Once I discovered that the crew had been initially interred in the German town of Greven, I e-mailed the museum there and received a prompt reply that the Lancaster had crashed near a farm belonging to a family called the Langkamps at Pentrup. I wrote to the family and had the reply as shown.
I had sent a "GoogleEarth" picture with my letter to the Langkamps, Vanessa marked it up as shown here.
Two years later, I made contact with Robert Schulte whose father, then a 16 year old boy, helped man the flak guns defending the canal. Robert still lives in the area and readily agreed to take some photos of the Langkamp farm.
The road leading to the farm from Pentrupstrasse.
The field looking south from the farm where two of the crew's bodies lay, as well as part of the wings and fuselage.
A view from the fields where the wreckage lay looking back to the farm. Some of the original buildings were destroyed when the delayed action bombs went off half an hour or so after the crash.
Robert also went to the aqueduct where the R. Glane flows underneath the DEK, the "priority plus" target for the Lancasters throughout the whole war.
The hedge along the top of the bank shows the course of the DEK, the track to the left leading up to it.
Looking north along the DEK, the R.Glane where the photo above was taken is down to the left.
On 19 August 2009 I went to the area where ME453 came down, seeing the Langkamp family and being told by Herr Heinrich Langkamp, an 8 year old boy at the time, what he can recall. Interestingly, the post-war MRES team found the children of that time to be much more reliable and well-informed witnesses than the adults!
This is the farmyard area: one of the four bombs that exploded did so here. Being fitted with delayed action fuses, the Langkamp family had time to escape to another farm to the north of theirs. The detonation blew out every window in the building, destroyed the roof and one barn, and left a crater 5 metres deep.
Walking towards the field where the Lancaster came down: a second bomb exploded to the right of this track. To the left is a copse in which a tower of flame occurred - a fuel tank from one of the wings erupting perhaps?
This is the area where the front section of ME453 finished up. The rear section was some 500 metres further on behind another farm, owned by the Theismann family. All of the crews' bodies were found in this area. The field today is larger than it was in 1945, for some hedges have been removed in the interim period.
A view of a birch-lined lane with the crash site to the left.
I had had a small plaque engraved in rememberance of the crew which the Langkamps readily agreed to put in place. We had some discussion about the best site but finally settled on an oak tree at the apex of the copse where the tower of flame happened, and also at the junction of three lanes. The photo shows Herr Matthias Langkamp and me trying to make sure the plaque was level!
A detail view of the plaque.
Three generations of the Langkamp family: Herr Heinrich Langkamp, Herr Matthias Langkamp and Fraulein Vanessa Langkamp. My heartfelt thanks go to all of them for their helpfulness, interest and generosity.
Getting it right, assisted by.........
...Jochen and Elisabeth Kaiser. Elisabeth's family owned the farm to which the Langkamp's retreated when they knew the bomb in their yard was likely to explode. Both Elisabeth and Jochen were a great help and very enthusiastic about the project. Elisabeth's oldest brother was 16 in 1945 and was a "Luftwaffenhelfen", helping to carry the shells fired by the flak guns. I'm hopeful that he may be able to give me yet more information.
A simple, but I hope, fitting tribute.
This is the entry in the Greven town archive book owned by Herr Heinrich Langkamp for the night of 3 March 1945. It says: "Time from 21.50 to 22.30: canal attack. Dropping of around 100 to 150 explosives, mostly delayed action, four of which did not explode, and one mine bomb on the district. Medium damaged: Janning and Langkamp in Pentrup; Bettler in Schemedehausen (by target indicators). Light damaged: Strump in Schemedhausen; Bosse in Pentrup. Canal and Greven Street in Ladbergen heavily damaged by bombs and mine. English Lancaster crashed near Janning (Pentrup), burnt after impact. Two crew members are lying burnt near the machine, five bodies lying on one field near Langkamp (Pentrup 12). With thanks to Wim Govaerts for the translation and to Peter Kalkman for taking the photos above.
The Lancaster was on fire as it descended, Herr Langkamp told me that it exploded whilst in the air which is consistent with the fragmented state of the plane. It is probable that the crew had tried to jettison their bombs either to lighten the aircraft, or to ensure a safer crash-landing should that be possible. The fact that only four bombs subsequently exploded shows that they had already been fused as the Lancaster approached the target, and possibly that they had successfully jettisoned ten of the fourteen bombs carried.
When we arrived back at the farmhouse, Frau Langkamp had prepared a wonderful tea of homed-baked cakes and pies with cream which we all sat down and enjoyed accompanied by much more chat and rememberances.
Shortly after returning to England, I received an e-mail telling me that the plaque had been vandalised. It is not clear why this happened, one can only speculate, however this mindless act saddened and angered the Langkamp family to such an extent that they contacted the police and the newspaper in Greven - the latter ran the story of my visit and the placing of the plaque for several days.
Features run by the local newspaper in Greven.
A notice placed on the tree by the Fam. Langkamp
A temporary "plaque" honouring the crew.
I understand this publicity led to much local support and crucially for me, Herr Martin Muller of Greven went over the crash site with his metal detector and found six pieces of ME453, which have been subsequently sent to me. I am indebted to Herr Muller and would like to contact him, see below.
The pieces that he found are shown below:
These two are cast aluminium and appear to be from an engine, a sump or similar, the flat surfaces are probably mating surfaces with a sealing gasket. On the left-hand piece, rusted bolts are clear. Both pieces were originally painted black.
These are the same two pieces, but viewed from the "internal" side.
These two are formed from sheet aluminium, the smaller a bracket of some description which still shows the interior green paint in places and some black. There are dome-headed rivets and rivet holes along the length. The larger piece, again showing interior green paint, is double skinned in places and again, rivets.
Another view of the same two items.
The final two pieces are less easy to speculate about: both are unpainted aluminium though the larger one is badly corroded. I suspect both are "covers" of some description
Following the PS above, I'm delighted to say that Martin Muller contacted me. He has been back to the field again and found further items which he is sending to me, they will be shown here when they arrive. Martin tells me that the items he has found were some 20 - 30cm below the surface of the field and that there are many small fragments, which tends to support the statement from Herr Heinrich Langkamp that the Lancaster exploded in the air, though not at any great height above the ground.
Martin Muller with his kit ready to do some serious detecting!
These are the pieces that Martin found in his second visit, they include three .303 bullet cases that have burst from the charge going off: two are marked as being made at the Ordnance factory at Radway Green near Crewe, Cheshire in 1944, the third is an incendiary bullet marked BVII. There is also a piece of perspex, approximately 3mm thick and three different size pipe unions in aluminium, the fourth being in brass. At the top next to the cartridges is a catch of some description. Items will be shown individually and in greater detail soon.
The Lancaster that was lost just a few minutes after ME453 was PB806 flown by 467 Squadron's Commanding Officer, Wing Commander Eric le Page Langlois. No trace has ever been found of this aircraft, nor of five of the crew.
I was visited in March 2008 and August 2009 by Kerry Barnes (and his wife Shelley in 2008.) Kerry is the nephew of W/Cdr Langlois, he came over from Brisbane. The photo shows Kerry putting a small cross at a memorial at Waddington.
Once I discovered that the crew had been initially interred in the German town of Greven, I e-mailed the museum there and received a prompt reply that the Lancaster had crashed near a farm belonging to a family called the Langkamps at Pentrup. I wrote to the family and had the reply as shown.
I had sent a "GoogleEarth" picture with my letter to the Langkamps, Vanessa marked it up as shown here.
The road leading to the farm from Pentrupstrasse.
The field looking south from the farm where two of the crew's bodies lay, as well as part of the wings and fuselage.
A view from the fields where the wreckage lay looking back to the farm. Some of the original buildings were destroyed when the delayed action bombs went off half an hour or so after the crash.
The hedge along the top of the bank shows the course of the DEK, the track to the left leading up to it.
Looking north along the DEK, the R.Glane where the photo above was taken is down to the left.
This is the farmyard area: one of the four bombs that exploded did so here. Being fitted with delayed action fuses, the Langkamp family had time to escape to another farm to the north of theirs. The detonation blew out every window in the building, destroyed the roof and one barn, and left a crater 5 metres deep.
Walking towards the field where the Lancaster came down: a second bomb exploded to the right of this track. To the left is a copse in which a tower of flame occurred - a fuel tank from one of the wings erupting perhaps?
This is the area where the front section of ME453 finished up. The rear section was some 500 metres further on behind another farm, owned by the Theismann family. All of the crews' bodies were found in this area. The field today is larger than it was in 1945, for some hedges have been removed in the interim period.
A view of a birch-lined lane with the crash site to the left.
I had had a small plaque engraved in rememberance of the crew which the Langkamps readily agreed to put in place. We had some discussion about the best site but finally settled on an oak tree at the apex of the copse where the tower of flame happened, and also at the junction of three lanes. The photo shows Herr Matthias Langkamp and me trying to make sure the plaque was level!
A detail view of the plaque.
Three generations of the Langkamp family: Herr Heinrich Langkamp, Herr Matthias Langkamp and Fraulein Vanessa Langkamp. My heartfelt thanks go to all of them for their helpfulness, interest and generosity.
Getting it right, assisted by.........
...Jochen and Elisabeth Kaiser. Elisabeth's family owned the farm to which the Langkamp's retreated when they knew the bomb in their yard was likely to explode. Both Elisabeth and Jochen were a great help and very enthusiastic about the project. Elisabeth's oldest brother was 16 in 1945 and was a "Luftwaffenhelfen", helping to carry the shells fired by the flak guns. I'm hopeful that he may be able to give me yet more information.
A simple, but I hope, fitting tribute.
This is the entry in the Greven town archive book owned by Herr Heinrich Langkamp for the night of 3 March 1945. It says: "Time from 21.50 to 22.30: canal attack. Dropping of around 100 to 150 explosives, mostly delayed action, four of which did not explode, and one mine bomb on the district. Medium damaged: Janning and Langkamp in Pentrup; Bettler in Schemedehausen (by target indicators). Light damaged: Strump in Schemedhausen; Bosse in Pentrup. Canal and Greven Street in Ladbergen heavily damaged by bombs and mine. English Lancaster crashed near Janning (Pentrup), burnt after impact. Two crew members are lying burnt near the machine, five bodies lying on one field near Langkamp (Pentrup 12). With thanks to Wim Govaerts for the translation and to Peter Kalkman for taking the photos above.
When we arrived back at the farmhouse, Frau Langkamp had prepared a wonderful tea of homed-baked cakes and pies with cream which we all sat down and enjoyed accompanied by much more chat and rememberances.
Features run by the local newspaper in Greven.
A notice placed on the tree by the Fam. Langkamp
A temporary "plaque" honouring the crew.
These two are cast aluminium and appear to be from an engine, a sump or similar, the flat surfaces are probably mating surfaces with a sealing gasket. On the left-hand piece, rusted bolts are clear. Both pieces were originally painted black.
These are the same two pieces, but viewed from the "internal" side.
These two are formed from sheet aluminium, the smaller a bracket of some description which still shows the interior green paint in places and some black. There are dome-headed rivets and rivet holes along the length. The larger piece, again showing interior green paint, is double skinned in places and again, rivets.
Another view of the same two items.
The final two pieces are less easy to speculate about: both are unpainted aluminium though the larger one is badly corroded. I suspect both are "covers" of some description
Martin Muller with his kit ready to do some serious detecting!
These are the pieces that Martin found in his second visit, they include three .303 bullet cases that have burst from the charge going off: two are marked as being made at the Ordnance factory at Radway Green near Crewe, Cheshire in 1944, the third is an incendiary bullet marked BVII. There is also a piece of perspex, approximately 3mm thick and three different size pipe unions in aluminium, the fourth being in brass. At the top next to the cartridges is a catch of some description. Items will be shown individually and in greater detail soon.
I was visited in March 2008 and August 2009 by Kerry Barnes (and his wife Shelley in 2008.) Kerry is the nephew of W/Cdr Langlois, he came over from Brisbane. The photo shows Kerry putting a small cross at a memorial at Waddington.