A little more detail....might give someone a lead 24/25 March 1944 578 Squadron Halifax III. LW472 LK-H Op. Berlin Took off from Burn at 1851 hours. No further details of loss. Crew. P/O. J M. Row + P/O. G A. Pope + Sgt. F. Eland + F/S. V R. Glaysher + F/O. R J. Hayhurst DFC pow F/S. W R. Crick pow W/O2. R V. Burch RCAF + W/O2. F C. Wood RCAF + LW472 had also served with 51 Squadron
LW472 LK-H, 578. Sqdn lost 24-25 March 1944 Fred, In 2011 Karsten asked on the H P Halifax forum http://www.network54.com/Forum/261665/thread/1121029520/last-1306379665/EE+built+Halifax+crash+SW+of+Berlin about a Halifax Mk III with an English Electric Ltd Construction plate. John Clare said: Hi, I have learned that Halifax LW472 crashed 6km south of Dessau. Please contact me as I would really like to speak to you about the crash sites. As you are still asking, presumably this crash site 6 km south of Dessau has now been checked and found NOT to be LW472? (I wonder if John Clare is any relation to "our" Peter Clare?... EDIT: Ah! Speak of the devil.... It seems Jon Clare may be related to one of the 5 crew members who died. Considering they have known graves (and that the pilot, James Row shares a Collective Grave with George Pope might indicate they were found in the wreckage but not able to be individually identified which was possible for the rest of the dead crew. Hayhurst and Crick, the two survivors may have completed Liberation Questionnaires which may provide clues as to cause of loss (night fighter?) and perhaps where they came down, to help narrow any search areas for you... The night was infamous for the extremely clear visibility which greatly assisted night fighters to find plenty of targets (78 out of 811 bombers); for the extremely strong jet stream that blew many aircraft further south than expected and for 578 Squadron who lost just 40 aircraft in total in WW2, they lost 3 of the 15 they fielded that night.
The man who asked me wrote: My grandmother was married to Fred Wood, who sadly died on March 24/25, 1944 when Halifax LW472 was shot down on a trip to Berlin. He (J.Clare) wants to know the exact location of the crash site. Probably to visit and pay tribute.
Thanks Fred. I guessed it might be the same Jon Clare (no relation ) but as he said he had more information I was wondering whether the crash site he referred to as being 6km south of Dessau had been ruled out as the site for LW472? Which Halifax did crash there? The CWGC may have additional unpublished details as to where the crew remains were initially interred by the Germans before being moved to Berlin cemetery, so always worth contacting them for any further info. Fred Wood was RCAF, so it's possible the RCAF archives may have additional details regarding the loss, as he had been specifically identified with a separate grave (possibly as RCAF uniforms differed from RAF) There is also a 578 Squadron Association that may be able to help.
The CWGC site (which now contains the original burial details relating to losses in Germany) shows that the crew were initially buried in Dessau Military Cemetery. Hope this helps Regards Pete
Thank you all for your efforts. Through a researcher in Germany, I now have a good idea where the bomber came down. It was in fact south of Dessau, in a forest and near to a lodge that is still there today. I believe this information came from a German book on nightfighters, and presumably the original source was German historical records of some sort
