ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 49719
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| Date: | Wednesday 1 November 1944 |
| Time: | 20:32-46 |
| Type: |  Handley Page Halifax Mk VII |
| Owner/operator: | 426 (Thunderbird) Sqn RCAF |
| Registration: | NP771 |
| MSN: | OW-J |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | south of Tienray, Limburg -
 Netherlands
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire |
Took off at 17:23 hrs for a bombing operation against Oberhausen in Germany.
Homeward-bound, shot down by a twin-engined night fighter.
[Transcribed newspaper clipping]
Graves of Heroes
News has been received of a Hamilton airman, P/O Balfour, whose aircraft was shot down over Holland during a bombing raid on November 1, 1944.
This year a Dutch friend of another member of the crew, Jack Verbrugge, made a trip to his homeland, visited the cemetery where Balfour and his comrades are lying, and went to the spot where their machine crashed.
It appears from eye-witnesse reports that the damaged aircraft was first seen flying very low, and then it seemed to climb, just before crashing, to enable two of the crew to bail out. The remainder of the crew were killed in the crash and were buried by a farmer the next day.
This man took blankets from his own home to wrap around the bodies, which were moved from the scene of the crash to a British Cemetery this summer.
The story of the crash was sent to Mrs. Nelson Taylor, 114 Tope Street, sister of P/O Balfour, by the mother of F/S McLeod of Saskatoon, another crew member.
McLeod was not killed instantly in the crash, but a member of the Dutch underground movement, a young girl, stayed with him until he died, despite the German troops who were patrolling the spot. A watch , which McLeod had been wearing at the time, was ploughed up in the field where the plane came down, some 21 months after the crash.
(Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial)
---
Crew
Fatalities ( Venray War Cemetery)
- Ernest Edward Courtis
- Andrew George Balfour
- Ronald Charlton
- Allister Currie McLeod
- James Frederick Gladstone Weedon
Survivors (both PoW)
- R.S. Goreham
- W.E. Morrison
(Source: Dutch Airwar Studygroup 1939-1945)
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part five
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2054127
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T4606&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Google Maps + Wikipedia Tienray
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 5 March 1945 | NP799 | 426 (Thunderbirds) Sqn RCAF | 6 | Wippra, Sangerhausen |  |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 17-Dec-2008 11:45 | ASN archive | Added |
| 25-Sep-2020 09:09 | Manja | Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-Sep-2021 15:24 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
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