1944 Hochdahl-Trills Handley Page Halifax shootdown
Royal Canadian Air Force Handley Page Halifax · Shot down by German night fighter after bombing raid on Castrop-Rauxel
From RAF Linton-on-Ouse, England to Castrop-Rauxel, Germany (target)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 6 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 2
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 2
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Handley Page Halifax
- Aircraft type
- Handley PAGE HALIFAX
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- NP810 (EQ-H)
- Operator
- Royal Canadian Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 6
- Route
- From RAF Linton-on-Ouse, EnglandTo Castrop-Rauxel, Germany (target)
Approximate · Estimated position: Erkrath, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1944 Hochdahl-Trills Handley Page Halifax shootdown occurred on 21 November 1944 during World War II when a four-engine British Royal Air Force bomber, operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, crashed near the Catholic Church of St. Franziskus in Erkrath-Hochdahl, now part of the city of Erkrath, Germany.
Shootdown
Shortly after releasing its payload near Velbert-Langenberg, the Halifax was attacked by a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 night fighter (callsign G9+AM) from IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1). The crew included Hauptmann Fritz Lau (pilot), Feldwebel Backhaus (radio operator), and Unteroffizier Reinecke (gunner). Lau approached from the rear, hit the bomber, and set it on fire. The aircraft flew a few more kilometers before exploding midair over Hochdahl-Trills at 19:10.
Crash site
Debris fell next to the Catholic Church of St. Franziskus, narrowly missing it. In his parish chronicle, Father Karl Fassbender described how part of the aircraft landed in the rectory garden as a massive fire burned across the street. One of the four Bristol Hercules engines fell about 200 meters away into a small pond at Gut Clef, remaining submerged until the 1970s when it resurfaced and was later displayed by the property owner.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1944 Hochdahl-Trills Handley Page Halifax shootdown” (revision 1353336366, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1944 Hochdahl-Trills Handley Page Halifax shootdown
- Revision
- 1353336366 · 2026-05-09 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q112153198
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1944 Hochdahl-Trills Handley Page Halifax shootdown" (page 80043665, revision 1353336366)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.