On their way home, the aircraft of F/O Al Power and his crew was attacked by night fighter pilot Major Werner Streib and radio operator Helmut Fischer of the Stab I./NJG 1, flying Bf 110 'G9+BB' from Venlo airfield, the Netherlands. The two air gunners immediately opened fire on the attacking German plane, but a second attack left both air gunners fatally wounded. The steering mechanism was damaged and the plane caught fire. Since the plane was completely out of control, F/O Al Power instructed his crew to bale out, but as the last man to leave the plane, his parachute failed to open.
The Lancaster flew low over the nearby farm, owned by the Tijskens family, and crashed in a swamp called 'Het Papebos', in the Belgian village of Hamont at 9:27 P.M.
The crew of ED488-VN-N
