ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 50288
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Friday 21 July 1944 |
| Time: | 01:11 LT |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 578 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | MZ511 |
| MSN: | LK-M |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 3.5 km northwest of Heerde, Gelderland -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Burn |
Took off from RAF Burn at 23:05 hrs for a bombing operation against Bottrop in Germany.
Outward-bound, the aircraft was shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Martin Drewes, Kommandeur of III./NJG 1, who had taken off from Leeuwarden airfield at 00:25 hrs in Bf 110 G-4 G9+MD.
The Halifax crashed between Oldebroek and Heerde, where those who died are buried in the town's general cemetery:
flt Lt A T Hope-Robertson (KIA)
Sgt G Johnson (KIA)
Plt Off J Smith (PoW)
Fg Off K C Parsons (Evaded)
Flt Sgt D F Jones (KIA)
Flt Sgt T R Gunn (KIA)
Flt Sgt G H Jones (KIA)
The crack team of Hptm. Martin Drewes, Fw. Erich Handke & Ofw. Georg Petz of Stab III./NJG 1 were one of the night fighter crews that were sent up to meet the bombers. They destroyed a Halifax (MZ511 LK-M) and a Lancaster which must have been hit in the bomb load because the "Lanki" disintegrated into a thousand pieces with white flames and a thousand green stars all around. The Bf 110 crew thought the Lancaster must have been a Pathfinder but there was no time to ponder as their fighter was struck several times by the debris and went down steeply out of control. Handke, Petz and Drewes bailed out before the Bf 110 crashed near the Dutch-German border.
Sources:
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T3877&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1944 Page 340.
http://www.teunispats.nl/t3877.htm
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part three
http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-ftopic6340.html
https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/item2.php%3FSGLO%3DT3877&prev=search
Google Maps
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 24-Jun-2016 12:19 | Anon. | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-Nov-2018 19:03 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 22-Oct-2020 17:17 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Oct-2020 17:17 | TigerTimon | Updated [Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation