Crash Site Avro Lancaster Mk.III - JA902 - JO-D

MEMORIAL POLE 12 - CRASH ROUTE NORTH EAST POLDER.

During World War II many aircraft crashed in Flevoland.
During the draining of the polder, many of these aircraft were found and salvaged. In 2008 the 4 may Memorial Foundation Dronten had the idea, to register, to describe and to mark the location were the aircraft crashed with a memorial pole. This to remind the Airgunners and to make history visable. Following the realized initiative of the 4 may Memorial Foundation Dronten, it was decided by the Foundation Ongeland to mark the sites in the North East Polder in the same way as in East Flevoland.

In the vicinity of this pole, Lancaster MK III JA902 JO-D of RAF 463 Squadron crashed on 3-1-1944 at about 01:30. The aircraft had taken off from RAF Waddington a few hours earlier for a mission to Berlin. It was probably hit by FLAK fire and exploded in mid-air. The debris came down scattered over a large area. The bodies of four crew members were found in different places, and in two cases only later. They were buried in the Vollenhove cemetery. The bodies of three crew members were not recovered.

The crew consisted of:
Pilot : Pilot Officer Jack Weatherill RAAF Aus/410021, buried in Vollehove;
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Albert Edward Cowell RAFVR 1860362, buried in Vollenhove;
Navigator : Flying Officer John Watson Gage RAFVR 151085; missing;
Bomb Aimer : Flight Sergeant Francis Noel Looney RAAF Aus/423290, buried in Vollenhove;
Wireless Operator : Flight Sergeant William Donald Toohey RAAF Aus/426401, missing;
Mid-Upper Gunner : Pilot Officer Peter Louis Symonds RAAF Aus/408054, missing;
Rear Gunner : Flight Sergeant Colin Hemingway RAAF Aus/417839, buried in Vollendhove.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Mark Wentzel
• - https://www.canonnoordoostpolder.nl/images/2023/2023-QR-code-kavel-M92-Lindeweg-13.pdf
• - https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/51060