Crash Site Handley Page Halifax MkV 'W1271'

A small commemoration was held on June 22, 2021 in the Pierestraat (Rucphen - NB) with the unveiling of a temporary monument pending the placing of a definitive monument in the year 2023.

On June 21, 1943 at 11:42 PM, the Canadian bomber Halifax MKV W1271 of the 419th "Moose" squadron took off from the English airfield Middleton St. George to carry out a bombing raid on the West German city of Krefeld. This bombardment with 706 bombers of the No. 6 bomber command is part of "The Battle of the Ruhr" with the aim of hitting industrial targets in the German Ruhr area. On the way there, the Halifax W1271 of pilot Colin Rees Pearce is picked up by the radar of the "Biberstellung" in Oostvoorne and then shot out of the sky by the German night fighter Wilhelm Johnen in his Messerschmitt 110. At 01.43 hours, the aircraft crashed near "De Posthoorn" at the place that is popularly called "the yellow barge".
All seven crew members are killed in this crash, viz. Colin Rees Pearce (pilot), William Tidswell Ellis (navigator), Edgar Lester Robson (tail gunner), William James Randall (radio operator/gunner), James Galloway (air gunner), Joseph John Francis Holland (flight engineer) and Glyn John Davies Thompson (bomb aimer ).

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Source

• Text: Job Elshout (The Dutch Bears)
• Photos: Job Elshout (The Dutch Bears)
• The Dutch Bears
• Documentaire Halifax MKV W1271