NR132
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
On this day, two British bombers crashed on the outskirts of Düren. Both were returning from the bombing raid on Bochum. (see also LW716)
One of the aircraft was the Halifax III, NR132 of the 466th Sqd, which was returning from a bombing raid on Bochum. It was attacked and shot at by night fighters. The first attack by Fw. Rudolf Morenz of the 5th / NJG2 set the fuselage on fire. The crew tried to extinguish the fire, but at the same time were ordered to get ready to bail out. The second attack set fire to the outboard starboard engine and leaking fuel, whereupon the order was given to bail out.
At this moment, the inner starboard engine ruptured, causing the aircraft to spin at an altitude of around 10,000 feet and explode in mid-air.
The wreckage of the aircraft crashed onto the Starkens family farmhouse at 209 Merzenicher Str. in Düren. The pilot, P/O Charles Norman Roy Dodgson, was thrown out of the aircraft in the explosion and landed with a broken arm about 50 metres from the crash site near a German anti-aircraft position. He was immediately taken prisoner and taken to hospital for treatment of his injuries and later to the reserve hospital in Siegburg. He was then transferred to the Stalag L3 prison camp.
The rest of the crew was heavily exiled and mutilated, recovered from the rubble and buried in the cemetery in Düren. A few days later, the body of Sgt Francis Caffrey, the flight engineer of NR132, was recovered from the wreckage of the farmhouse and buried in the immediate vicinity of the crash site.
The discovery of P/O Evered Austin McCasker during the exhumation in September 1947 was somewhat puzzling. His remains were found unclothed and wrapped in a blanket in a wooden coffin. Inside the coffin was a bottle with a note containing his name, date of birth and date of death.
This suggests that he was taken to hospital wounded and died there from his injuries. Eyewitnesses also reported that this type of coffin was only used in hospitals. Despite intensive research, however, no indication could be found as to which hospital McCasker died in.