The following night, on 8/9 May, rail yards, an airfield and seaplane base and gun battery positions in France and Belgium were bombed in 452 sorties. Once again twelve aircraft were lost; seven of them Halifaxes and four Lancasters. The largest operation of the night was an attack by 123 aircraft on rail yards at Haine-St-Pierre between the towns of Charleroi and Mons in Belgium, who ran headlong into fighters of IV/NJG1 from Sint-Truiden/Sint-Trond and I/NJG4 at Florennes. Six Halifaxes and three Lancasters were shot down. Several Canadian Halifax and Lancaster squadrons bore the brunt of the losses and 431 ‘Iroquois’ and 432 ‘Leaside’ Squadrons RCAF each lost two Halifax IIIs and 405 ‘Vancouver’ Squadron RCAF at Gransden Lodge were missing two Lancaster Ills.
Halifax III LK798 ‘A-Apple’ on 425 ‘Alouette’ Squadron RCAF at Tholthorpe piloted by Flying Officer Larry White USAAF crashed at Walle-‘t Hage (West Vlaanderen) two kilometres southeast of Courtrai. The American pilot was killed – six of the seven crew bailed out and two subsequently evaded.
Halifax LW583/L on 432 ‘Leaside’ Squadron RCAF flown by Flying Officer Thomas Russell Martin RCAF crashed at Posthoorn (West Vlaanderen) two kilometres southwest of Courtrai. » Hauptmann Adolf Breves and 24-year old Oberleutnant Georg Hermann Greiner, both of IV./NJG1, each claimed Viermots near Courtrai. Breves took off from Sint Trond at 0317 hours in a Bf 110 and using ‘Schrage Musik’ attacked what was probably White’s Halifax. The port wing burst into flames and the fuel tanks exploded. However, the defensive fire from the bomber’s gunners was so intense that Breves was forced to turn away. At this point he lost control of the 110 but he eventually regained control and landed safely back at Sint Trond where he put in a claim for the first of his 17 victories.
Greiner’s 26th Abschuss was most likely that of Flying Officer Martin’s Halifax. The pilot and two other crew members were killed; two were taken prisoner and Flying Officers D. A. D’Andrea RCAF and L. Panzer RCAF avoided capture. Panzer was captured on 1 August and incarcerated in Sint Gilles prison in Brussels for a time but both he and D’Andrea escaped to England in September.
Source: 425 Sqd-Les Allouettes
