To help answer the question of whether or not the area was liberated in Feb 45, this link has a series of maps for WWII.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...tlefront_Atlas
The map for Feb 1, 1945 show the area as being liberated.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...frontAtlas.jpg
If you follow back through the maps, it would appear the area was liberated in late 1944.
The area seems to have had several AF landing grounds by February, so the plane that crashed may have been returning from a mission over Germany (and a MACR may or may not have been filed) or it could have been an accidental crash.