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Flying Officer Edward L Saslove RCAF and crew. 576 Sqdn
Eddie Saslove was born in Ottawa, Canada on the 17th June 1921. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan, USA. when Eddie was 4 years old. In the early forties he decided to join the air force but, as he was a Canadian citizen, he was not eligible to join the USAF. He volunteered for the RCAF and was accepted in April 1942.
F/O Saslove and his crew were posted to 100 Sqdn in Sept 1944 and shortly after were transferred to 576 Sqdn.
His crew consisted of :-
F/O E L Saslove RCAF
Sgt R Hoyle RAFVR
F/O G Davies RAFVR
F/O M Chisick RCAF
Sgt R Hood RCAF
Sgt A S B Campton RCAF
Sgt G W McClelland RCAF
Above - 5 of Eddie Saslove’s crew
Their operational tour was as follows :-
100 Squadron
14th Oct 1944. Target - Duisberg.
25th Oct 1944. Target - Essen.
576 Squadron
All these operations were flown from Fiskerton and the crew was as shown above unless specifically mentioned.
18th Nov 1944 Target - Wanne Eikel. Aircraft LM227. Up 1605 Down 2200.
21st Nov 1944 Target - Aschaffenburg. Aircraft PD271.Up 1555 Down 2210.
27th Nov 1944 Target - Freiberg. Aircraft NG273. Up 1625 Down 2255.
29th Nov 1944 Target - Dortmund. Aircraft ME717. Up 1225 Down 1725. Damaged by flak.
12th Dec 1944 Target - Essen. Aircraft PD312. Up 1620 Down 2155. Sgt Oliver replaced Sgt Campton.
14th Dec 1944 Target - Ludwigshafen. Aircraft PD232. Up 1452 Down 2110.
22nd Dec 1944 Target - Koblenz. Aircraft PD271. Up 1525 Down 2210. Landed at Carnaby.
28th Dec 1944 Target - Bonn. Aircraft PD271. Up 1540 Down 2110.
2nd Jan 1945 Target - Nuremberg. Aircraft ME671.
7th Jan 1945 Target - Munich. Aircraft PA173. Up 1815. Failed to return.
Shortly after dropping their bombs on Munich the Lancaster was attacked and badly shot about by a night fighter. Both gunners, Sgts Campton and McClelland, were badly wounded in the attack and trapped in their turrets. The Lancaster was badly damaged and on fire and F/O Saslove ordered the 4 other members of the crew to bale out. Without a thought for his own safety he courageously chose to stay at the controls of his crippled aircraft in a valiant attempt make a crash landing rather than leave his 2 gunners to a certain death in the doomed bomber. As the last man left the Lancaster he looked up at his pilot and saw F/O Saslove wave goodbye still in the pilot’s seat keeping the aircraft straight and level.
The Lancaster crashed and exploded in flames in a farmers field near Munich. The gallant Eddie Saslove died in the crash along with the 2 gunners he had selflessly given his life in an attempt to save. Had he chosen to do so he could have almost certainly saved himself by baling out with the other surviving members of the crew. All 3 are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial to the missing.
The 4 men who baled out all survived and were all made prisoner of war. When liberated they were able to tell their story and report the sacrifice of their pilot to the authorities and to the Saslove family. F/O Saslove received no recognition for his act of bravery in spite of the efforts of his brother Martin over a period of 40 years. Both the British and Canadian governments ceased awarding medals for gallantry in World War 2 in 1950.
It is very unfortunate that the heroism of Eddie Saslove was never recognised but this case must be typical of many similar cases, recorded and unknown, involving aircrew who gave their lives in attempting to save their comrades during World War 2.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Martin Saslove for much of the information and the photograph used in this item.
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