Häver
| Crash Date: | February 21st, 1945 | ||
| Crash Time: | 1615 | ||
| Cause: | Shot down by Flak | ||
| Aircraft Typ: | A-26 B-15DT | ||
| Markings: | W5  |
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| Serial Number: | 43-22364 | ||
| Nickname: | --- | ||
| Crew: | 3 (3 KIA) | ||
| MACR / KU: | 12592 / 3734 | ||
| Unit: | 409. BG (L) / 640. BS (L) | ||
| Country: | USA |
While returning from a raid on the City of Lage, in the County of Lippe, the Douglas A-26 "Invader", flown by Lieutenant Murphy, took hit from Flak immediately under the cockpit. The explosion ripped a large hole in the fuselage as well as in the cockpit glass. The bomber left the formation, plummeted to earth and impacted in an agricultural field, to the north of the "Bultweg" way in the district of Häver in the Community of Kirchlengern. The crew was unable to leave the aircraft. The three fallen flyers were interred in the cemetery in Häver. After the war, the remains were moved to the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri/USA. The mission took off from Couvron Airfield in France.
In den 1970s, the wreckage of the light bomber was recovered by an ordnance disposal team from the City of Detmold.
The downing of this aircraft was credited to an heavy Flak battery which, at that time, was stationed in an agricultural field of the "Oberstuke" farm, northeast of the "Backsiek" way in the district of Häver.
Crew
| Pilot | 2nd Lt Gene B. Murphy | KIA | ||
| Eng/Gun | Sgt Thomas P. Harrison | KIA | ||
| Arm/Gun | Sgt Clifford G. Baker | KIA |
Sgt Clifford G. Baker, front row, center
Return Flight of the 640th Squadron from a raid on the City of Münstereifel on the 25th of December 1944
Note: The photo material as well as additional information concerning this crash were helpfully provided by Mr. John Baker of Winamac, Indiana/USA. Mr. Baker is the nephew of Sgt Clifford Baker, a member of the crew which perished in this crash. Mr. Baker and his family had no information prior of this about the location of the crash or the disposition of the crew prior their transfer to St. Louis/USA after the end of the war.