Operation: Training
Date: 09th February 1945
Unit: No. 25 Squadron
Type: Mosquito NF.30
Serial: MT489
Code: ZK-X
Base: RAF Castle Camps, Suffolk
Location: Bendish Hall, Essex
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Michael Corrie DFM 116053 RAFVR Age 27. Killed
Nav: Sgt. Adolf Lucian Leander van Melckebeke 1814833 RAFVR Age 23. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Shortly after take off the Mosquito’s undercarriage hit trees with the aircraft coming down. Both crew members were killed during the impact.
Later, during the court of enquiry they decided that “Pilot Error” was the cause - a term so often used during the war years!
Sgt. van Melckebeke was a great friend of Sgt. Jacques Bonnewit who sadly was also killed a few weeks later. Pilot of Mosquito X.VII HK304 on the 24th February 1945.
Burial details:
Fl/Lt. Michael Corrie DFM. Saffron Walden Cemetery. Compt. 39. Grave 34. Son of Arthur Edgar and Rose Edith Barton Corrie; husband of Johnnie Corrie, of Paddington, London, England.
Sgt. Adolf Lucian Leander Van Melckebeke. Brussels Town Cemetery. Belgian Airmen's Field Of Honour. Born on the 12th April 1922 at Deuil, France. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Aimée Claus.
Researched with information and photographs supplied by Raymond Binamé for Aircrew Remembered March 2017. Page dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to sources indicated below:
