Failed to Return

P/O D McCrae and Crew

The P/O McCrae crew were posted to 550 Sqdn from No. 1 L.F.S w.e.f. 09/02/1944:

P/O McCrea crew
The following identification is believed correct
Back Row, L-To-R: Albert Brown, Frank Lebano, Martin Shapiro, Arthur Hall
Front row, L-To-R: Charles Bonner, Donald McCrae, Ronald Drury

On 27/28 May 1944 on the operations to Aachen Lancaster LL810 with the McCrae crew on board was lost. The aircraft is believed to have been shot down by a night-fighter. The aircraft crashed 2 km SE of Lichtervelde (West-Vlaanderen) and 8 km NNE of Roeselare, Belgium. There were no survivors and the crew are all buried in Wevelgem Communal Cemetery.

Probable claim by Hptm Hans-Karl Kemp Stab III/NJG4 - North west of Brussels: 2,800m at 03:05. (souce: Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 3 - Theo Boiten)
Many thanks to John Jones for making this information known.

Other information about the flight and the target available here.

The entry on the 550 Squadron Roll of Honour here.

The crew except P/O Lebano RCAF were moved within Wevelgem Communal Cemetery to their current location on 4 February 1947. P/O Lebano RCAF was initially buried in Lichtervelde Communal Cemetery Grave 42. Reinterred (to Wevelgem) 4 February 1947.

De Laatste Vlucht

Thanks to Winifred Dean (sister of Charles Aidan Bonner A/G) for the following newspaper items.

	De Laatste Vlucht (photo)
	De Laatste Vlucht (text) The story of the search for the Charles Aidan Bonner A/G in LL810/BQ-K by his sister and a researcher in Belgium

De laatste vlucht de geschiedenis van de Commonwealth War Graves in Wevelgem 1942-1945, by Etienne Vanackere
(copy kindly made available by the 550 Squadron Museum in North Killingholme)

	War Mystery Solved, part 1 of 2 A story of the hunt for air-crew lost over Belgium
	War Mystery Solved, part 2 of 2

Arthur Graham Hall

Thanks to the niece of Arthur Graham Hall (W/Op) for the providing the following photos and information.

Arthur Graham Hall (W/Op)
Although he flew as the W/op with the McCrae crew, Sgt Hall is clearly wearing Air-Gunner wings

Arthur Graham Hall (W/Op)

L-To-R: Frank Hall, Dorothy Hall, Arthur Hall
Arthur's nickname was Bart and Frank's was Jacky (believed after two comedians of the time). Dorothy and Arthur were twins. They had another sister who was too young to see active service. Their parents where farmers who lived just outside Penrith, but when their father died in 1933 they moved into Penrith to live.

Four airmen. Front row left: Arthur Hall
Not the MCrae crew. Details unknown, so possibly all they trained together. (W/Ops, gunners?)

Letter home to mother and sister (dated 25.05.44 believed to have been received after Sgt Hall was killed)	Letter home
	Letter (first pages of letter, in PDF format)

Form with burial details, Wevelgem Cemetary

Letter from Buckingham Palace

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Air Ministry Letter (pg 1)

Air Ministry Letter (pg 2)

Charles Aidan Bonner

Thanks to the family of Charles Aidan Bonner (A/G) for the following photos and items.

Charles Aidan Bonner

	Airman's Service and Pay Book (photo via Wilfred Burie)
	Airman's Service and Pay Book (photo via Wilfred Burie)

Airman's Service and Pay Book
(photo via Wilfred Burie)

Airman's Service and Pay Book: Last Will and Testament
(photo via Wilfred Burie)

Priority Telegram informing the family that Charles Aidan Bonner was missing in action
(photo via Wilfred Burie)

Albert Henry Brown

Many thanks to David Brown, son of AH (Harry) Brown, for the following information about Albert Henry Brown (R/AG). The complete document is in the 550 Museum in North Killingholme.

	"From Reported Missing to Final Resting Place" Sgt AH Brown, the McCrae crew, the Telegram, letter from the OC, 550 Squardon
	Letters from the 550 airbase, the Red Cross, the Air Ministry and the RAF Benevolent Fund
	Red Cross and Air Ministry letters, continued
	Letters and photos relating to Wevelgem Communal Cemetery

The Crash Site

	Panoramic photo: The plane exploded in the air; fragments were thrown on a perimeter of more than 600m. At 1, a wing was found, at 3, an engine and at 5, the cabin. Henry Van Clooster's farm is at 2. At 4, the location of corn fields, where the farmer found two bodies, during the harvest, at the beginning of August 1944.
	Wreath photo: The cabin of the plane LL810 fell near the pylon on the horizon.

Rebecq Association Visit

In August 2013 Wilfred Burie of the Rebecq Association visited the graves in Wevelgem Communal Cemetery to lay a 550 Association wreath. Some photographs from the visit are shown below. Thanks to Wilfred Burie for making the photographs available.

The British Memorial at Wevelgem Cemetery

The crew are buried in three plots in the cemetery.
Two crew (Lebano and Shapiro) are remembered on the outer two headstones.
The inner two headstones cover one plot, and spread across these two stones are the remaining five names. An indication of the terrible aftermath of an aircraft loss.

550 Squadron Association Visit

In May 2014 the Squadron Association visited the graves in Wevelgem Communal Cemetery in remembrance of the men of 550 Squadron buried there. Some photographs from the visit are shown below.