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RAF aircraft's crash sites in Province of Liege:
La Calamine

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Last update: 25/06/23


Elegy to
the Heroes of Silence


* To the 97 Squadron *
* To the crew of JA960-OF-E *
* To the monument erected in remembrance *
* Cemetery where rest the crew *

Crash site of Lancaster JA960-OF-E
2/01/1944

aircraft
cest raf squadron
Unit: 97 Squadron
Aircraft: Lancaster
Code: JA960-OF-E
Base: Bourn
Mission: Aachen
Crew officer: F/O MOONEY, Robert Leo
Incident: Hit by Flak

Location: (Prov. Liege)

crash

Facts

At the intersection of Moresneterstrasse and Boschhausenerstrasse in Neu-Moresnet, there is a simple memorial to the deceased crew of a 'Canadian' bomber that crashed on 'January 3, 1944'. According to the Remember Museum in Thimister-Clermont, it is said to be the Lancaster JA960 OF-E of the 97 Squadron. Crew members: F / S Norman D. Cameron (W/O), Sgt Felix B. Gray (flight engineer), F / S George A. Johnson DFM (navigator), F / O Robert L. Mooney DFM (pilot), F / S George E. Smith (rear gunner), F / S Godfrey Woolf RAAF (dorsal turret gunner) and F / S Jack Worsdale DFM (bomb aimer). Since German-speaking Belgium was annexed back to the Reich during the Second World War (and was therefore not considered 'occupied'), the Germans brought the seven dead to Aachen,
A memorial to this crew has stood in Neu-Moresnet for many years. The complete original inscription was: 'Passant souvient toi! The 3 January 1944, un avion canadien touché au-dessus de l'Allemagne s'est écrasé ici. 7 tués - 2 blessés - 2 évadés. ' The memorial shows the date as January 3, 1944 while Lancaster JA960 crashed on the night of January 1 to 2, 1944. The number of crew was listed as seven killed, two wounded and two POWs with no mention of any name but in the Lancaster there were only seven crew members who all lost their lives. There was also no Canadian connection to the crew or the unit.
Mrs. Susan Stewart, whose Uncle F / S Norman D. Cameron was the radio operator on this Lancaster, contacted us at the end of 2018 with a request for more information on this memorial. In turn, we contacted the municipal services of Kelmis, municipality of which Neu-Moresnet is a part. We immediately found a listening ear with Guenther Havenith who was also contacted directly by Mrs. Stewart. He was immediately prepared to do further research and provide the memorial with the correct information. In June 2019 we received a message about the adjustment of the memorial with more and correct information about the aircraft and its crew.

Sources:
Hangar Flying
The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
Aircrew Remembered
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