According to sources Lancaster LM626 DX-M was shot down by friendly fire on December 17th 1944 near Bourgtherould, Normandy. I am involved in the hunt for the exact location where the Lancaster crashed as there. I am working with a group of local historians, the town hall and other organisations to try and locate the exact site where she hit the ground so that a memorial can be erected in honour of the crew who all perished in the crash. We hae an idea where she crashed but can not find any official documentation confirming the site. Can anyone help? I have checked the squadron's ORB and can not see anything. We do not know what regiments were in the area and so can not check their war diaries etc. I have check the departmental/county archives at Evreux hoping to find something but there is very little documentation that has survived the war and can not find anything. When an incident like this happened, what department of the British army would have been responsible to move and bury the bodies. We know that some of the deae are at St Sever cemetary but believe the remainder are still with the plane.
A photo and some crew memories that don't help with the crash, but the photo may be out of copyright... BBC - WW2 People's War - Fred Cole Part 4: 57 Squadron 1944 and after Looks as if no one responded to your previous request Crash site of Lancaster LM626 DX-M.
It looks like you have quite a job in front of you. Unfortunately, as there were no RCAF or RAAF in the crew you won't get easy access to the RAF's Missing Research and Enquiry Service's files which would give you not only the crash site but the place of first burial. I would not presume that the British army units stationed in the area (if there were any; I see that Bourgtheroulde was liberated by the Canadians) originally buried the two airmen at St. Sever. It could have been, and usually was, anybody who found them. MRES units didn't look into some crashes until 1-2 years post-war. I would suggest a read of Stuart Hadaway's "Missing Believed Killed: The Royal Air Force and the Search for Missing Aircrew 1939-1952". There you will learn how the US Graves Registration Units dug up British and Commonwealth dead and reburied them as unknown Americans. I'm aware of one case where two dead RAF airmen were moved over 300 miles. Another case finds an MRES officer pulling his hair out when learning that an entire cemetery had been dug up and all casualties moved to a US cemetery.
Well, we have heard that local volunteers first buried the 'found' corpses but there is no record available to back up the claims. The local mayors of the surrounding villages are helping but have found nothing.
As regards reporting and burials of the aircrew,I would have thought that the relevant British authorities would have been notified.Although liberated,within the Normandy area,I would think that there would be a presence of skeleton British units left in the area undertaking sundry tasks. I think the CWGC would have a record of the burial detail regarding the date that the 3 recovered bodies were buried at St Sever.Since the war had passed over in this area,it might well be that the dead were interred directly at St Sever. Shotdown by friendly fire...from the ground or air?...its looks as if the aircraft was homeward bound from Munich so would have been on a course intending to cross the French coast leaving by the Seine Bay...... as regards airborne interception. the aircraft's IFF would normally be switched on,I would have thought. According to Bill Chorley, 5 of the crew were unaccounted for...interestingly a crew of 8 were involved as the Lancaster is recorded as carrying a second pilot. It's recorded "crashed at approximately 2300,burning fiercely and exploded" which suggests that the bodies of those unaccounted for were consumed by fire. There may be some information to be gained on LM 626 from the RAF 57/630 Squadron Association forum,the latter being formed from a Flight, ex No 57 Squadron. 57 & 630 Squadron Association
Harry, apparently it was shot by friendly fire from the ground. It was thought to have been an enemy plane and the ground forces shot at it. We have two possible locations as to where she came down. There was a gentleman who claimed to have seen the plane come down but his info is questionable. We can not speak to him as he passed away a few years ago. If anyone has any suggestions concerning documets that will be at Kew I wil be there next week as I am visiting the UK, please let me know.
Appart from the ORBs for 57 Sqd. What other documents can I look out for in the archives at Kew? I will be visiting the UK this week and hope to spend time in the archives to see what I can find concerning the location of where she hit the ground.
The latest news o this search is that a search was carried out using detecting equipment on two sites in the area of Bieuville en Roumois. We found nothing other than a couple of British and American 20mm shells dated 1942 and 3. I have recently received a copy of the RAF loss card and it is said that the plane was seen hitting the ground approximately 4 miles south of Bourgtheroulde.
