News-Info-Alerts

Re: Lost Airman's Fuselage Found - Airman Still MIA

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: August 30, 2003

"IN SOME CORNER OF A FOREIGN FIELD...

BY PHIL WHITESIDE

He was a Leicester airman who bravely tried to guide his RAF crew to safety when their bomber was shot down over Holland.

But the body of wireless operator Sgt William Robery Louth was never found among the wreckage of the Halifax that crashed in a field 10 miles from Amsterdam.

A group of amateur aircraft archaeologists hoped to unearth the mystery of the city war hero - the only member of his crew still missing in action.

After carrying out an excavation near Muiden they discovered a large piece of the fuselage and one of the engines - but no sign of Sgt Louth.

Mr Broere, a volunteer with the Dutch Aircraft Recovery Group, said: "It remains a mystery. We were hoping to find his body so we could let his family know where he was.

"I can confirm he is not in the wreck. I think he could have gone into the Eisselmeer and never come ashore."

Mr Broere now wants to contact surviving relatives of Sgt Louth to find out about the young airman's background to produce a memorial to those who died on the ill-fated flight.

Sgt Louth's service number was 1198324 and his last known address was his mother's. She lived at 3 Redmarle Road, Leicester.

The bomber was hit by gunfire from a Messerschmitt night fighter patrolling the skies over German controlled territory - giving them minutes to find somewhere safe to perform an emergency landing.

At 2.45am, on May 1, 1943, the plane suddenly started losing height and the crew were forced to hurriedly bail out.

The bodies of six of the airmen were recovered in the days afterwards.

Four were washed ashore, having parachuted into the Eisselmeer inland sea and drowned. The other two were hurled from the plane as it exploded on impact, but the body of Sgt Louth was never recovered.

Ken Clarke, Leicester-based area director of the Royal Air Forces Association, said his members would be keen to discover more about Sgt Louth and his comrades.

He said: "Members of the association like to hear about these kinds of things.

If it wasn't for people like Sgt Louth then we may not be here today. The RAFA was set up to help remember heroes like him."

©Leicester Mercury"