Etienne Bataille and Florent Depauw were Belgian war volunteers with the 1st Independent Belgian Parachute Company (from January 1944, the 1st Belgian SAS Squadron). they had fled occupied Belgium and it took them 22 months to reach Britain.
To familiarize the formation paratroopers with the flight and to check whether they were not sensitive to air sickness, they flew several flights as passengers on aircraft available at the time. Etienne Bataille and his fellow paratrooper Florent Depauw were aboard the Wellington DF743 of the 22 Operational Training Unit on 19 April 1943. However, the plane crashed at Staple Farm, killing all five crewmen and two passengers. The investigation could not determine the cause of the crash.
In 1998, a plaque commemorating the unfortunate crew and two passengers was unveiled at St. Michael & All Angels Church in Withington.
