PD338
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
On the return flight from the bombing raid on Düsseldorf, the Lancaster I, PD338 was attacked by night fighters at an altitude of approx. 5,500 metres. Hptm. Fritz Lau of the 4th/NJG 1 pursued the aircraft with his Bf 110 and inflicted heavy hits on the wings, the starboard engine and the petrol tanks, whereupon the Lancaster immediately burst into flames. One engine broke out of its moorings and the aircraft was no longer controllable. Nobody was injured by the fire and the pilot gave the order to bail out.
Completely out of control, the aircraft crashed and burned to the ground about 200 metres from the farmstead "Klein-Sasserhof", about 2 km west of Dormagen, in an open field and burned out completely. Fl/Sgt. Collings, Sgt. Hale and Fl/Sgt. Scott were arrested by police officers from Worringen immediately after landing on the ground and thus became German prisoners of war.
The pilot, Fl/O Smith, was able to hide and made his way from Düsseldorf to Aachen, but six days after the crash his freedom came to an end. He was arrested by German Wehrmacht soldiers and was also taken prisoner of war. Fl/Sgt. Davidson did not survive the jump, whether his parachute failed to open or he was fatally injured when he hit the ground cannot be reconstructed. He was recovered dead from a field in the Worringen area and was buried in the Worringen cemetery. The body of Fl/Sgt Reed was found the next morning in a field near Dormagen, probably because his parachute had not fully opened. He was buried in the Dormagen cemetery.
left:
The crash site of the Lancaster PB338 at the ‘Klein-Sasserhof’
below:
The grave sites of the two crew members who were killed