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RAF aircraft's crash sites in Province of West-Vlaanderen:
Ramskapelle

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Last update: 25/06/23


Elegy to
the Heroes of Silence


* To the 78 Squadron *
* To the crew of MZ340-EY-X *
* To the monument erected in remembrance *
* Cemetery where rest the crew *

Crash site of Halifax MZ340-EY-X
28/07/1944

aircraft
cest raf squadron
Unit: 78 Squadron
Aircraft: Halifax
Code: MZ340-EY-X
Base: Breighton
Mission: Forêt de Nieppe
Crew officer: P/O Burns K W L
Incident: Hit by German Flak

Location: (Prov. West-Vlanderen)

crash

Facts

On Friday, July 28, 2017 , the commemoration of the military and civil victims of the Halifax crash of July 28, 1944 will take place at the memorial in Hemmestraat 53 Ramskapelle . The ceremony starts at 10:30 am and is attended by the relatives of the civilian victims - the family Verhaeverbeke-Couvreur, a delegation of the provincial command of West Flanders, the military attaché of the British Embassy, ​​the patriotic associations, the city council of Nieuwpoort and the local community “Ramscapple aan den Yser”, which is the initiator of this annual commemoration. also mentioned on the commemorative stone:
On 28 July 1944 at 4:04 pm, the No 78 Squadron Halifax bomber EY-X MZ340 took off from Breighton (England) with the aim of bombing the V1 launchers and storage sites of Forêt de Nieppe (France). 199 bombers were used for this. The EY-X MZ340 was in charge of the 16 aircraft of the same squadron that belonged to No 4 Group.
At 8 miles off the Belgian coast, the plane was hit by a flak from the 'gem. Flak - Abt.252 'located in Mariakerke (Ostend). The pilot avoided Nieuwpoort-Stad and dropped 16 bombs of 250 kg between Sint-Joris and Ramskapelle. 2 residents of Sint-Joris were accidentally killed. The pilot kept his plane under control so that the crew could leave the badly damaged aircraft. Here at this place Wireless Operator / Air Gunner Russell Harry Winter fell into the flooded moat with his torn parachute. The 5 other paratroopers were taken prisoner of war. The pilot Flight Lieutenant William Gladstone Hoffman crashed with his Halifax EY-X near the farm 'Groot Noordhof' at 5:59 pm. All victims are buried in the civil cemetery of Saint George

Sources:
De Coxydsche Gazette
The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
Aircrew Remembered
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