Z1338
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
The Wellington IV, Z1338 was on its way back from the bombing raid on Kassel and was without a bomb load when it came under fire from flak, caught fire and crashed. At around 01:30 it grazed the roof of the house at Esserstr.56 in Humbold-Gremberg, killing a couple who lived in the attic flat.
The plane hit the open space Odenwald Strasse / Esserstrasse and burnt out completely. Leaking petrol set fire to the attic at EsserStr. 56 as well as to the premises of the "Schlimm" restaurant facing Odenwaldstrasse 26. The latter burnt out completely, only the intervention of the fire brigade could prevent the flames from spreading to other residential buildings.
Four crew members were recovered dead from the burnt-out wreckage of the aircraft and buried in Cologne's South Cemetery.
Sgt. Francis Churchill Weighhill was the only one of the crew to parachute out, landed in Giessener Straße and became a German prisoner of war.
The recovery of the dead crew and the removal of the aircraft debris was taken over by the salvage command of the Cologne-Ostheim air base.
left:
The crash site of the Wellington Z1338
at the corner of Odenwaldstr. and Esserstr.