It is their
sixth mission. They take off from their base
Mildenhall in Stirling MkI BK658 LS-K for
Kiwi.
The crew of
BK658 LS-K. Standing on the far left is Sgt
McNulty. Next to him the pilot, Sgt. William
McLeod. Standing on the right is Sgt.
Archibald Eaton. Front left is Sgt. Eric
Willis. (picture courtesy of Eric Willis via
Ab Jansen, Wespennest Leeuwarden, vol. III,
page 167. Used by permission)
On the way to their target,
they reach the Dutch coast over Texel.
Surprised by the lack of anti aircraft guns,
the crew realizes that night fighters are
probably in the vicinity.
Not long
afterwards, over
the Waddenzee, their Stirling was attacked
by an German night fighter, flown by Uffz.
Karl Pfeiffer of 10./NJG1.
At 01.00 he
attacks the Stirling at a height of 3.800
meters and shoots it down. McLeod orders the
crew to bail out. All manage to do so,
although wireless operator Eric Willis
experiences some hair-raising moments. He
spills his parachute in the plane. He grabs
the parachute and jumps clear of the plane.
Fortunately the parachute opens without
trouble and Willis lands.
The plane crashed
near Midwolda in the province of Groningen,
the wreckage spilled over a wide area,
indicating that the plane might have
exploded before impact.
Sgt. McNulty dies in the plane. The rest of
the crew managed to bail out in time and
are taken prisoner. They are taken to
Amsterdam to be interrogated. Sgt. Willis
spends some time in hospital.
Sgt. McNulty
is buried at Midwolda General Cemetery. He
was 21.
(Picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)
