WO II memorial crash of the British bomber Vickers Wellington, Moerbeke, Belgium
Posted by: Dirkjogt
N 51° 12.076 E 003° 56.258
31U E 565507 N 5672624
In remembrance of the crash of the British bomber Vickers Wellington, 75th New Zealand Squadron at August 29, 1942, Moerbeke, Flanders, Belgium
Waymark Code: WM2PDM
Location: Belgium
Date Posted: 12/01/2007
Views: 70
At August 28, 1942 the RAF bombed Nürnburg at night. The “75th New Zealand Squadron” based at Mildenhall (Suffold, England) was one of the squadrons with a total of 159 airplanes (among them 71 Lancasters, 41 Wellingtons, 34 Stirlings and 2 Halifaxes). 14 Wellingtons, 4 Lancasters, 3 Stirlings en 2 Halifaxes never returned at there home base. Among them the bomber Wellington III (marked DF 673AA). At August 29 the plane was shot down above Stekene by German ‘Jagers’, caught fire and crashed. The five crew members tried to parachute out of the plane but it flew to low and they all died. The five crew members were Charles Henry Vickers (pilot) – 22 years old, Sidney Bernard Davis (pilot) – 20 years old (British, “Royal Air Force Volunteer”) and Lawrence Donald Hiltz (air gunner) – 20 years old, Daniel Archibald McKay (operator en air gunner) – 31 years old and Horace David Baittle (observer) – 20 years old (Canada, “Royal Canadian Air Force”).
Date of Dedication: 08/29/1942
Property Permission: Public
Access instructions: Near by the church Sint-Kruiskerk, Moerbeke
Access times: From: 12:00 AM To: 12:00 AM
Location of waymark: Kruisstraat Moerbeke, Belgium 9180
Commemoration: the crash of the Wellington bomber at August 29, 1942
Website for Waymark: Not listed
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