6 Group Unavailable
405 Vancouver Squadron (Ducimus) RAF Gransden Lodge. Halifax II aircraft HR 854 LQ-A was homeward-bound from an operation to bomb the Peugeot motor factory at Montbeliard, France, when it was attacked by (unidentified) German night-fighters and the two starboard engines were shot up. After losing considerable altitude over 35 minutes, the pilot finally ordered the crew to bail out before the Halifax crashed near Tonnerre, France
Rear Air-Gunner, Flight Sergeant Arthur Osbourne Prior (RAFVR) survived and was captured to become a Prisoner of War
Flight Lieutenant James Henry Foy DFC MiD (RCAF), Squadron Leader Albert Lambert DFC & Bar (RCAF), Flying Officer Hugh Thompson Huston MiD (RCAF), Pilot Officer John Bert McDougall MiD (RCAF), Sergeant Gregor MacGregor (RCAF) and Flying Officer Thomas William Simpson (RCAF) all survived and became Evaders and these crew members eventually made their way over the Pyrenees Mountains, through Spain, on to Gibraltar, ultimately returning safely to the UK
The crew came down at about 03:15 hours, just West of Beliecarde. They buried their parachutes and mae wests in thick undergrowth and pulled briar over them. They moved South, reaching a canal, walking along it, for about 30 minutes. As it became light, the crew hid in a wood along the canal bank. At 23:00 hours on 16 July 1943, they continued along the canal, endeavoring to find a bridge. They eventually crossed the canal and continued walking until 02:00 hours, when they again hid in woods. The crew spent all of the day, 17 July 1943, in the woods, and began to walk South at 23:00 hours., eventually reaching the outskirts of Les Bordes at 05:30 hours. From the cover of a wood, they watched a nearby farmhouse, which they eventually approached, were taken in, fed and sheltered. Those who dared - A Comprehensive List of World War ll Allied Escapers
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