Z9226
Crashes > of the R.A.F.
On the return flight from the bombing raid on Düsseldorf, the Whitley V , Z9226 was hit by, among others, the flak lights of the 1.-3./Flakscheinw. Abt. 250 and attacked by the night fighter crew Hauptmann Streib & Feldwebel Ruscher of Staff I./NJG 1, who had taken off in their Bf 110 from Venlo airfield in the Netherlands.
The Whitley caught fire and crashed in Viersen at about 20:45. It narrowly flew over the Festhalle and crashed onto Heimbachstrasse behind it. Leaking petrol set fire to the ground floor of the house at Heimbachstrasse 5b and flowed through the basement windows into the air-raid shelter of the house. Two people succumbed to their severe burn injuries and others were seriously injured.
The five-man crew was only recovered dead from the front of the plane and buried in Cologne's South Cemetery.
Some details about the crash are taken from Ludwig Hügen's book "...und stürzt brennend ab",
a copy of which was kindly made available to me by the city archives in Wegberg. Many thanks for this.
Above:
The grave site of the crew at the
Cologne South Cemetery
left:
the crash site Heimbachstr. 5b
below:
the two photos show the crashed Whitley
on Heimbachstrasse.
Both photos were kindly made available to me by the city archives in Viersen.
for which my sincere thanks.
(Source: KA, LV, No. 5-6678)