P/O Orville Lytle - Crew 15, Eberholzen Germany

With the passage of time, more than sixty years in number, nature has reclaimed the site and covered the scarred earth where bomber LK-917 crashed. In similar fashion, time has healed many of the wounds of war between our nation and the people of Germany.

Hanover Raid; 27/28 Sept. 1943 - A segment of Barry Dickieson's research and tribute to his relative F/Sgt. Harry Hansell. Resident's of Eberholzen Germany provide information pertaining to the crash of Halifax LK-917.

Three aircrews from 434 squadron “FTR” from a raid to Hanover Germany, all were killed. To date the following information has been provided on crew 15 and a separate page for crew 44.

Aerial view of 2 crash sites

Eberholzen

With the very kind aid of residents of Eberholzen, Mr. Holger Neuman and Mr. Uwe Spillmann, the exact location of Harry's death has been identified.

Mrs. Gerda Kühn from Eberholzen has related the following to Uwe; "Her father, Mr. Heinrich Busch, the local carpenter, organized the funeral here in the village and built the coffins. When the bodies where moved to Hannover he received a letter from RAF or RCAF authorities, in which they expressed their thanks for his work and support".

P/O Orville Lytle - crew 15

L to R

P/O. Orville Lytle (Pilot) F/S. R C. Pedlar (Nav.) F/S. J.H.T. Monteith (B/A) Sgt. H. Lindsay (F/E) Sgt. M.D. Chasmar (W/Op. AG) F/S. Harry E. Hansell (AG) F/S. J.A. Leach (AG) Sgt. E. Elder (Extra Pilot - not shown)

Wreckage of Halifax LK-917 (WL-X)

Mr. Holger Neuman has also found amazing photos of the wreckage of LK-917 taken during wartime more than 60 years ago.

60 years later... in April 2003, Uwe Spillmann provided the below photos...

Halifax LK-917 came to rest in the trees where his daughter is standing.

 “Eberholzen, lower Saxony, Germany view from the aircraft crash location”

The relatives of Harry Hansell graciously thank Uwe Spillmann for providing the photos of the beautiful rural landscape and crash site.

Direct link to "Harry's Story"