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| Date: | Saturday 17 April 1943 |
| Time: | 02:37 |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster B Mk III |
| Owner/operator: | 49 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | ED427 |
| MSN: | EA-O |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Laumersheim, Rheinland-Pfalz -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Fiskerton, Lincolnshire |
16/17-4-43: Take off 21:14 Fiskerton. Part of a force of 327 aircraft - 197 Lancasters, and 130 Halifaxes, tasked to attack Pilzen. The attack centred on the Skoda armaments works took place in clear conditions and in full moonlight.
However as the main force crews had been briefed to 'visually' identify the works prior to bombing and to use the Pathfinder markers as a guide; bombing was not satisfactory and many crews bombed a large asylum 7 miles from the factory in error.
Local reports confirmed the raids failure by stating that armaments works was not hit during the attack. 37 aircraft, 11.31 percent were lost - 19 Lancasters, 18 Halifaxes. The cause of the aircraft's loss is not recorded but crashed at Laumersheim, Germany. All of the crew, who were on their second operational sortie, have no known graves and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. At the time of its loss the aircraft had accumulated a total of 147 hours on its airframe.
Hit by 2/schw Flak Abt 636, 4/schw Flak Abt 492. 2 & 3/schw Flak Abt 701. 1 & 3/schw Flak Abt 903 and 1-3/schw Flak Abt 499. Exploded in mid air and hit the ground Laumersheim at 02:37. five miles from the crash site. Pilot Alec Bone, if he had survived the impact of the flak, would have used all his considerable skill to try to keep the plane steady enough to allow the crew to bail out. If anybody could have done it, Bone could. But clearly the flak battery had done its work too well. Death would have been instantaneous as the aircraft ploughed five metres deep into the soft earth.
In 2006 research began to trace the crash site. Although the bodies of the seven crew were recovered immediately and placed in two graves, in the military section of the Mannheim cemetery, whose inscriptions stated that they contained the bodies of ‘Unknown British flyers shot down in Laumersheim 17.4.43’, and were buried on 24 April 1943
However, due to the high speed impact into the ground, not all of the body parts of the crew were recovered. It was not until September 2012 that the wreckage was located, excavated, and the un-recovered crew remains were finally exhumed.
Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer Alexander Victor Bone RAF 48898 [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Raymond Norman Percy Foster RAF 545719 [Killed]
Navigator : Sergeant Cyril William Yelland RAFVR 1578189 [Killed]
Bomb Aimer : Sergeant Raymond Joseph Rooney RAFVR 1238955 [Killed]
Wireless Operator : Sergeant Raymond Charles White RAFVR 1314559 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Sergeant Ronald Cope RAFVR 1086776 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Pilot Officer Bruce Emmott Watt RCAF J/90946 [Killed]
Sources:
1. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2210283/Solved-70-years-The-mystery-missing-Lancaster-bomber-crew.html
2. http://www.lancasterbombers.com/lancaster_bombers_174.htm
3. http://www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/lancaster-ed427-from-raf-fiskerton-the-story
4. http://aviationarchaeology.co.uk/2012-digs/lancaster-ed427-germany
5. https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?119428-Lancaster-ED427-found
6. http://www.49squadron.co.uk/personnel_index/detail/Bone_A
7. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/lancaster/26033-ED4271943-04-17.html
8. Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943 Part One
9. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Sep-2012 11:00 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 17-Jan-2013 14:13 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 30-Dec-2014 23:31 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
| 18-Apr-2018 12:53 | TigerTimon | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Source, ] |
| 30-Oct-2018 05:01 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
| 10-May-2020 13:19 | Anon. | Updated [Cn, Other fatalities, Narrative, ] |
| 31-Dec-2024 07:45 | Rob Davis | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative, ] |
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