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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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25 Squadron Crest
09.02.1945 No. 25 Squadron Mosquito NF.30 MT489 XK-Z Fl/Lt. Corrie

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:

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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