Crash Site Messerschmitt ME-262 Haaltert

On the initiative of the Patriotic Circle Groot-Haaltert, an information board was placed in the Diepeweg at the location where a German plane crashed in the Kruiskouter on 28 August 1944.

"On fair Monday 28 August 1944, the German pilot Ofw. Hieronymus "Rony" LAUER flew with his jet plane ME-262 A-1a, fuselage code 9K+GL. Kampfgeschwander 3JKG51 "Edelweiss" from Ath-Chièvres (B) to an airfield in the Dutch Volkel. During take-off (around 18:25) LAUER noticed that his front landing gear remained partly extended and that he was therefore unable to reach sufficient speed. In the vicinity of Dendermonde the German jet was spotted by 4 American Thunderbolt fighters of the 78th Fighter Group – 82nd Squadron-Air Base Duxford-England with the pilots: Major Joseph MYERS, Lt. Wayne COLEMAN, Lt. Fred BOLGERT and Lt. Manford CROY. Rony LAUER tried to make an emergency landing (around 18:45) in a field, called "Kruiskouter", behind the cemetery in Haaltert, as he was no match for the attacking fighters. At the start of the landing manoeuvre the jet was fired upon by Major Joseph MYERS. LAUER was able to escape unscathed from the cockpit and dived between the potato foliage, seeking protection from the flying bullets that Lt. Manford CROY fired at him. According to the after action reports the plane partly caught fire with black plumes of smoke. Rony LAUER was transferred to the airfield Volkel-Netherlands after the crash.

The day after the events, the German jet plane was dismantled by the Flugplatzcommando from Brussels-Evere and the plane was transferred to Volkel.
The German plane crash on Monday 28 August 1944 in Haaltert has since been part of the chronicles of international WWII aviation history.
This location offers a view of the crash site (known as "Kruiskouter") of the German jet plane ME-262."

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck