Kurt Rieder had been intrigued by a brief entry in the town archive for 1944 of Türnitz, Lower Austria that recorded the crash of a twin-engined bomber on 7th July.   He was subsequently able to interview witnesses of the night's events and even locate the possible crash site, evidenced by small pieces of surviving debris.   He also researched the records of the German night fighter units who were stationed in the area.   The loss record of 205 group for that night as researched by David Gunby provided further important evidence.

Based at Tortorella, the 70 Squadron crew were taking part in a raid against the airfield at Feuersbrunn.     On the return flight they were attacked by a Messerschmidt Me 110 night fighter and crashed in Kräuterbachgraben, near Türnitz, with the loss of the entire crew.

Herr Rieder's final conclusion:

The Vickers Wellington at Kräuterbachgraben had been attacked by a German night fighter during the night of 7th July, 1944, between 01.17 and 01.27 and would have crashed there within the next 10 to 20 minutes.    A mid-air explosion can be ruled out from an eye-witness account (the mother of Herr Kozmich).   In its last minutes, the aircraft was flying from the north in a southerly direction, corresponding to a course back from the target area to its base in Italy.    It is likely that a wing tank or fuel in one of the engines was hit by upward firing armament, "schräge Musik", from a Messerchmidt Me110.   The Wellington caught fire, became uncontrollable and spun to the ground.    The crew had no chance of  bailing out.   None of the crew of five survived.   Their remains were interred in the English War Cemetary in Klagenfurt

The crew of Wellington LP 198 were as follows:

Capt. MARQUARD, G. B. 205617V,   Pilot   SAAF 

Capt. POVEY, R. H. 104048V    Navigator  SAAF 

Sgt. MAYLEY, Derek Graham 1800825   Air Bomber  RAFVR 

F/Sgt. JONES, Rowland Eames 657707    W. Operator  RAF 

Sgt. ROWE, Alfred 544205    W. Operator  RAF 

Also lost on the same night from 70 Squadron:

Wellington X  MF138 - crew:  W/O R B Flegg RAAF,  F/Sgt W S McIntosh, Sgt J C Glancey, F/Sgt R J Vaughan, F/Sgt J Turner RAAF

Wellington X  LR130 - crew:  W/O G J Custance RAAF, F/O D H Maling (survived), W/O2 H R Carruthers RCAF,  Sgt M C Hunt, Sgt B J N Hackett

Wellington X  JA471 - crew:  F/Sgt C A Harris, Sgt L Freyne,  Sgt F Hardy, Sgt G H Robinson, Sgt H Allen

Wellington X, JA520 - crew:  Sgt F J Tilbrook, Sgt W English, Sgt E G Davies, Sgt E Topping, Sgt A C Hickman

All crew members, except F/O D H Maling who survived the crash and was able to contact partisans, were buried in Klagenfurt War Cemetary and Belgrade War Cemetary.

Home      North Africa 1940-43      Italy and After       Concerts and Menus      Links      Other Personnel/Contacts