Crash Site Armstrong Whitley MkV N1463 GE-L

Crash Site Armstrong Whitley MkV N1463 GE-L #3

Crash Site Armstrong Whitley MkV N1463 GE-L #4

On 18 June 1940, Armstrong Whitley MkV bomber N1463 GE-L crashed at this site. The aircraft belonged to the 58th Squadron of the RAF and had taken off from Linton on Ouse base for a mission to Gelsenkirchen. It was hit by anti-aircraft fire with navigator Eric Jones-Roberts badly injured. The pilot James Ford tried to bring the aircraft home in good faith but over Soesterberg it was hit again and caught fire. The crew were ordered to leave the plane by parachute and the pilot tried in vain to make another emergency landing to save the navigator's life. Both died in the crash, the three remaining crew members made it out alive and became prisoners of war.

Pilot James Ford and navigator Eric Jones-Roberts are buried at the General Cemetery on the Achterweg in Culemborg.

The crew of the aircraft consisted of:
Flight Sergeant (Pilot) Gordon James Ford, RAF 562682, age 28, killed
Sergeant H.P. Maguire; POW
Sergeant (Observer) Eric Jones-Roberts, RAF 580580, age 28, killed
Sergeantt A.E. Furze; POW
Sergeant F.S. Staley; POW

On 5 May 2025, this memorial sign was placed at the site of the crash.

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