The Air War over Germany, from 1939 to 1945 brought many losses to the German Civilian populace, but it also brought losses of people and material to the opponent states, England and America. Many bombers and fighter escorts were shot down by German air defenses, anti aircraft batteries and day and night fighter squadrons. Especially toward the end of the war, aircraft parts buried deeper in the earth, such as motors and even ammunition were simply left in place and not recovered. The crash craters were often simply filled with earth. Even the pilots were not always recovered. Many German pilots are still listed as "missing". Recovery and removal crews do not always take the time to document the historical context.

Against this background, I have tried to investigate and document forgotten crash sites of German and Allied war planes. I am also documenting the fate of the flyers to thereby reconstruct some of the history of the Air Battle over the East Westphalian region.

I have collected the results of my research to date in the following pages. Since the search for newspaper material and information from that time is very laborious and time consuming, I will regularly update and expand my internet pages. I would be very grateful for any additional detailed information concerning the crashes I have documented here. Should I have missed a crash site, I will appreciate any additional information.

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