Avro Lancaster III (LM370 SR-K2) crashed near Schoonenbeek on 1943-11-18
On Thursday, 18 November 1943, an Avro Lancaster III (LM370 SR-K2) an aircraft of the 101 squadron (RAF) crashed near Schoonenbeek.
After the Mondane mission on 10/11 November, this was the second operation for Lancaster LM370. It had already completed 18 hours flying when it became airborne at 17.21 hours on the evening of Thursday 18th November 1943 at Ludford Magna airbase. It was one of 23 Lancasters from 101 Squadron that joined the bomber stream of 440 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos on its mission to Berlin.
Four aircraft from 101 Squadron abandoned the mission due to technical faults and returned to base early. Official reports say that the air raid warning over Berlin was issued at 20:11 and that the all clear was sounded at 22:23. The remaining 18 aircraft from 101 Squadron that completed the operation returned to base between 01.00 and 02.15. The average duration of the round trip being 7.5 – 8 hrs.
At 23.11 hours LM370 was intercepted over the Dutch province of Drenthe in the vicinity of the Dutch-German border by a night-fighter Messerschmitt Bf 110G-4 (W.Nr 720074) D5+CL". It had been in the air for 5hrs 50 minutes at that stage, so it must have been on the return flight path from Berlin when it sustained the fatal attack. From the crash reports below, it is clear that the Lancaster suffered serious damage, as parts from the plane landed near the City Hall in Schoonebeek before it finally crashed on an area of peatland on the outskirts of Oud-Schoonebeek (today Schoonebeek).
Crewmembers (thanks to Ben Winnemuller)
Charles P. Mc Manus Flying Officer (Pilot), RAFVR 133410 (Ireland), 101 Sqdn., age 25 (photo 1)
Guy D. Spyers Flying Officer (Nav.), RAFVR 140877, 101 Sqdn., age 35
Barry K. Petyt Flying Officer (Air Bomber), RAFVR 137375, 101 Sqdn., age 20
Kenneth Jones Sergeant (Flt. Engr.), RAFVR 1684563, 101 Sqdn., age 20
Anthony E. Rosen Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.), RAFVR 1144632, 101 Sqdn., age 21 (photo 2)
Charles H. Downs Sergeant (Air Gnr.), RAFVR 1101786, 101 Sqdn., age 25
George H. Gittins Flight Sergeant (Air Gnr.), DFM, RAFVR 1210420, 101 Sqdn., age 21
George P. Herman Warrant Officer Class II (Air Gnr.)[ABC-operator], RCAF R/128322, 101 Sqdn., age unknown (photo 3)
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