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Heath, Jack

Date of death:
June 12th, 1943 (Sluipwijk, the Netherlands)
Buried on:
Commonwealth War Cemetery Jonkerbos
Plot: 20. Row: J. Grave: 2.
Service number:
408309
Nationality:
Australian (1901-present, Federal Monarchy)

Biography

On 11 June 1943 at 21:47, the Lancaster W4960 AR-R departed from RAF basis Binbrook for a bombing raid on the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. They were part of a group of 783 aircrafts, of which 326 Lancasters 202 Halifaxes, 143 Wellintons, 99 Stirlings and 13 mosquitos. The aircraft was shot down over the Netherlands by a German night fighter and crashed at 02:15 in the Dutch village Sluipwijk. All crew members died and were buried in the cemetery in Sluipwijk. In 1945, they reburied in Jonkerbos war cemetery in Nijmegen. In total 38 aircrafts crashed down during this raid. The damage to the city was enormous, partly due to the many fires that arose after the bombing. 1,292 people died and 140,000 people were bombed out.

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Sources