Date:	Sunday 31 December 1944
Time:	19:05 claim
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	626 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PB687
MSN:	UM-Q2
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 8
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	west of Verviers, Liège -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Took off at 14:51 hrs for an operation against Osterfeld, Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany on the night of 31.12.44/01.01.45. Believed that the Lancaster crash landed in "friendly territory" near Verviers, Belgium. (Database of Army Museum says "Attenhoven" (area of Saint-Trond) as crashlocation and other sources say "Liège").

Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer R O Beattie RCAF
2nd Pilot : Flying Officer F J Benoit RAF
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Herbert Harrison RAF
Navigator : Flying Officer Alan Logan Warren RCAF J/38750
Bomb Aimer : Sergeant Kenneth Angus McWilliam RCAF
Wireless Operator : Flight Sergeant Kenneth Herbert Austin RAFVR 1872833 [Killed]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Flight Sergeant Terence Anthony Casey RCAF R/261197 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Flying Officer William Henry Pogson RCAF J/41700 [Killed]

The 3 crew members who were killed are buried at the Hotton War Cemetery, Belgium (50.262553 / 5.447110). At least two of the dead (Casey and Pogson) initially were buried at Henri Chapelle before being reinterred at Hotton, post war

PB687 was one of two Lancasters lost that night on a sortie attacking the railways at Osterfeld, and there were two others lost on another raid attacking other rail heads near Solingen (25 miles SW of Dortmund).

The Lanc was intercepted by Hauptmann Johannes Hager of the 6./NJG 1, who had taken off from Düsseldorf airfield (Germany) at 18:15 hrs, in Bf 110 G-4 G9+IP.

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2145/28
3. Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2145/27
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?75-loss-of-Lancaster-PB-687-626-Sqn&p=343#post343
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterfeld
6. Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part five
7. http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=PB687&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
8. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Aug-2013 19:45	JINX	Added
09-Nov-2018 16:59	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator, ]
25-Jul-2021 17:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ]
16-Sep-2021 15:29	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Cn, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Source, Narrative, ]
26-Jun-2022 02:31	Ron Averes	Updated [Location, ]
18-Jul-2025 06:56	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]