ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 239008
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| Date: | Saturday 13 May 1944 |
| Time: | 00:44 LT |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 640 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | MZ562 |
| MSN: | C8-A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 8 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Crashed within a few hundred metres of a dynamite factory at Balen-Wez -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Leconfield, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Hasselt Railway Yards |
Take off at 21:56 hrs for an operation against the railway yards at Hasselt.
The aircraft was intercepted by the night fighter crew of Oberleutnant Schnaufer, Feldwebel Rumpelhardt & Oberfeldwebel Gänzler of the Stab IV./NJG 1, who had taken off from St Trond (Sint-Truiden) airfield at 23:56 hrs, in Bf 110 G-4 G9+HF. This was their 63rd victory.
Those who perished were initially buried in Brusthem (St Trond) Cemetery.
Plt Off Lewis/Flt Lt Wibberley/Fg Off Ollett - Collective Grave 479
Sgt Thomson - Grave 475.
Flt Sgt Norton - Grave 466.
Reinterred 28 March 1947.
Crew
Pilot: J/85320 Plt Off Gilbert Allan Lewis RCAF - Heverlee War Cemetery Plot 5 Row D Collective Grave 13-15.
2nd Pilot: 116659 Flt Lt Robert David Wibberley - Heverlee War Cemetery Plot 5 Row D Collective Grave 13-15.
Flight Engineer: 1554274 Sgt John Thomson - Heverlee War Cemetery Plot 5 Row D Grave 11.
Navigator: J/86049 Plt Off Malcolm Keith Christie RCAF - Heverlee War Cemetery Plot 5 Row D Grave 12.
Bomb Aimer: J/22702 Fg Off Ralph William Ollett RCAF - Heverlee War Cemetery Plot 5 Row D
Collective Grave 13-15.
Wireless Operator: 1254684 Flt Sgt Arthur Norton - Heverlee War Cemetery Plot 5 Row D Grave 10.
Mid Upper Gunner: 1801336 Sgt Cyril Stanley Beckett - PoW/Stalag 357 Kopernikus/PoW Number 3839.
Rear Gunner: 1867074 Sgt George Albert Everson - PoW/Stalag 357 Kopernikus/PoW Number 3838.
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part three
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=MZ562
Google Maps
Theo Boiten: Nachtjagd 1944 vol 3, p. 006
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 17 June 1944 | LW463 | 640 Sqn RAF | 7 | Spijk, Gelderland |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Aug-2020 13:45 | TigerTimon | Added |
| 26-Jun-2022 02:39 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
| 07-May-2023 07:23 | Anon. | Updated [[Location]] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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