ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 228108
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| Date: | Friday 31 March 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 427 (Lion) Sqn RCAF |
| Registration: | LV923 |
| MSN: | ZL-N |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 8 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Rachecourt, Aubange, Luxembourg -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire |
Halifax LV923/N: Takeoff at 22:00 hrs for Night mission.31/03/1944
It all went wrong over Rachecourt, 13 kilometres south-west of Arlon. The Halifax LV923 of Squadron Leader George Laird (427 Squadron) collided with the Lancaster ND767 " GI-D ", piloted by P/O Eric Pickin. The Lanc came down on the Halifax. Still on board the Lanc were Sgt Henry Page (flight engineer) WW2 John Merritt (navigator RCAF), F/S Cleveland Schmidt (RAAF), Sgt Raymond Asplen (radio operator), Sgt George Collins (gunner) and Sgt John Coup (gunner).
The Halifax was given a little respite. Three occupants were killed, four were able to jump. For two of them it was too late, their parachutes did not open in time. The 22-year old radio operator, P/O John Morrison DFC, died twenty days later of his wounds at Arlon, where he was buried. The others killed were F/S Arthur Stainton (co-pilot, aged 27, RCAF), F/O William Soeder (navigator, aged 26, RCAF), P/O Joseph Corbally (bomb aimer, aged 24, RCAF), F/S William Clapham (radio operator) and P/O Lloyd Smith (mid-upper gunner, aged 24, RCAF). Only the Canadian tail gunner James Moffatt made it out alive - he hid in the woods and eventually ended up in a resistance nest where he fought for two months as machine gunner of the Groupe Randolet.
Today the thirteen airmen rest in Hotton War Cemetery.
Sources:
https://luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/halifax-bij-rachecourt
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/laird-george-johnstone.html
http://rcafassociation.ca/heritage/search-awards/?search=zulauf&searchfield=lastname&type=all
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Aug-2019 15:45 | tachel | Added |
| 23-Aug-2021 14:01 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 26-Jun-2022 01:03 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 28-Jul-2023 08:28 | Nepa | Updated [[Location]] |
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