W4958
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
During the heavy attack on Cologne that night with over 650 bombers, Bomber Command suffered heavy losses from German night fighters and very heavy anti-aircraft fire. Five bombers alone crashed in and around Cologne, one of which was the Lancaster W4958. After being hit by anti-aircraft fire and the night fighter of Olt. Friedrich Karl Müller of the Nachtjagd-Versuchs Kommando (NJVK), the Lancaster caught fire and burst in the air over Uckendorf. Five hundred metres south of the small village, the larger parts of the aircraft hit a beet field on Bergheimer Weg and burnt out completely. Only one crew member, Sgt Colin William Young, was able to save himself by parachute and was captured by German soldiers in Kriegsdorf.
The rest of the crew died in the crash, but only three (Sgt. Capp, Fl/Sgt. Eversfield and Sgt. Everton) were recovered, identified and buried in Cologne's South Cemetery. They were exhumed in 1946 and laid to rest on the Runnymede Memorial. Four other crew members could not be recovered as their bodies were completely destroyed in the explosion and subsequent impact fire. Memorial plaques with their names have been placed on the Runnymede Memorial in their honour.
Additional sources:
Uckendorf school chronicle and post-war report on the crash from: Stadtarchiv Niederkassel 2346/Sammlung Arnold
Above:
The death notice issued by the German Salvage Command for Fl/Sgt Eversfield. The location of the crash and the first grave are noted on it.
Left:
The death certificate for Fl/Sgt. Eversfield, issued by the reserve military hospital in Cologne-Nippes