Crash Site Stirling Bomber (BK712 HA-D) Langdorp

Monument for the eight crew members of the shot down Stiriling bomber in Langdorp (Aarschot).

The facts
For the crew of the Stirling Mark III bomber with mark BK712 HA-D, midsummer 1943 ended in an endless night. At 0.14 am the aircraft took off from Downham Market (England) with the aim of the German Krefeld. On this clear night, the bomber was noticed by fighter pilot Lieutenant Schnaufer at around 1:30 am, and the Messerschmitt's bursts smashed the hull. The Stirling crashed to the ground at 1.33 am in Langdorp, somewhere on a cornfield at the corner of Grote Meur and Wijtestraat. The eight crew members lost their lives. It was Schnaufer's thirteenth victory.

The same day the bodies of the eight crew members were recovered and buried a few days later in the Langdorp cemetery. The burial was accompanied by a display of military honor. No civilians were allowed to be present at the burial, but the next day flowers were placed by the unknown by the graves.
That same night, Krefeld turned into an inferno that reduced 5,500 houses and 6,000 souls to ashes.

About the memorial stone
Fifty years later, on June 18, 1993, a monument was unveiled at the crash site with great interest. Three F-16s flew over the ceremony. The initiative came from a working group that was set up to commemorate the plane crashes in the East Brabant region.

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Source

• Text: Jan Rymenams
• Photos: Jan Rymenams