On 16 December
1943 the crew would fly their first
operational mission,
which was to Berlin. The crew took off in
Lancaster JB545 EA-O for Oboe. En route to
target, the Lancaster was intercepted by
Oblt. Schnaufer who shot it down over the
province of Gronigen. He would shoot down
four Allied bombers this night in a 40
minute time span.
People in the
town of Sonnega heard the bomber come over
from west to east, then it turned around,
flying back. The plane circled the skies of
Sonnega for about twenty minutes before it
crashed. The locals always wondered why the
crew never jumped from their stricken plane.
The whole crew was killed in the crash and
buried in nearby Wolvega.
The day prior,
December 15, Sgt Losa had written a letter
to F/L Henderson, the Canadian Liaison
Officer with requests in case of his death.
Fate had it that he would fly and be killed
the very next night.
Sgt Ricardo
Losa is buried in Wolvega General Cemetery,
Plot 16. Row 1. Grave 11.
(picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)
