Among the negatives taken in wartime Germany that I acquired from a private estate were several shots of a downed RAF Halifax bomber. The code numbers were visible and online I was able to find an incident report of this aircraft going missing in 1943.  The report said that the aircraft was unaccounted for and probably crashed in the North Sea with all crew lost. From the picture it is obvious that it came down in a wooded area.  My question is: would this new info be of interest to someone or was it too long ago to really matter?   I blocked out the aircrafts code letters for now.

What a great find! I would imagine that info on this would be of interest to someone -- though it's impossible to say when. That's the great thing about research, you never know when someone will be looking for just each little bit of information. Something like this is great, because maybe there are descendants/family of someone on the plane that would be interested to know . . . or someone researching an aspect of this.

 

Your description reminds me of the British war-time film "One of Our Aircraft is Missing . . ." -- being a fictional account of a plane that is marked as "missing" and really wasn't.

Researching further I found that there were at least 5 other Halifax aircraft shot down or otherwise lost from the same RAF squadron with the same side markings (MH-J) during 1943 alone.  So all I really know is the crashed Halifax bomber in my photos is from RAF 51 Squadron (MH) that came down somewhere in Germany or German occupied territory.  Judging from other photos in the group I acquired,  I believe that the photos were taken by someone attached to an anti-aircraft outfit in Germany or maybe Holland.

I am attaching more photos of the crash site including one that shows the side markings with the hope that someone with far better research skills than mine can identify the  crash site.    A couple of things that might help are the fact that it came down near a building, it appears to have come in level as if attempting a landing and did not burn, and there is one photo (not included) that shows human remains.  These facts help me eliminate some of the incident reports I came across of WW2 MH-J aircraft crashes.

Do you know when the photographs were taken? Is this your Halifax:

 

https://halifaxjd371kno.com/index.php/souverain-wandre-whitley-v-z6803-mh-j-51-squadron/

My best guess is 1943 or 44.   51 Squadron didn't start flying the Halifax bomber until January, 1943

Please check "Operation Duesseldorf" January 27th, 28th 1943. If you need help with translation let me know.

 

http://www.tenhumbergreinhard.de/05aaff9c6f0a4030c/05aaff9dc30777801/05aaff9ddc0a4ef14.html

17 minutes ago, Proud Kraut said:

Please check "Operation Duesseldorf" January 27th, 28th 1943. If you need help with translation let me know.

 

http://www.tenhumbergreinhard.de/05aaff9c6f0a4030c/05aaff9dc30777801/05aaff9ddc0a4ef14.html

Thanks!   That event seems to me to be the best match to my photo that I've seen yet.  At least one crewman went down with the bomber.   I'll have to look into it further. Thanks again.  (The report was all in English.  I guess some computer wizardry translated it for me!)

The search goes on. Still not convinced that I have identified the crash site.

 

I believe that the German soldier who took these photos was with an Anti-Aircraft unit stationed in Ascheberg, Germany in 1942-43. On May 24, 1943 three 51 Squadron Halifax bombers were lost on a mission to Dortmund. They were ser.#'s JB792, HR842, and HR844. I'm especially interested in these three Halifax bombers because Dortmund is a little more that 20 air miles from Ascheberg. The Back To Normandy site only shows the serial numbers and 51 Squadron designation MH- but no individual aircraft code letter (i.e. H, J, K, etc.) for these three lost bombers. Could one of them been a MH-J? Does anyone have additional information on these three aircraft?

I found another important clue by looking closely at the crash photo.  It appears the the aircraft serial number starts with "H", (probably "HR").  The arrow points to it in my picture of the wreck. The position and style of letters match those in the photo of another 51 Squadron Halifax, HR-782 shown below.  I can't make out any of the numbers in my MH-J photo because of damage and that darn tree branch that's in the way!   

 

Knowing the the serial number starts with "H" greatly reduces the number of possible downed MH-J Halifax bombers and crash sites.  HR842 is a definite possibility.  Can anyone make out any of the numbers?

I am now (almost!) sure the crash site is at/near Ascheberg Germany.  In the photos attached, the first one is definitely a picture of a flak site near Ascheberg.  I have several similar photos with the distinctive Ascheberg church tower in the background.  The rest of the photos are all from a different roll of film and the one shows the same distinctive round building shown in the first photo.  The photographer, who was a member of a flak crew, probably saw an aircraft hit and started taking pictures.  They show what looks like a plane coming down and then, when it got light, the wreckage of a Halifax bomber from RAF 51 Squadron, MH-J.   For various reasons, I think it is aircraft serial # HR 842, lost on a mission over Dortmund, May 23-34, 1943.  What do you think?

Hello from a 419 RCAF researcher.  In regards to photo of Halifax MH-J of 51 Squad.  The night of May 23/24 was a bad night for many squadrons, 51 lost 4 Halifax aircraft.  Of the four all were built under order HR, HR835,HR836,HR842, and HR844. 15 airmen killed, 13 POWS.  HR835 crashed near Essen all crew KIA, HR845 shot down by night fighter near Oegstgees all crew KIA, HR842 no mention of how or where 1 crew most likely the Pilot KIA, 6 POWS, HR844 no mention of how or where all crew POWs. I have the names of all airmen if you would like them. Since all were HR series no way to know which Halifax it is. My father's squadron lost one Halifax 1 POW  6 KIA. 

You had a photo of a Halifax shown in the woods, I do not know if anything else has been done on this? Bot any info on any a/c is of use to researchers such as myself. And also to family members of the crew. I have been documenting RCAF 419 squadron for 16 years and believe me the families still want and need to find anything on their lost airmen. What is squadron code and a/c letter and let's see what we can find  Moose46