Mannheim 23rd September 1943

On 23rd September 1943, Lancaster JA 708, of 97 Squadron was shot down at 21:47 (U.K. time) 2 minutes after bombing Mannheim.

One of the deceased body was found on a hill called Bosenburg, about 6 kilometers from Maikammer. Does anyone know if the aircraft crash site has been located or researched?

[David P. Williams]

Hi David,

I recently visited Rheinberg Cemetery and have pictures of the headstones of the three crew members that perished. I'll look into the incident a little more deeply and see if i can identify the night fighter responsible for its loss.

Originally Posted by David P. Williams

Hi David,

I recently visited Rheinberg Cemetery and have pictures of the headstones of the three crew members that perished. I'll look into the incident a little more deeply and see if i can identify the night fighter responsible for its loss.

Many thanks. I believe Ulrich Veh was the fighter pilot. There is a post about him in this forum.

[FrankieS]

http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/bomber.php?id=11217


"Serial range JA672 - JB748 This aircraft was one of 550 Lancasters ordered from A.V.Roe (Chadderton) late
in 1941 and delivered as Mk.111s from Jun43 to Dec43 with Merlin 28 engines in early production, with Merlin
28 or 38 engines in mid-production and with Merlin 38 engines only on late production. JA708 was delivered to
No.98 Sqdn Jun43. JA708 wore the ID's OF-Z/P JA70-8 took part in the following Key Operations: As OF-Z,
Hamburg 24/25Jul43; Hamburg 27/28Jul43; as OF-P, Mannheim 23/24Sep43-Lost. When lost this aircraft had
a total of 103 hours. JA708 was one of two No.97 Sqdn Lancasters lost on this operation. See ED868.
Airborne 1930 23Sep43 from Bourn. Shot down by a night-fighter from 16,000 feet. Crash-site not established.
Those killed are buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery. S/L Foster was the Sqdn Navigation Leader and S/L
McKinna was the Sqdn Gunnery Leader. F/L R.A.Fletcher DFM PoW F/S J.E.Nelson PoW S/L K.J.Foster DFC
& Bar KIA F/S J.F.Beesley PoW P/O W.H.Layne PoW S/L R.A.McKinna DFC & Bar KIA F/S H.R.Page KIA
F/S J.F.Beesley was interned in Camps L6/357. PoW No.509 with F/S J.E.Nelson, PoW No.5011. P/O
W.H.Layne in Camp L6, PoW No.605. F/L R.A.Fletcher in Camp L3, PoW No.2612. DFM Gazetted 1Aug42. "

Three years ago I posted here in the hope that someone could help locate the crash site of JA 708.

Perhaps someone reading this can help me.