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| Date: | Friday 12 March 1943 |
| Time: | 22:25 |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 424 (Tiger) Sqn RCAF |
| Registration: | BK348 |
| MSN: | QB-J |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Echteld, NE of Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant. -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Topcliffe |
| Essen |
Essen
Took off from RAF Topcliffe at 19:36.
Claim by Oblt Manfred Meurer 3/NJG1 - Echteld North East of s’Hertogenbosch (5 A): 4,400m at 22:25.
The crew were buried underneath the wreckage when it crashed at Echteld (Gelderland) on the North bank of the Waal.
Eye-witness report of Rev. Van Achterberg: dated Saturday, September 23, 1991 (originally given in Dutch and subsequently translated into English). “Almost 50 years ago, on the late Friday evening of 12 March 1943, the Allied Air Force growled over us, on the way back to England, after having dropped the bomb load on Germany. With a few people in hiding, we stood on the back landing of the old parsonage, staring at them when we suddenly saw a small flash of light grow larger. A German fighter who had taken off from Deelen airfield had hit one of the English bombers. The fire approached us. We thought our last moment was struck when the plane crashed with a thunder of violence on the road between church and boarding house. A burning wing fell on the sexton's house, which burned out completely. The verger Mrs. De Greef and her daughters barely escaped the flames. A few meters to the other side and the church would have gone up in flames. Had this bomber still had bombs onboard, the whole of the village of Echteld would have been destroyed. Respectfully, the then headmaster, Mr. Paul van Zorge, and I
collected some human remains, which we found, into a box - I still remember a few cramped
fingers - and quietly committed them to the earth”. The box containing the remains was buried at the cemetery next to the church in Echteld. After the war they were reinterred in a collective grave 4.C.8-9. at the British War Cemetery Uden. Parts of the plane are still in the ground under Voorstraat, Echteld and discussions are taking place locally about the possibility of excavating the aircraft which inevitably still contains human remains.
Crew
Pilot: J/16785 Plt Off Robert George Caldwell RCAF - Uden War Cemetery Plot 4 Row C Collective Grave 8-9.
Navigator: J/11240 Fg Off Gordon Johnson Cory RCAF - Uden War Cemetery Plot 4 Row C Collective Grave 8-9.
Bomb Aimer: R/103759 Flt Sgt William Frederick Topping RCAF - Uden War Cemetery Plot 4 Row C Collective Grave 8-9.
Wireless Operator: R/102165 Sgt Alfred Perry Larson RCAF - Uden War Cemetery Plot 4 Row C Collective Grave 8-9.
Rear Gunner: R/92418 Flt Sgt Leslie Alfred Parker RCAF - Uden War Cemetery Plot 4 Row C Collective Grave
8-9.
Sources:
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T2119&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part One
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Bomber Command Losses Database.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 06-Nov-2017 07:28 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Aircraft type, ] |
| 12-Mar-2018 09:03 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 13-Oct-2018 16:51 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 20-Jun-2022 10:43 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, ] |
| 20-Jun-2022 10:43 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, ] |
| 19-Aug-2022 22:49 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Narrative, Operator, ] |
| 12-Mar-2024 08:32 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 02-Sep-2025 12:43 | Anon. | Updated [Cn, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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