Crash Site Handley Page Halifax III HD-K HX312

In this neighbourhood, the Halifax III HD-K HX312 of No 466 Squadron RAF crashed on 22 January 1944. The aircraft had taken off the night before from RAF base Leconfield , on a mission to bomb the city of Magdeburg in Germany. At 0.30, Oberleutnant Hans-Heinz Augenstein shot down the Halifax with his Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 night fighter, the aircraft then crashed in De lutte. Of the seven crew members, five did not survive the crash; they were buried in the RK cemetery in De Lutte. The two survivors of the crash were taken prisoner of war by the Germans.

The text on the plaque reads:
1945 -5 May- 1995
50 years of liberation
Memorial stone after the
crash of the HALIFAX B III bomber
(250 metres N.W.)

22-01-1944

5 airmen killed
C.G. Johnston, Australia, pilot
J.F. Morgan, England, upper gunner
J.K. Thompson, Australia, tail gunner
L.W. Wykes, England, marconist
S. Hennan, England, flight mechanic

2 survivors:
V.E. Dobson, England. bombardier
(*26-11-1992, Auckland-New Zealand)
L. Doust, Austr. navigator
(*21-2-2005, Canberra, Australia)

monument unveiled by:
Mrs C. Clews-Hennan

‘Foundation Voksfeest De Lutte
Renovation following commemoration of 80 years of crashing."

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: "Werkgroep 4 mei uit De Lutte". (1), A.H. van Aarsen (2, 3)