ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 141242
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: | Wednesday 6 December 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI |
| Owner/operator: | 169 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | NT172 |
| MSN: | VI-A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Liège of Wallonia and province of Liège -
 Belgium
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Great Massingham, Norfolk |
Mosquito NT172/A: Took off at 18:27 hrs for mission to Frankfurt region. 06/12/1944
Abandoned over Allied held territory, possibly near Malmody, Belgium or maybe crashed in France.
Crew:
F/Sgt (1338162) Robert John WARE (pilot) RAFVR - Ok
F/Sgt (1607026) Benjamin Russell SOPER (nav.) RAFVR - Ok
On December 6th 1944 I was shot down. This night I went up with my navigator, Ben Soper. It was a terrible night, cloudy, and very bad weather, but they said it was a clear night out over the sea off Norfolk and the weather was good above the clouds (of course!). We were carrying out high level Bomber Support patrol in the Koblenz area.
Doug Waite (a good friend who has remained friends until this time) was also going out that night and we made a pact to talk to each other on the way out and on the way back. On the way out we spoke for a short time and said ‘talk again on the way back’. But I got hit by heavy flak at 15,000 feet and realised the Mossy was going down. Then I became the victim of an enemy night fighter. Violent evasive action led to further loss of height, the drop tanks were jettisoned and I struggled desperately to maintain flying speed long enough to reach the Allied front. Because I had lost all power and lost height I told my navigator to get out. I then took my helmet off and stuck it over the control column and jumped. It was rather low and it was rather late for my parachute to open. I was relieved to be out, as I knew that the aircraft was going to crash. I saw my Mosquito hit the ground with a flash, it was awful. I didn’t realise that I was going to break my ankle when I hit the ground, or what would happen to me after that, in fact I thought I was going to die.
I bailed out over Belgium and when I landed in a frozen field, breaking my ankle on impact I crawled for some distance out of the field and over a fence and into an ex US Army truck that was parked up in a field. The Battle of the Bulge was in operation at the time and the Americans had suffered considerable casualties. I hid there all night not really knowing what was going to happen to me, then in the early hours of the morning I heard voices, American voices, so I blew as hard as I could on my whistle to let them know I was there. I had already found a letter in the cab addressed to an American Soldier and there was a big white star on the bonnet so I knew it was American. I also knew I was somewhere near Liege.
At this time a telegram had been sent to my Mother and Father explaining my aircraft had been shot down and I was missing. I cannot imagine how they must have felt receiving this telegram, they had a day and a night to go through before they had the second telegram then a letter explaining that I had been found.
Douglas Waite had got back that night safe and sound, but was up all night in the control tower waiting for some word of me. He had tried to contact me on his way back but had no luck, and had a feeling something had happened to me.
The Americans had found my parachute and were looking for me. I could hear American voices getting closer and then an American Soldier, from the Medical Collecting Company, was stood in front of me. He asked if I was hurt and asked if I was the Airman that crashed last night. I told him that I thought he had broken my leg, in fact it was my ankle, so they put my leg in a splint and took me to their field hospital, Noll Coy Hospital, near Malmedy.
There an American Doctor met me and he looked at my ankle and said he had to get me to a proper hospital for an operation. I stayed there for 3 – 4 days then was put on a train from Liege to Paris. It was a most harrowing experience on the train as there were literally dozens of American Soldiers very badly injured and the train was stopping and starting all the time. I went to Hospital in Paris for another 3 – 4 days. Here a Nurse took my battle dress top to the cleaners for me. After that short stay I was taken to Orly Airport near the Eiffel Tower and was flown back to Britain.
Sources:
1.http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/_DH98%20prodn%20list.txtt
2.ORB 169 Sqdn RAF
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Jan-2012 05:50 | Nepa | Added |
| 04-Mar-2012 14:12 | Nepa | Updated [Location, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 01-Aug-2014 12:12 | Giggs | Updated [Aircraft type, Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 28-Sep-2014 13:33 | Glock G19 | Updated [Phase, Narrative] |
| 17-Aug-2015 14:36 | Nepa | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
| 06-May-2019 14:27 | Nepa | Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 14-Sep-2021 07:53 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Cn, Source] |
| 21-Oct-2021 23:08 | Nepa | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative, Operator] |
| 24-Dec-2021 15:41 | Nepa | Updated [Narrative, Operator] |
| 05-May-2023 08:43 | Nepa | Updated [[Narrative, Operator]] |
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