On the night of 20-21 April I944, Lancaster III ND826 F2-W of 635 (PFF) Squadron, Bomber Command, crashed at Dion-le-Mont, 2.5 miles ESE of Wavre, having taken off from RAF Downham Market in Norfolk at 21.28 hours. All seven crew now rest in Heverlee War Cemetery. Their skipper, Donald William Mansbridge AFC had completed 42 operational sorties. Their target was Ottignies railway station, an important junction on the Brussels-Luxembourg line, just SSW of Wavre.
The crew of Lancaster ND 826: THE MANSBRIDGE CREW as of April I944. (L-R): S/L Donald William Mansbridge RAF age 30, F/O Gerald Herbert Cruwys RAF (Nav) age 22, W/O William Courtney 'Whitey' White DFM RAFVR (AB) age 34, W/O John Richard 'Happy' Hanson RAFVR (WOp) age 21, F/S Ernest 'Butch' Hambling DFM RAFVR (A/G) age unknown, F/S Ernest Rowe Newton Barrell RAFVR (A/G) age 29, W/O Albert Stanley 'Tich' Palmer DFM RAF (F/E) age 24
