Lionel Harry Williams was born on 30 December 1917 at Medicine Hat, . He was the son David John and Ethel Laura Williams.

Lionel was educated at Calgary and Ladysmith, British Columbia. He went on to work for the Canada Bank of Commerce in B.C. on 26 May 1938. Lionel joined the Royal Air Force on 21 July 1941.

He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 31st January, 1942. He trained at Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Fingal, Ont. He went overseas in February 1942 and was promoted to the rank of Flight Sergeant in August of that year.

Lionel was posted to 405 Squadron were he flew as a tail gunner on Halifax bombers.

405  Squadron RCAF

On the evening of 2 October, 1942, F/S Williams and his crew took off from their base at Topcliffe, for a bombing raid on Krefeld. His crew consisted of:

Sergeant E.W. Murphy,
Sergeant D.G. Hachett
Sergeant G.H. Shannon,
Sergeant Maxwall Ben-Hertz,
Sergeant S. Messham,
Sergeant Charles E Neubert,
Sergeant L.H. Williams,

The crew was flying Halifax II, DG228. On the outbound leg the bomber was hit by flak over Noordwijk. Witnesses on the ground saw a small light that became bigger and turned into a burning plane. At 23:05h it crashed into the house of the Hogervorst family in Noordwijkerhout.

The father, Hendrick, and his son Wim were listening to the planes at the back of the house. Inside were mother Adriana and her two daughters, Clara and Alida. They had no time to escape when the plane crashed. Wim, covered with burning fuel, runs to a canal and jumps into it. Badly burned he made his way to the neighbors house were he is kept in a barrel full of rainwater until he can be brought to the hospital. The burns on his arms and legs are so severe that he dies in hospital two days later.

Daughter Clara is initially buried with her mother under the rubble. With the help of her mother she is able to free herself. When she finds her father unhurt, both return to the ruin to rescue her mother, Adriana. Adriana is looked after by a German doctor until she can be transported to the hospital. She recovers although her spleen was removed. Daughter Alida dies in the crash.

The whole crew perished in the crash. Their remains were found on 3 and 7 October, and buried at the Algemene begraafplaats Noordwijk on 8 October, 1942. Only Sgt Murphy is identified at the time.

F/S Lionel Williams is buried, in a communal grave, at the Noordwijk General Cemetery, Plot 1. Joint grave 16.

Noordwijk, The Netherlands

See also:
Sgt E.W. Murphy
Sgt D.G. Hachett
Sgt George Shannon
Sgt Maxwall Ben-Hertz
Sgt S. Messham
Sgt Charles E Neubert

Acknowledgements and Sources:
Mr. Dennis Peschier
War Service records, Canada Bank of Commerce, 1947
RAF Squadron crest © Crown Copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

Directions to Noordwijk General Cemetery

Posted 14 July 2006

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This website is dedicated to the men and women who died and/or are buried in The Netherlands during World War II.

 

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