In honor and memory of the American Thunderbolt pilot Clinton Winters Jr. & RAF bomber number DT694
Locatie: Hoofdstraat, 6281 BD Mechelen 50°47'42.0"N 5°55'08.4"E
1st Lt. winters took off of four P47s from St.Trond (Advanced Landing Ground-92) (Sint-Truiden) Belgium on the morning of 26th December 1944 tasked with an armored reconnaissance mission to Houffalize, Belgium, which is about 16 km north form Bastogne.
The following is the after mission statement from 1st Lt. Carl S Parsons:
“About 1300 hours on 26 December 1944 while on a squadron mission we were circling a target in Germany in preparation for bombing. I was leading the flight in which Lt Winters was flying. Just before peeling off to make the run on the target I noticed that all my flight was intact. I was unable to locate Lt Winters after the bombing”
No Information has been found to indicate the reason for the loss of 1st Lt Winters and his aircraft.
Later that day Capt. John O’Rouke, Jr of the Oparations section for the 404th Fighter Group received a telephone call from the Combat Operations Section of XXIX TAC. They reported that effects found on the bodies of two pilots recoverde from crashed aircrafts in the vincinity of their advanced command post had enabled them to indentify them as Robert G. Fenstermacher, 1 st Lt, AC, O-818531 and Clinton Winters Jr. 1st Lt, AC , O-751514
The airplane caught fire and crashed to the ground burning a little further in the cross-forest. Lieutenant Clinton Winters was found dead in the pasture nearby with his parachute still unopened. MACR: 11993
1st Lt. Clinton Winters Jr. Air Medal ( 6 oak Leaf clusters (=1 silver)). Interred at the the Netherlands American Cemetery Plot O Grave Row 2 Grave 28. Relocated to plot G Row 12 Grave 11. Born ion the 1st June 1921 in Missouri. Son of Clinton and Della (Né Bostwick) Winters from Hayti, Missouri, USA.
On February 14, 1943 RAF bomber with the identification number DT 694 flew from Rufforth airfield took off in Yorkshire en route to Cologne, the target that night.
The aircraft was flown by a very experienced crew :
Captain William Fletcher (29), radio operator George Henry Miller(22) (see picture) , navigator Harry Kay (28), the gunners John Henry Bonsfield (27) and Frank Cecil Howe (21), flight engineer Ernest Jackson and bomb aimer Marc Pierre.
As the last in the formation of 242 other bombers, the crew was given a special assignment. After all the bombers had dropped their deadly payload, their plane had to fly an extra lap over burning Cologne to take photos of the damage caused by the bombing.
This proved fatal for them . The plane was attacked between Aachen and Geilenkirchen by a German night fighter piloted by Lieutenant Johannes Hagar (see photo)
and also shot by anti-aircraft guns. An explosion occurred in the aircraft, after which a fire broke out. Captain Fletcher, radio operator Miller and both gunners Bonsfield and Frank Howe were killed immediately. Sergeant Kay sat on the edge of the hatch but did not dare to jump. He died when the plane crashed to the ground. On the left of the photo Sergeant Harry Kay who did not dare to jump.
When the planes was hit by German anti-aircraft guns, it caught fire and fell to the ground nearby in the Schweiberger forest. Five crew members died, two crew members managed to leave the aircraft by parachute. And survived the Second World War. The information panel is located near a casemate type S3 which was part of the delay line of the Dutch Geul line with the aim of delaying the German invasion in May 1940 with the blowing up of the Geul bridges
Hiding in Puth
Ernest Jackson and Marc Pierre were able to escape the burning plane by parachute. They were taken care of by Annie Berkers, who housed them in an unused barn and provided them with food. Annie's youngest son said that his mother, together with the head teacher, had written down her experiences. She brought Marc Pierre into contact with the resistance. He arrived in Gibraltar via Wallonia (he spoke French well and came from Belgium), France and Spain, from where he was flown to Great Britain.
Ernest Jackson, who had suffered a broken ankle and needed medical attention in the hospital in Maastricht, surrendered to the Germans.
This happened very much against Annie's wishes, the mayor of Schinnen and the resistance. He was transported by the Germans to the infamous Stalag VIII camp. He was there with 900 others, of whom only 400 survived. Jackson weighed only 40 kilos when he was released
Buried at the Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen
The five are buried at the war cemetery in Nijmegen deceased crew members brotherly side by side, along with hundreds of others.
Many people from Mechelen witnessed the burning plane flew low over Mechelen and finally crashed in the Schweibergerbos . Two brothers of Mechelen had to transport the bodies of the crew members with a wheelbarrow to Overgeul. The aircraft's engines were soon removed by the Germans. After the crash on were the place was situated a simple wooden cross with the inscription “Homage to those who did not return” placed by local people.