PB701 - Luftkriegsarchiv Köln

During the approach to the bombing target, the Rhenania Ossag oil refinery in the Reisholz district, the aircraft was attacked by the German night fighter Unteroffizier Walter Telsing from II/NJG11. He approached the Lancaster from below and fired his salvos into the open bomb doors and the wings, among other places.

This was Uffz. Telsnik's first and only kill as a fighter pilot.

The inboard starboard engine and the petrol tanks in the wing of the Lancaster caught fire and exploded. The rear gun turret and the elevator were badly damaged and the tail gunner, Fl/Sgt Thomas Stanley Carr, was killed by the fire. The pilot gave the order to abandon the aircraft immediately after the firing. At approximately 17,000 feet, all survivors except the pilot abandoned the burning aircraft.

The pilot, F/Lt Andrew Desmond Pelly DFC, remained at the controls to give the crew time to leave and crashed with the aircraft. It exploded at low altitude in the Halzenberg/Oberhagen/Bergstadt area, the debris extending over several hundred metres.

Tragically, F/O Sinfield's parachute did not open and he could only be recovered dead. He was buried together with Fl/Sgt Carr in the cemetery in Dhünn. Fl/Sgt Bangs was also found fatally wounded near Hüffen and was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Kürten.

W/O William Pearce hid for five nights on his escape to the west before he was discovered by a civilian and handed over to the German authorities. Like Sgt Pelly, who was only captured two days after the crash, both were taken prisoner of war by the Germans. Fl/Sgt Morgan, F/O MacLeod and Sgt Routledge also followed them to the German POW camp Stalag VII A.

William (Bill) Pearce spent many years after the war trying to find the person responsible for shooting down the PB701. He made contact with Walter Telsnig and a friendly correspondence and telephone contact began that lasted for years. In 2008, the two former adversaries met in Salzburg for a long and conciliatory conversation.

The area of the crash, below the crash site near Halzenberg

the approach and departure route of the bombers during the attack on Reisholz

W/O William George Pearce R.A.A.F

NCO Walter Telsnig, II/NJG 11