John Laird,
possibly at his aunt's house (picture courtesy
of Mr. Richard Burgess)
On 22
April 1944, PO Laird and his crew
participated in a mission to the German
Industrial city of Dusseldorf in the Ruhr area.
His crew was made up of;
WO2 W.F.Vornbrock RCAF
Sgt L.Walters
F/S J.S.Laird RCAF
WO2 F.P.Camaart
Sgt L.Hanson
Sgt J.J.Renning RCAF
Sgt F.P.Morrisey
The crew. F/S
Laird is at the back row, left. (picture
courtesy of Barrie Walters)
The crew boarded Halifax LV780 QB-M and took off
from their base at Skipton-on-Swale at 22.30.
"Located at the Oude Abcovensedijk, on the
dike of the river Leij, once stood the
age-old house called "Ter
Loo". It was owned by a Mr. Francios Damen.
After his death in 1939 the farm was sold to
a Mr. J.C. Moonen,
who was a local farmer's union leader.
Although he bought the farm in 1939, he finally
moved into the farm on 22 April 1944. By
twist of fate, he was
not to enjoy his new residence for long, as
at 02.00 that same night, a Allied bomber
crashed onto his house.
It was part of a bombing raid on the German
city of Dusseldorf. Planes passed the nearby
city of Tilburg
between 22.42 and 00.12. At1.24, the local
air wardens gave "Air Alarm". The bombers
are on their way home.
Many are heard flying form east to west.
Heavy anti aircraft fire is reported east
and west of the city. A
fire-glow is observed in the east. One plane
is observed crashing while on fire in the
direction of Goirle.
The air wardens think the plane must have
exploded mid air. At first they are confused
and are not sure if it
is it two different small planes (fighters)
or one bomber. Around 12.00 the next day,
they can be sure; a 4
engined bomber has crashed on the Moonen
farm. 2 engines and the tail section came
down elsewhere. The tail
section came down near the house of the
Doevedans family, on the same road.
The farm
and the horse-stable of
the Moonen farm burn down. One barn could be
rescued by the Goirle fire-department. Near
the wreck the bodies
of 5 of the crew were found. At about 08.00
the body of the sixt crew member, wireless
operator Leslie
Hanson, is found behind the pub " 'T
Schommeltje" ( "The little swing" ). A 7th
crew member survives the
crash and is captured by the Germans. He has
a fractured leg and lower arm and is taken
to a hospital in Den
Bosch. This man is idintified as Charley
Phygalt. The mayor writes his wife but no
reply is ever received.
Later, after the war, it is established that
this must be a mistake and that the surving
crew member is F/S F
D Morrisey, from Canada.
The crew members who perished in the crash
are put in coffins and left in a barn at the
Moonen farm, guarded
by two German soldiers. The local German
commander orders the men to be buried at
07.00 on the morning of the
25th of April. The graves are covered with
flowers. For the three Roman Catholics among
the crew, three masses
are ordered by the town council." (*)
The crew's
original graves at Goirle Roman Catholic
Cemetery. The Canadians in the crew were
reburied at Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery
after the war. (picture courtesy of Barrie
Walters)
Sgt F.P.Morrisey
was interned in Camp L7, PoW No.91. After the
war he wrote this report:
"Station -424 Squadron - Skipton-on-Swale. Take
off about 9 o’clock. Engine failure on take off.
W/O2 Vornbrock steadied aircraft and restarted
engine while at tree top level - no engine
trouble from now on. First to target. Dusseldorf.
Uneventful. Lots of misty weather over Europe -
a sort of hazy fog. Target bombed on time and
successfully. On the way home there was a
terrific number of fighter flares going down
over Holland. Without any preliminary warning
there was an explosion up front of aircraft
presumably flak. Pilot shouts "bale out, bale
out" and just as I was leaving I heard him say "for
christ sake hurry I can’t hold it much longer".
Aircraft burning violently - I said "rear gunner
going" and out I went. I got the impression
somebody was hit over the escape hatch and
prevented the rest of the crew forward to get
out - but that is only a guess. Broke my right
leg on landing, was captured in the morning of
the 23rd of April by Jerry, and taken to
hospital at Hertogenbosch, Holland.
Interrogator’s Notes: Was not wearing
flying boots that night just socks and heated
slippers and no bother experienced in getting
out. Otherwise rear gunner considers he could
have never have extricated his feet in time.
Landed very fast, feet going 4 inches into grass
field"
596 aircraft took part in the
Düsseldorf raid. 16 Halifaxes and
13 Lancasters were lost; 4.9 percent of the force. 2,150 tons of bombs were dropped in
an old-style heavy attack on a German city
which caused much destruction but also
allowed the German night-fighter force to
penetrate the bomber stream. The attack fell
mostly in the northern districts of
Düsseldorf. Widespread damage was caused.
The last page in
Sgt Walter's logbook (picture courtesy of Barrie
Walters)
After
the war, PO Laird was reinterred at
Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery.
