Since the plane was completely out of control, F/O Al Power instructed his crew to bale out, but as the last man to leave the plane, his parachute failed to open. The steering mechanism was damaged and the plane caught fire. The two air gunners immediately opened fire on the attacking German plane, but a second attack left both air gunners fatally wounded. On their way home, the aircraft of F/O Al Power and his crew was attacked by the German night-fighter Messerschmitt Bf110 of pilot Major Werner Streib and radio operator Helmut Fischer. Defences were not heavy but flak was very accurate, and there were many searchlights.

Terrific fires were raging over the whole area and the target area was so well illuminated by the glow that the pilot of one aircraft was able to clearly distinguish a factory and attack it. The Operations Record Book of the 50th Squadron reports that most of the aircraft experienced trouble owing to the freezing up of the guns, but all agreed that what they had seen of the raid was a first-class effort. Holland from the United Kingdom), Radio operator Sgt Victor Mitchell from the United Kingdomĭe bemanning voor hun Lancaster III ED488 VN-M op the R.A.F.-basis te Skellingthorpe (Lincoln) Staande v.l.n.r.: piloot F/O Al Power, navigator F/O Tom Church en rugkoepelschutter Sgt Jack Holloway (vervangen door F/Lt Jack Bousfield tijdens de raid op Keulen op ) Zittende v.l.n.r.: staartkoepelschutter Sgt Stanley Beadon, bommenrichter Sgt Bill Hogg (afgelost door Sgt Holland tijdens de raid op Keulen op ), boordwerktuigkundige Sgt Norman Clark en radio-operator Sgt Victor Mitchellĭuring this air raid on Cologne, the Stirlings, which had to mark the targets with flares before the bombers flew over, used new H2S target searching radar devices. The seven crew members of the Lancaster were: Standing l-r: P/O Navigator Tom Church from Canada, Sgt Jack Holloway (relieved by F/Lt Jack Bousfield from the United Kingdom), P/O Pilot Al Power from Canada, Board engineer Sgt 'Nobby' Norman Clark from the United Kingdom Front row l-r: Rear gunner Sgt 'Killer' Stanley Beadon from the United Kingdom, Bomb aimer Sgt Billy Hogg (relieved by Sgt R.A. One aircraft, the LANC III ED488 VN-M of Flying Officer Al Power and his crew, failed to return. One aircraft returned early owing to the rear turret being out of service. Six of these aircraft were completely successful. To form the 5th group the 50th Squadron, which had its base at Skellingthorpe (Lincoln), sent 8 Lancaster bombers.

The 5th Group of this fleet comprised 74 Lancaster bombers.

On the evening of 2nd February 1943 an allied fleet of 161 aircraft set out for a bombing raid on the city of Cologne in Germany. Bomber Command Intelligence Narrative of Operations, the Operations Record Book of the 50th Squadron, German wreck salvage reports and from eye-witness accounts. The last flight of the Lancaster III ED488 VN-MĬoncerning the flight of the Lancaster bomber LANC III ED488 VN-M, which crashed at Hamont in Belgium on 2nd February 1943, the following events could be reconstructed from the R.A.F.

Lancaster bomber crew names