W4798
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
Little is known about the crash of the Lancaster I, W4798. The aircraft was first fired on by several anti-aircraft batteries on its approach to Cologne and simultaneously attacked by night fighters at an altitude of approx. 5,000 metres. Major Walter Ehle of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 ( II./NJG1) was credited with shooting down the aircraft.
It is highly probable that the aircraft exploded in the air, which is why only a few body parts were found at the crash site. Only Sgt Dudley was identified and buried in Cologne, and another person was buried as "unknown dead". All others are still missing today.
Only Sgt Percy Frederick Cottle was able to save himself by parachute. He landed near the crash site and tried to make his way to Belgium. He managed to remain undetected for seven days. As he had lost his emergency equipment during the jump, he was travelling without food, water or other supplies. On 24 June 1943, he was discovered, completely exhausted, by a farmer near Aldenhoven and handed over to the Wehrmacht and transferred to Stalag Luft 6 Heydekrug.
Sgt. Dudley died on 30 September 1992.
above:
The crash site of Lancaster W4798 near Pattern
left:
The pilot, Pilot Officer Alan William Pullan
left:
The grave of Navigator Sgt Cecil Thomas Oswal Dudley,
who was first buried in the South Cemetery in Cologne and later transferred to the British Military Cemetery in Rheinberg.