HR850
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
The Halifax II, HR850 was hit by flak on the approach to the bombing raid on Cologne. Already battered, it was involved in a dogfight with Ofw. Fritz Schellwag of the 5th / NJG 1. The aircraft was hit and caught fire, whereupon the pilot ordered the crew to bail out.
All were able to leave the aircraft by parachute before it landed 600 metres south of Ülpenich in an open field, exploded and burned out completely. However, the pilot, Fl/Lt Nelson Alexander Cobb, unfortunately landed in the immediate vicinity of the crashed aircraft and was fatally injured in the explosion. He was buried in the Ülpenich cemetery. All the other crew members came down between Euskirchen and Bonn and were taken prisoner of war by the Germans.