HE164 crashed at 20:30 after being shot down by a night-fighter, 2km South East of Meerhout (Antwerpen). F/S Smith died during the attack. F/L Kirk and P/O Mason died whilst trying to crash-land the aircraft and avoid housing, they were unable to bale-out as their parachutes had caught fire which extended from the main wing spar to the tail.
243 aircraft including 85 Wellington's detailed to attack, 3 Wellington's lost including HE164 and HE153 from 466 squadron. local records suggest that the target marking had only a limited success.
Those who died are buried in Schoonselhof Churchyard at Antwerpen.
The tail of this aircraft (minus fabric) is mounted on a stone plinth with a memorial plate inscribed with the crews names.
Sgt Bentley - PoW number is 27559 in camps 8B/344.
Sgt Leonard - PoW number is 27647. He spent several weeks in a Brussels Hospital then onto camps 8B/344.
Sgt Reynolds - PoW number is 27579 in camps 8B/344
