Taerum Lorne Clifford - Overloon War Chronicles

Taerum| Lorne Clifford

First names
Lorne Clifford
Age
18
Date of birth
13-02-1927
Date of death
03-02-1945
Service number
R/278581
Rank
Flight Sergeant
Regiment
Royal Canadian Air Force 550 (R.A.F.) Sqdn
Grave number
Westerbeek Row 1. Grave 2.

Lorne Clifford Taerum

Grave Lorne Taerum

Biography

Lorne Clifford Taerum was born 13 February 1926 on a small homestead farm located 8 kilometres west of Milo, Alberta, Canada. He was the youngest of four children born to Guttorm and Hilda Taerum (three boys and one girl, Harlo, Verne and Lorne and Eleanor).

He spent his early childhood on the farm enduring harsh living conditions. The family lived in a small wooden shack; everyone slept up in the attic. The shack did not have any insulation to reduce the extremes of summer heat (35 C) or the bitter cold of winter (-35 C). When Lorne was only 5 years old, his father Guttorm tragically drowned in a nearby lake. His oldest brother Torger Harlo Taerum (age 11 years) assumed a leadership role and helped Hilda raise the three younger siblings.

In 1937 the family moved to Calgary, Alberta where Lorne continued his schooling.
During WWII all four siblings contributed to the war effort. The three boys (Harlo, Verne and Lorne) enlisted in the air force and Eleanor joined the auxiliary. Harlo enlisted in 1940 and eventually flew with the Dam Busters as navigator for Guy Gibson’s crew. Verne enlisted in 1942 after completing high school. On 16 September 1943 Harlo and the rest of his crew were killed during a bombing raid. This tragedy had a profound affect on the whole family. One month later, on 15 October 1943, Lorne dropped out of high school and enlisted in the air force. He was only 17 years old at the time.

Lorne was trained as a gunner for the Lancaster Bomber. His small stature made him well-suited to the role of tail gunner (it’s quite cramped in the rear of the Lanc). Lorne became an air gunner in the 550 Squadron, serving as the tail gunner in the crew of Lancaster PD-221. He and his crew arrived at the home of the 550 Squadron in North-Killinghome on 19 December 1944. Lorne’s crew successfully completed 5 missions. On the evening of 3 February 1945, PD-221 was shot down by a German night fighter near the village of Westerbeek, Holland. Evidently, Lorne was the youngest crew member of Bomber Command to be killed in action in the year 1945.

Research into the LANCASTER PD221

A resident of Westerbeek, Hans Ooms set out to find out the circumstances of the Lancaster PD221 that crashed near Westerbeek, killing the entire crew which is buried in the Westerbeek cemetery.

On Saturday 3 February 1945, Lancaster PD221 took off from North Killingholme airbase in England for a mission to the German town of Bottrop. There lay (and still lies) the Prosper industry which was dedicated to the production of fuel articles. In that context, it was a target of strategic importance.

On board the bomber, which belonged to the 550 squadron of the Royal Air Force, was a seven-man crew consisting of:

Flying officer Robert George NYE, pilot, aged 23
Sergeant Jack HOLDING, navigator, aged 22
Sergeant James Frederick MOYLE, bomb aimer, 22 years
Sergeant Charles STUART, flight engineer, 30 years
Warrant officer William Johnson HOWSON, radio operator, 25 years
Flight sergeant William Henry COOK, back turret gunner, 20 years
Flight sergeant Lorne Clifford TAERUM, tail gunner, 18 years

William Cook and Lorne Taerum were from Canada, the others were British.
At 18, Lorne was not only the benjamin of this crew but also one of the youngest at RAF Bomber Command.

On that particular Saturday afternoon at exactly 16.31 hours, the boys took off as part of an attack force of 192 bombers and 18 Mosquitos to set course for the Ruhr area in Germany. The attack on Bottrop took place in waves between 7.30pm and 7.45pm from an altitude of 16,000 to 20,000 feet. Despite numerous search lights, night fighter activity and some cloud cover, the ‘aiming point photo’ showed that the attack had been very effective.

On the way home, disaster struck. As mentioned, German night fighters were active. The PD221 and its crew presumably became prey to pilot Hauptmann Heinz Rökker and his ‘Bordfunker’ Feldwebel Carlos Nugent who belonged to 2./NJG 2, a night fighter unit stationed in Twente at the time.
The Lancaster broke into parts and came down scattered in the immediate vicinity of the core of the village of Westerbeek. The largest part crashed behind the Lange family’s farm on the Koehardstraat. The entire crew lost their lives in the process and found their final resting place at the cemetery in Westerbeek. A son of the Lange family could still clearly remember the events surrounding the crash. Emotionally, he said it had not left him untouched throughout his life.

On 4 and 5 May 2005, I organised a commemoration to pay attention to this dramatic historical event, then 60 years ago. Family members of Jack Holding, Lorne Taerum and William Howson attended. In addition, wing-commander Jack Harris and his wife also gave an appearance. Jack was a veteran of 550 squadron and had also taken part in the attack on Prosper as a young pilot. Fortunately, he was able to tell the story.

I had planned a second commemoration in May 2020 to mark the 75th year since the crash. However, Corona threw a spanner in the works.

Every year during Remembrance Day, resident Freddie Toonen and his sons place a candle, flower and memorial stone at the graves. A very nice gesture!

Hans Ooms