R.H. Smith Crew 44

R.H. Smith Crew 44

Here is a photo of the R.H. Smith crew in training, Michael Vitch is short fellow in the center, other members unknown.

Michael Vitch (left) unknown crew mate

F/Sgt. Michael Vitch and crew member

F/Sgt Michael Vitch (right) with an unknown crew member.

Croft Airfield to Hannover, Germany

"It was more a coincidence that I found information about the loss of LK-919, because of an elderly man Mr. Schröder. He was 12 years old in the Autumn of 1943 and was an eyewitness to the crash of a British bomber belonging to the R.H. Smith crew, the aircraft had been shot down and had came to rest in the vicinity of a small German village of Stemmen..."

Mr. Dirk Hartmann

27 Sept. 1943

RCAF 6 Group along with RAF Bomber Command fly on a raid to Hannover Germany, 434 Squadron also participated on this mission. Raid reports indicate the majority of the a/c missed the target and dropped their ordnance to the north. Three crews from 434 squadron “Failed To Return”.

F/Lt F. Lord - crew #21

P/O O. Lytle - crew #15 (see links)

F/Sgt R. Smith - crew #44

-

Mr. Schroder's house

Mr. Schroder recalls…

"...Standing in front of their house Mr. Schroder and his Grandfather were peering into the clear night sky, their visibility was unhindered except by the odd cloud. However they were able to view the bomber stream and night-fighters in the distance above Hannover, also visible were flak bursts and sweeping searchlights. 

At approximately 11 P.M. the two witnessed a bomber in flames descending from the North East, within seconds the complete aircraft was engulfed. His Grandfather had cried out “Quick! Quick! Into the House!”. A minute later they heard a loud crash, they exited the house only to observe a scene of destruction; the aircraft had impacted into their garden, a field opposite their house. Fuselage and scattered parts were burning, munitions exploding, making it impossible to get closer to the wreckage..."

Stemmen, Wunstorf Airfield and Hannover target

28 Sept. 1943

"...Later in the early morning hours a night-fighter pilot from Wunstorf Airbase (Nachtjagdgeschwader) telephoned the Schroder family, asking his Grandfather (whom was also the Mayor Stemmen) "How is the Village? I have shot down the bomber in your village and will visit the place tomorrow morning..."

...The next morning a recovery team from the German Luftwaffe at Wunstorf arrived in Stemmen along with the night-fighter pilot. The pilot stated to the Grandfather that he initially attacked the rear of the bomber coming from behind...

(a common night-fighter tactic is to approach from the rear and below the enemy bomber, a poor field of vision for air-gunners as well limited maneuverability for their machine guns)

"...On his second attack neither of the air-gunners returned machine gun fire towards his fighter, with the aircraft in flames it immediately went into a dive, subsequently crashing in proximity Stemmen..."

Main crash site of LK-919

Autumn 2006 - Photo courtesy Dirk Hartmann

Field opposite Mr. Schroder’s house, the main crash site of LK-919 crew members were recovered here (red circle - very faint, center of picture).

"...The bodies of seven airmen were found in the scattered fuselage and surrounding field, later a German Air Force truck and took away the bodies for burial"... Notes from a church record… "...“04. October 1943 Canadian Crew Member Rousseau, Smith, Evans and four not identified was buried at the local Cemetery. The Bodies were recovered from Halifax shot down by Night fighter in Stemmen near Stadthagen at 23:30 Uhr local. After 1945 they were exhuminated from Wunstorf and rest now at the Hannover War Grave Cemetery...”

- F/Sgt. Harry R. Smith, (Pilot) RCAF

- Sgt. Robert O. Evans, (Eng.) RAF

- F/O Patrick M. Halpin, (Nav.) RCAF

- F/Sgt. Michael N. Vitch, (BA) RCAF

- Sgt. George Todkill, (W/AG) RCAF

- Sgt. Edward T.G. Moody, (AG) RAF

- Sgt. Joseph H. F. Rousseau, (AG) RCAF

Further research revealed more details… Mr. Hartmann and Mr. Schroder found written descriptions pertaining to the crash site and drove to the area, taking pictures and writing notes...

Engine buried deep

"...A meadow south of the village where an engine fell and was stuck in the earth for many days (a red line around the large shrub/tree center of photo)...

...Mr. Dirk and Mr. Schroder visited the site on another day and met another eyewitness; he told us that many wreckage parts were spread over a wide area in and around the village, in his garden he found an oxygen bottle..."

Photo courtesy Dirk Hartmann

Village of Stemmen and aircraft debris locations

A second engine in a field 300 - 400 meters from the crash site.

Image courtesy Dirk Hartmann

At the time of writing this article no photos of LK-919 have been located

"...during the war civilians were forbidden to take pictures of “enemy aircraft”. Mr. Dirk also informed me that in 1943 the majority of civilians had no photo-camera or material for films. Further more in these small villages like Stemmen you could not find many men, as most of them were in the war. The ladies together with POW`s from Russia, Poland and France.... had to work on the farms in the villages, thus reducing the chances of finding a photo very rare..."

I would like to thank Dirk Hartmann and Mr. Schroder for details and photo's of the R.H. Smith crew crash, I hope to have images of the crew posted shortley...

Alan Soderstrom

F/Sgt. Michael N. Vitch, crew 44

F/Sgt. Michael N. Vitch, Bomb-Aimer, Crew 44