RAF crash 18 Nov. 1944, Belgium

[pointedeflèche]

Can anyone shed a light on a British aircraft that crashed in the village of Winksele-Delle, situated 7 kilometers northwest of Leuven (Louvain), 18/11/1944. In the fire report, prepared after the incident by the Fire Brigade of Leuven, the following is stated:

• Day and hour of call: 18 november 1944 at 22.30 hours.
• Site where the fire occured: Goovaerts Auguste, farmer/ Mechelsesteenweg 413 (road+house-number)/ Winksele-Delle.
• Nature of objects lost: a barn containing the entire harvest and potatoes, 4 cows, 2 goats, 1 pig and all fowl burned. The farmer's dwellings were saved.
• Cause of fire: a British aircraft crashed on top of the building. The charred corpses of six British crew members were found between the ruins.

Any information is most welcome.

Dirk

[Horst Weber]

Hello,

Under the condition that six crew members were killed in this incident, an accident of a bomber aircraft ist most likely. According to the "Bomber Comand War Diary" and Bill Chorley's "Bomber Comand Losses 1944", only one aircraft that day and the time frame in the area seems to be possible:
LANCASTER III, PR541 which took off at 15:37 hours to a mission, target Wanne-Eickel, Germany. All seven crew-members were killed an are now resting at Reichswald Forest War Cemetary, Germany. For more certaincy, try to find out the disposition of the crew's human remains short after the incident and probably later.

Best wishes,

Horst weber

[SteveB]

Thomas and Shores in their new book "2TAF" Vol 2 list a 69Sqdn Wellington HZ863 hit by flak and crashed "near B.58" on 18 November 1944 at an estimated time of 21.45. Is Melsbroek close to Leuven?

Chris Thomas lists five killed: F/Sgt A H Fairmaid, F/Sgt G Older, Sgt J A Hayes, Sgt R E Atkinson and F/Off P J Dawson.

Steve

[mhuxt]

Leuven is about 15km away from Melsbroek. If the village where the aircraft came down is 7km northwest of Leuven, it's an even closer match, since Melsbroek also lies to the northwest.


Good site here - has a distance measurement function.

http://www.de.map24.com/

[Horst Weber]

Hello SteveB !

Your guess sounds very good. In the 2nd. TAC "Log of Casulity, Claims, Assessments and Losses", a WELLINGTON, 34th Wing, No. 69 Squadron with five aircrew killed is listed. It seems to be the incident, since all crew-members are described as 'killed' casualties.

All the best,

Horst Weber

[pointedeflèche]

Thanks SteveB, Horst Weber, mhuxt.

HZ863 appears to be the aircraft mentioned in the fire report.
Winksele-Delle is a hamlet along the N26 (Mechelsesteenweg) and lies about 10 km E by NE of Melsbroek, which at that period in time I believe was the home of 69 Sqdn. Today, this hamlet forms a part of the community of Herent. Winksele-Delle lies exactly underneath Melsbroek's landing approach path. I assume the unfortunate crew was nearly home -setting in their landing approach- when suddenly they dropped out of the sky due to the flak damage sustained earlier.

Has anyone got an answer on the following questions:

• How many members a standard Wellington XIII crew consisted of?
• What was the exact nature of their mission on that fateful day?
• Was 69 Sqdn fitted out with Wellington XIIIs for the purpose of night low-level recce?
• Does anyone know the squadron letters and the individual letter of HZ863?

Dirk

[Fairlop]

Hi Dirk,

Yes, the 69 Sqn was equipped with Wellingtons for night reconnaissance duties. The Squadron didn´t use the squadron letters. It was at B-58 Melsbroek from 25/09/44 till 15/04/45.

Regards,
Michal