LV784
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
On this Thursday, 442 bombers flew to attack Aachen, including the Halifax III, LV784 and the Halifax III, MZ675. Both aircraft came under heavy anti-aircraft fire and collided over Weisweiler.
The Halifax LV784, piloted by Fl/Sgt George Blackwood Hyndman, broke up and crashed on Hüchelner Str, about 200 metres from the station. The entire crew was killed and buried in the cemetery in Weisweiler.
The map shows where the two aircraft crashed.
The photo below is very special, as it shows children in front of the wreckage of LV784.
Civilians were strictly forbidden from approaching aircraft wrecks or touching or appropriating parts of the aircraft. The soldiers of the recovery units, who were responsible for securing and removing the wreckage, were generally very strict about this.
In this case, they probably didn't take it so strictly and called the children of Weisweiler together for a cheerful group photo. The soldier in the background has his arm around another young man who is leaning on a crutch as he is probably wounded and on home leave. He is not the only one in a ‘Sunday suit’; the children, especially the little girls in their white dresses, are also wearing the ‘better’ clothes. It can be assumed that the photo was taken three days after the crash. It was Whitsun on 28 May 1943, which would explain the smart clothes and the great hairstyles.
Two of the boys are wearing German steel helmets, one is holding a German rifle in his left hand. The taller boy in the centre has a cannon from the crashed plane in his right hand. They all make a cheerful impression and are probably very enthusiastic about the photo, unaware that seven young men died in this aeroplane....
I would like to thank Mr Franz Hirtz from Weisweiler for providing me with this unique photo!
left:
Radio Operator Sgt. Peter William Bishop