Short Stirling III BF479 OJ-E of 149 Squadron took off from RAF Lakenheath in England on the Night of the 13th/14th March 1943. Its target that night was to bomb Bochum which was situated in the industrial region of the Ruhr Valley in Germany. BF479 was part of a force of 442 aircraft, 135 of which were Halifaxes, 104 Wellingtons, 98 Lancasters, 95 Stirlings and 10 Mosquitoes. Overall 24 aircraft and their young crews were lost on this raid alone including 13 Halifaxes, 6 Wellingtons, 4 Stirlings and 1 Lancaster.
The raid started well but after 15 minutes, what were believed to be German decoy markers drew much of the bombing away from the target. 394 buildings in Bochum were destroyed, 716 were seriously damaged. Tragically 302 people were killed in the bombing.
The crew of Stirling BF479, with there mission complete, the young crew began their homeward journey, but they were not safe yet. At 03.05 hours on the 14th May 1943 when flying over Belgium the crew requested a bearing which was given – nothing further was heard from the crew of BF479. The aircraft was claimed by a night fighter Obfw Fritz Schellwat of 2/NJG1 at 03.15hrs, the Stirling crashed 10km SE of Turnhout near Kasterlee. The gun camera of Schellwat confirmed the kill. Obfw Fritz Schellwat had a total of 17 confirmed victories by the end of the war. The crew of BF479 were buried locally at first before before being re-interred at Schoonselhof after the war.
The aircraft crashed in flames in the Vorsell near Kasterlee where the German Luftwaffe were quickly on the scene to recover the bodies of the crew of BF479.
