6 Bomber Group September 3, 1944
105 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 425, 426, 427 and 432 squadrons attacked the German airfield at Volkel from between 14,000 to 16,000 feet. Over a million pounds of ordinance was dropped and the airfield was well hit.
All aircraft landed away due to bad weather inYorkshire. The airfields were Chedburgh, Stradishall, Sheppards Grove,Bury St. Edmonds, Little Snoring, Bungay, Foulsham, Wratting Common, Woodbridge, Newmarket, Levenham, North Creake, Swanningham, Stansted, and Tempsford. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
426 Thunderbird Squadron (On Wings Of Fire). The crew of Halifax aircraft LW 206 were en route to the target at Volkel, Holland when the aircraft went into a spin at 14,000 feet. They crashed at Sawston near Duxford, Cambridge, England, killing a number of American service personnel on the ground.
In addition to the four crew members killed, Pilot Officer RKB Hallalue, Navigator; Flight Sergeant RM Kipfor, Wireless Operator and Flying Officer H T Longley the Bomb Aimer, baled out safely
Published in RAF Commands "Another non-combat tragedy struck the Group on September 3, 1944."
Allan Cowan: I saw a British Halifax bomber (LW206), in a flat spin from the tower, and then the smoke of its crashing into the ground not too far from us down toward Wing headquarters at Pampisford on the edge of Sawston. First Lieutenant William Shoemaker, our Engineering Fire-Fighting Platoon commander was with me in the tower at the time. Super guy that he was, he got into his jeep and took his fire-fighting crew down to the crash site. While it was spinning down we had the glasses on it and we could make out the markings on it. I got on the phone to RAF Flight Operations to find out if the plane was operational with a bomb load, and the answer came back that it was not loaded but only on a training flight. had Shoemaker been there I would have told him this, but in fact it really was on and operations mission.
"Just about 1645 hours he got there and was trying to locate survivors, when the plane exploded its bombload. He was killed instantly in an act of bravery that so frequently goes unnoticed because the visibility of his action was just not there. Also killed in the explosion were our base Provost Marshal , First Lieutenant Louis Streb, 989th M.P.Company, and his driver, Sergeant Wayne Marsh, as well as Major Clyde Kennedy, 66th Fighter Wing Headquarters. Three others were struck by a flying tree trunk, but escaped serious injury. Five [sic] members of the plane's crew perished in the crash." (pp.78-9)
Appendix 4 - Personnel Losses.
9-3-44. Marsh,Wayne T. Sgt. 989th M.P.Co. Killed on Duty. At Pampisford, Sawston. Went to crash site of an RAF Halifax bomber to assist in rescue. Was killed when its bombload detonated.
9-3-44. Shoemaker,William M. 1Lt. 2027th. Engineering Fire-Fighting Platoon. Killed on Duty. Pampisford, Sawston, Cambs., UK. See above.
9-3-44. Streb,Louis F. 1 Lt. 989th MP Co. Killed on Duty. 78FG Provost Marshal. See above. (p.138).
See: Eagles Of Duxford - The 78th Fighter Group in World War II. Fry, Gary L.. St. Paul:Phalanx Publishing Co.,1991. pp.78-9 & 138.
Also killed assisting in the rescue was, Civilian/Home Guard Frederick Stanley Teversham.
