PB120
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
On the return flight from the attack on Cologne, the Lancaster PB120 came under anti-aircraft fire and crashed in Rodenkirchen, Hauptstrasse 77, destroying or damaging several buildings.
It caught fire on impact and was completely destroyed. According to a post-war report from Cologne-Porz on aircraft crashes, it is noted that parts of the aircraft crashed into the Rhine, which indicates that the aircraft exploded or at least broke apart on impact at the latest.
There is no evidence that the aircraft was shot at and hit by an ME 109.
Two crew members were able to save themselves by parachute and were taken prisoner of war by the Germans. The rest of the crew, three members of the R.C.A.F. and two British soldiers, were killed.
Austin, Owen and Paterson were buried in the cemetery in Rodenkirchen, Reif and Uzelman are presumed missing.
Left:
The crash site of the Lancaster PB120 in Rodenkirchen
Left:
The KE report of the German Recovery Command
on the crash of the PB120
