[Chris Goss]

At 1700 hrs on 14 June 1944, Lt Gerhard Ehlert and his crew from 2. Nachtaufklärungsstaffel were assigned to take photos of the railway and roads around Sarny following an attack the previous night. They took off from Baranowitschi in a Do 217M-1 coded K7+FK, apparently the personal aircraft of their Staffelkapitän Hptm Paul Palmer, at around 2130 hrs and headed east. Approaching the target they climbed to an altitude of 1500m and prepared to take photos by using photo flash bombs but the bomb doors didn't open so they went down to 200m for visual reconnaissance and reported via radio.

However, on their return flight the Beobachter Ofw Hanns Schlotter became unsure of their location and flew into the range of a Soviet flak battery which quickly damaged the rudder. The last message that Luftflotte 2 heard from Ehlert and his crew was at 0115 hrs. The right engine had been hit first and burst into fire. They slowed down and gradually lost altitude. Ehlert was sitting in the front on the left, behind him the Bordmechaniker, about 50cm higher than the Beobachter. This meant that their feet were not injured when they hit the ground but the Beobachter, who sat lower in the cockpit, had his legs torn off in the crash-landing and he died almost immediately. Shrapnel had also hit the cockpit and mortally wounded Uffz Karl-Heinz Williges (BF) but Ehlert had managed to land in the Pripet Marshes. He was able to climb out and Fw Wilhelm Burr (BM) also got out of the burning wreckage but with severe burns to hands and face. Both survivors wanted to get to the German lines, some 60 km to the west. Resting by day and walking at night they attempted to escape but on the second day they tried to get some food in a small village but villagers informed Soviet soldiers and they were soon captured. Gerhard Ehlert did not return home until December 1949.