Crash Site Avro Lancaster ME840

During the night of June 16 to June 17, 1944, the German night-fighter-pilot Joseph Nabrich, shot down a four engine English Avro Lancaster bomber ME 840 (radiocode BQ-V).
The plane was stationed at the RAF (British Royal AirForce) 550 squadron and took off earlier that evening from North Killingholme to attack the synthetic oil plants near the German city of Sterkrade, when it was intercepted by the German night-fighter.
The aircrew consisted of 7 members and after losing several parts the plane crashed at about 01.50 hours near the farm ‚"oude Lieftink" initially numbered Heelweg E 78.
Six out of 7 crewmembers died and were found near the plane.
The sixth casualty, Flying Officer Lesley Pulfrey, was found dead in the early morning of June 17 in a meadow by a local farmer in Barlo. He succeeded bailing out by parachute but did not survive. The cause of his death is unknown.
The only survivor, Flying-Officer Roy Kay, was able to bail out of the Lancaster just before the crash. He was wounded and eventually, with the help of the resistance movement was able to return to England in September 1944.
All six fallen crew members are buried at the Algemene Begraafplaats in Varsseveld.

Flight crew:
G.S. Smith, Flight-Lieutenant/Act/S/Ldr, Pilot
J.J. Berg, Flying-Officer, Navigator
R. Kay, Flying-Officer, Flight-Engineer (1)
L. Pulfrey, Flying-Officer, Bomb-Aimer (2)
R. Townsend, Flight-Sergeant, Wireless-Operator/Air Gunner
St. J. Tizard, Flight-Lieutenant, Air Gunner
J. Heath, Flying-Officer, Air Gunner

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Martin Hanskamp