[rlapes]

Steve W

This is a raid the I have been researching for some time and I have a copy of the MREU Investigation Report and the Loss Card for DV384:

At approximately 21:00 the bomber stream was attacked by German nightfighters near Grevenbruek. One of the bombers was hit and it immediately jettisoned a number of incendiary bombs estimated at 80. Shortly after this bomber crashed near the village of Obermelbecke, 3 km NNE of Grevenbrueck. The a/c must have had a considerable bombload as the explosion reulting from its impact with the ground was felt and heard at a distance of several kilometers and a very large crater was made in the earth where it struck.
All of the crew were killed and were buried on March 28th in Evangelic Cemetery in Grevenbruck. The aircraft was 95% destroyed and the wreckage was salvaged on the 23rd and taken to the airfield at Werl.

With the help of a local researcher I have a more precise location of the crash.

The time of incident is uncertain as the MREU report (dated 29/01/48) gives 21:00. I have a nearby RAF observation of an a/c shot down at 21:36. Hermann Stock claims a Lancaster in roughly the right location at 22:10. Becker is attributed with the kill at 21:53 but the location is given as 10km SE of Paderborn. So I will need to put in more work matching up some of the other claims so we can narrow the number of possibilities.

The location of the crash site is consistent with the night fighter force being directed from Dortmund towards Stuttgart, before Frankfurt was finally recognised as the actual target just after the attack had started.

regards
Robert