EH887
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
On 26 M 1943 at 00:16, the Stirling III, registration EH887, took off from Downham Market airfield in England to bomb Düsseldorf. It was one of 759 bomber aircraft that set off to attack Düsseldorf's industry. However, poor visibility due to fog prevented targeted bombing, resulting in a widely scattered bomb field.
On the return flight, the bombers were met by German night fighters, just as they had been on the approach to Düsseldorf. In the area between Cologne, Düren, Jülich and the Dutch border, the night fighters hunted down the cumbersome bombers of the Royal Air Force. The German fighter ace Major Walter Ehle brought down four bombers within three minutes. Among them was the EH887, which crashed and burnt out near Steinstrass. Only one crew member was able to parachute out. The rest of the crew died in the crash, were rescued and buried in the South Cemetery in Cologne.
The only person who managed to save himself was 19-year-old Sergeant Francis William Bennett. He was not part of the actual crew, he was only on board as the eighth crew member, as he was a newly qualified pilot on his first bomber mission and only flew along as an "observer". This was because new pilots had to accompany experienced crews on two bomber missions in order to learn how such a mission worked. Only then were they allowed to go into action with their own crew.
Sgt Bennet drifted southwards from the crash site of EH887 and landed roughly in a wood near Morschenich. He broke his ankle and had a bleeding wound on his head from the gunfire. He dragged himself through the forest and reached a forester's lodge at around 05:30. Firmly convinced that he had landed in France, he knocked on the door. He was all the more surprised when the door was opened and he was addressed by a woman in German.
He was invited into the house, bandaged up and fed. He was finally picked up by the mayor of the neighbouring village and later handed over to a Wehrmacht officer who took him to Stammlager VI in Arnoldsweiler. Here he was held and interrogated for four weeks before being transferred to the Stalag III prisoner of war camp.
At the end of the war, on a march of prisoners of war to the west, he managed to escape with a comrade. They made their way into the Allied-occupied hinterland, where they encountered American soldiers. Sgt Bennett's time as a prisoner of war came to an end and he returned to England.
He remained in the service of the Royal Air Force for 33 years and died on 25 November 2015 at the age of 95.
Thanks for background information on Sgt Bennett from:
Peter Grundy, Durham/England
and Inga Mehlert-Garms from the archive in Merzenich.
Top left:
The crash site of Stirling EH887 near Steinstrass.
top right:
the crash site and the landing point of Sgt. Bennet near Morschenich
left:
The crew of EH 887, all of whom paid with their lives.
Standing, second from left: Pilot Sgt Norman Sidney Collins.
Left:
The tail and the rear turret of EH887,
crashed on the outskirts of Steinstrass
left:
The only survivor of EH887, Sgt Francis William Bennet.He was able to save himself by parachute and was taken prisoner of war by the Germans near Morschenich.