4-5 August 1944, loss 148 Squadron Halifax EB147

[Theo Boiten]

Dear all,

On the night of 4-5 August 1944, 148 Squadron Halifax EB147, en route to the drop zone SAN 125, was shot down at Sandomierz, 55 km east of Klelce, Poland. Regrettably I have not been able to find a German (Flak) claim for this aircraft. Perhaps some of the experts on this forum have, and can also supply details on the time of the crash.

Cheers and thanks, Theo

[Witold K.]

Hallo Dr. Theo
Some minor ino about Halifax EB 147. It crashed after drop on SAN 125 and crashed some 60 km E of Kielce, near village Wojciechowice. I revued available informations in Polish interned, but even in official reports of Polish local underground commands I couldn't find a cause of crash.
All the best, waiting for further Nachtjagd Combat Archive volumes.

[Trendle]

Hi Theo,

Perhaps Nightfighter? 3./NJG 100 - Feldwebel Konter

All the Best

Fred

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by Witold K.

Hallo Dr. Theo
Some minor ino about Halifax EB 147. It crashed after drop on SAN 125 and crashed some 60 km E of Kielce, near village Wojciechowice. I revued available informations in Polish interned, but even in official reports of Polish local underground commands I couldn't find a cause of crash.
All the best, waiting for further Nachtjagd Combat Archive volumes.

Witold, does the local reports have the time of the crash, or the time of the air drop ?

[Theo Boiten]

Thanks Witold for your interesting info. That means that we simply do not have a claim for this aircraft. @ Fred; no, Konter destroyed two other Halifaxes on this night.

Cheers, Theo

[Pat Atkins]

Thanks for this interesting thread. 148 Sqdn lost four Halifaxes on operations to Poland that night, reducing the operational strength of the squadron to just 4 Halifaxes and one experienced crew.

According to the ORB, EB147 (Halifax MkV; squadron code & call sign FS-K; F/O King and crew) was lost on Operation POLISH 214C - is that the same as SAN 125, Witold? Any further information would be of interest to the 148 Sqdn 'community', I'm sure.

Pat.

[Witold K.]

Hallo all
In Polish internet there is quite a lot info about EB147, and I was able to find out at least three resons of its crash: Flak (FO Symington), Lw night fighters, emergency landing due to a mechanical failure. Longer I search the internet more and more I gain coviction it was the third case. FO King was trying to bellyland his Halifax, hit its wing the rooftop of a builging and crashlanded, with all the crew safe. Accord. to one writting account in inventory of Cracow Aviation Museum, Symington was ordered by King to bale out in search of sufficient field to bellyland the plane and guide the pilot by the torch. Sounds not much serious, but...