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* Report: July 15th, 2023: The Belgians Parade to the London Cenotaph *

RAF aircraft's crash sites in Province of West-Vlaanderen:
Anzegem

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Vers le site en français

Last update: 25/06/23


Elegy to
the Heroes of Silence


* To the 7 Squadron *
* To the crew of JB455-MG-N *
* To the monument erected in remembrance *
* Cemetery where rest the crew *

Crash site of Lancaster JB455-MG-N
16/06/1944

aircraft
cest raf squadron
Unit: 7 Squadron
Aircraft: Lancaster
Code: JB455-MG-N
Base: Oakinghton
Mission: Lens
Crew officer: P/O THOMPSON HUGH WALLACE
Incident: shot down by German night fighter

Location: (Prov. West-Vlanderen)

crash

Facts

On Sunday 20 June 2004, the municipality of Anzegem commemorated the crash of the Lancaster JB455 with the unveiling of a memorial plaque at the Vindevogel-De Bosschere farm. Hugh Wallace Thomson MC DFC was cared for for four days in the basement of this farm, while German soldiers were billeted on a higher floor. Thomson was thrown from the plane just before the crash and was able to get to safety with his parachute. He was the sole survivor. Via the Resistance he managed to regain his unity via France. The other crew members were given a grave in the municipal cemetery of Anzegem. Flight Lieutenant Thomson was killed on September 18, 1948 during the Berlin Airlift, his plane crashed on take-off.
Six of the seven crew members were killed in the crash at Anzegem
The JB455 was one of eleven aircraft lost on 15/16 June 1944 in the bombing of the railway junctions and formation stations of Lens and Valenciennnes. After this Lancaster of the 7 Sqn RAF (Pathfinder Force) had thrown torches to mark the target, he was attacked and killed by German fighters on his way back. On June 16, 1944, between one and two o'clock in the morning, the aircraft crashed on a field behind the farm in Anzegem.

Sources:
Hangar Flying
The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)
Aircrew Remembered
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