Mission: Sterkrade synthetic oil plant. The BC report states that the plant was not hit. Reason for Loss: Collided over Thynes, Belgium with a 346 Sqn Halifax NA557-H7-L
November 21, 1944 was a terrible day for the inhabitants of the village of Thynes. Two allied planes with French airmen in one and British and Australian aircrews in the otheron board, going to bombing in Germany collided and crashed at the entrance of the village. The accident, which does not cause any casualties among the villagers, results from a telescope of two allied aircraft due to very bad weather conditions. The small village was completely shaken by the magnitude of the drama. When they arrived at the accident site, the first inhabitants could only report the deaths of the 14 crew members.
The clergyman Abbé Louis Dispaux also went to the scene of the disaster and then returned to the presbytery where he lived. Discomfort around 8:00 p.m. – may be related to the vision of the flamed-out aircraft and the bodies of the victims? – Louis Dispaux died at the rectory of a heart attack at the age of 49.
The planes fell on the way out and not on the way back. The U.S. army blew up the bombs the next few days. To add an anecdotal note: one of the engines of the English plane came down from the hill and set fire to a house. The inhabitants made the chain to put out the fire with the water of the stream just opposite, the Leffe.