when it crashed. Sgt. Lewis injured his right leg on landing so spent the night wrapped in his parachute trying to sleep. He was found by two Dutch soldiers as he had landed in the already liberated part of the Netherlands. He returned to England and re-joined operations in April 1945.
In the morning of 22 February 1945, rescue and recovery units, composed of members of ground crew (volunteers) were sent out to search for three Lancaster bombers which had crashed in the area the previous night. They found the remains of LL741 in Helenaveen. Eight bodies from the three wrecks which were found were buried the next day with full military honours at the cemetery “de Oude Toren” in Woensel, including Fred Seddon Langton and Denis Alphonsus McCauley.
The four Canadian men were buried in the Canadian War Cemetery Groesbeek.
In 1947 the bodies of Denis Alphonsus McCauley and Fred Seddon Langton were re-interred at Overloon War Cemetery.
Family background
Denis was the son of Francis Leo McCauley (1894-1968) and Bridget Margareth McCauley (born Keys) (1899-1989) of Plumstead, London.
The family was originally Irish and lived in Londonderry, Ireland, until 1937. They then moved to Woolwich London in England.
The family consisted of 16 children, all children of the same parents. Fourteen children were born in Ireland, including Denis. The youngest 2 were born in England.
Denis’s siblings were:
William Joseph McCauley 1918-1990, Mary Theresa ‘Maureen’ Bradshaw McCauley 1920-, Francis Patrick ‘Prionsias’ McCauley 1921-2009, Denis Alphonsus McCauley 1922-1945, Michael Mack Anthony McCauley 1923-1945, Ann Bernadette McCauley 1924-1986, Gerard Desmond McCauley 1924-, Joseph Noel McCauley 1925-1925, John Columba ‘Jacky’ McCauley 1927-1982, Terence Jude McCauley 1928-2016, Brendan Roch McCauley 1930-2001, Brian McCauley 1932-1935, Rita McCauley 1933-1933, Bridget Elizabeth ‘Monica’ McCauley 1937-2016, Anthony Alexander ‘Tony’ McCauley 1939-1995 and the youngest one Dympna McCauley 1944.
The family lost another son in the war barely a month later, Michael Mack Anthony, who worked as a ‘stoker’ on the HMS Daffodil. The HMS Daffodil was a converted canal ferry; a real rust bucket from 1917 that was used as a transport ship for the Allies during D-Day and afterwards. On 17 March 1945, on its way to Southampton, the Daffodil hit a mine off the coast of Dieppe and sank the next day. 33 sailors, including Michael were killed in the process. He is buried at Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery in Hautot-Sur-Mer.
At least three other brothers also served during World War II. Driver M. Liam McCauley, 27, R.A., served with the famous Desert Rats and later became Prisoner of War in Germany. He was known in his camp in Germany as ‘the man with the golden voice’. The camp had more than 50 wireless speakers, allowing a programme to be broadcast all day long in every hut. At any time, a microphone could be connected to the radio for camp announcements, and most of these were done by Liam. Another brother L.A.C. Frank McCauley served with the R.A.F. and Gerard McCauley served as a soldier.
In the summer of 1945 Gerard McCauley was called into the army and went to Greece. He wrote an article about what happened during Christmas that year. In 2005 he submitted this article to the BBC History website “WW2 People’s War”.
“September 1945
Once the war finished I was called into the army and travelled to Greece.
Two months prior to entering the army I had sadly lost two brothers. One in the air force and one in the Navy and it was a traumatic experience for me.
During Christmas later that year I had a letter from my sister telling me that our mother was having a Christmas dinner and she had invited (guess what?) Eight German prisoners of war! As you can imagine I was inwardly outraged. Three months later when I returned to the UK on leave from the forces (army) I spoke to my mother and enquired that if her Christmas was enjoyable; however I understood that she had invited some Germans.
You can realise my frustration and bitterness; then for my mother to invite these Germans to our house. I said to my mother “Is it true that you invited these Germans?” I kept my voice controlled. She looked at me and said: “you must remember these were some poor German mothers’ sons.
I was speechless….”
“It speaks volumes about the kindness of Bridget McCauley” (quote Linda Gilder).
The aftermath
After the war, Denis’ grave was adopted by the Frans and Marie Verhoeven family from Overloon. They lovingly looked after the McCauley family during their visit to the grave of their son Denis and also maintained contact for many years. After the death of Marie Verhoeven, their daughter Chris and her husband Wim Vogelsangs took over the care of the grave. It is currently adopted by grandson Richard Vogelsangs.
Richard Vogelsangs says:
“My mother regularly went to the grave to pick weeds and maintain it. She actually always did that. We used to go to the cemetery with her regularly as children. We would run around while our mum did her work. It was also just a 2-minute walk from home.
A few years ago, when a new adoption programme was started, I adopted Denis‘ grave so that we continue the family tradition.’
Youngest sister Dympna visited her brother Denis’ grave in 2019. In vain, she tried to trace the adoptive family to meet them. Meanwhile, that connection has been made again through our recent research. Dympna hopes to visit Overloon again in the coming years.
She talks fondly about her special family:
“I understand that for other people it sounds weird to have 15 siblings. But for me it is normal and because I grew up that way, I thought it was quite normal. Now that I no longer have any of them around me, I feel very sad, but I have had a great life thanks to them.”
The family remained uncertain about the missing of their son Denis for a long time. In April 1945, they wrote to the Red Cross, Wounded and Missing, to see if there was any news about their son. They received a letter in return that, unfortunately, they had not received any news at that time either. Chaplain Thomas G. Dullehan of the headquarters of the RAF regiment concerned also kept hoping with them for good news. Eventually, they received confirmation that Denis had been killed and where he was buried.
In July 1948, the McCauley family visited their sons’ graves in Dieppe and Overloon.
At that time, the grave at Overloon War Cemetery has already been adopted by Frans Verhoeven. He writes them a letter welcoming their upcoming visit.
The Dutch War Graves Committee section Overloon, writes the McCauley family a cordial letter after their visit and sends along photos of their visit to Overloon. This letter is signed by Toon Schrader, municipal official.
The mothers of Denis and his comrade Fred Seddon Langton also met and wrote letters to share their grief.
The letters
