ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 159513
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: | Tuesday 6 March 1945 |
| Time: | 22:30 |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 153 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | PB872 |
| MSN: | P4-X |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Roßbach/Asch [now Hranice, Cheb, Czech Republic] -
 Czech Republic
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire |
| RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire |
Lancaster B.M.k1 PB872 "P4-X" of 153 Sqn. RAF. Took off from RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire at 16:40. Missing/failed to return on mission to Chemnitz. Claimed shot down by a Me 110 night fighter of 1/NJG.5 Luftwaffe, and came down at Rossbach, Bohemia, Germany (at approximate coordinates 50°18′16.52″N 12°10′32.78″E). All 7 crew KIA:
William Bailey – pilot {20}
Reg Adlam – navigator {21}
Edward Morris – air bomber {22}
James Howard – flight engineer {27}
Jack Dixon – wireless operator {22}
Bill Meechan – mid upper gunner {19}
Walter Simpson – rear gunner {18}
In all probability it had become separated from the main bomber stream in the dark, probably without even knowing it, perhaps due to the higher than forecast winds affecting navigational calculations by this relatively inexperienced crew.
Once alone and isolated, it would have become an obvious and easy target for night fighter attention, easily directed and guided in by their radar stations. At approximately 22:30 local time in Rossbach, Bohemia, that night the air raid sirens were activated and soon afterwards the aircraft appeared. Witnesses remember the sound of tortured engines screaming and the aircraft in a slow descending curve, trailing flame from one wing and just missing the town before there was an explosion in the burning wing - probably the fuel tank - and the aircraft crashed in a meadow outside of town.
The Fire Brigade and many local people hurried through the woods but nothing could be done and there were no survivors. The following day the crew were officially identified and buried in the town cemetery next to the church in a corner of the grounds next to some Russian prisoners of war. The details of the crash were recorded in the town police reports.
One member of the crew had attempted to bail out but the altitude was too low for the parachute to open. The other crew members were still in the aircraft when it crashed, the tail-gunner still strapped in his turret, two others had managed to put on their parachutes but had not managed to exit.
NOTE: Rossbach was at the time in the German Reichsgau Sudetenland, Landkreis Asch (belonged to Nazi German Reich since the Munich Agreement, 1938). After VE-Day (8 May 1945) the town and the area around again became part of Czechoslovakia. It was renamed Hranice. After the partition of Slovakia from the Czech Republic on 1 January 1993, it became part of the Czech Republic.
Sources:
1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
2. http://aircrewremembered.com/bailey-william.html
3. http://lancaster-archive.com/lanc_unknowncrashsites.pdf
4. http://crivensjingsandhelpmaboab.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/dear-sir.html
5. https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/43688219@N00/15876281307/
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hranice_(Cheb_District)
7. http://www.thonbrunn.cz/kriegsende/Rossbach45-1_cz.php
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 29-Aug-2013 04:20 | JINX | Added |
| 29-Dec-2014 03:06 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Dec-2014 18:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Dec-2014 18:08 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 06-Jun-2015 10:18 | SIS07 | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport] |
| 12-Nov-2015 11:46 | gerard57 | Updated [Location, Country] |
| 29-May-2016 16:31 | Red Dragon | Updated [Cn, Destination airport] |
| 01-Jul-2018 07:19 | ehren69 | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Jul-2018 07:47 | ehren69 | Updated [Narrative] |
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