Remembering the Crew of Lancaster ND474
Bolstern
Bolstern
Bolstern is a small village town, in the south of Germany. Near Stuttgart and Munich and the Swiss city of Zurich. After being chased out of Stuttgart by a night fighter, the crew of Lancaster ND 474 headed for neutral Switzerland. The Lancaster sadly crashed, just outside of the village of Bolstern, where all members of the crew died.
Bolstern, 88348 Bad Saulgau, Germany
The crash was heard by local farmers, who ran into the burning bomber and pulled the crew out. A set of rosary beads was found in one of the crews pockets, so it was assumed that the crew were Christian. The bodies were given a Christian burial in the village church. The church records show that it was decided that prayers would be said for the ‘English flyers’ and that flowers would be placed on the graves regularly. Once the Germany military learned of the crash, they quickly moved the destroyed bomber from the village and warned the villages not to place flowers on the graves of the so called enemy. Flower continued to be placed, despite the warnings of the SS.
In 1948, the War Graves Commission exhumed the bodies and moved them to Dunbach War Cemetery, where the crew lay to do this day.
In 2014, relatives of the crew made a trip to Bolstern and erected a memorial in honour of the crew. The memorial stands in the area where the Lancaster is believed to have crashed. The memorial honours the crew for their sacrifice and thanks the villagers of Bolstern, who during a time of war, treated the crew with respect and dignity.
Speech Delivered in English and German by Patrick Appeltauter and Anton Stork - Mayor of Bolstern
Commemoration of the British aircrew on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the plane crash.
Dear guests from England, Ireland, Spain and Singapore,
Dear Mayoress,
Dear father Shinto
Dear priest John
Distinguished Guests,
I welcome you to your St.Gallus church here in Bolstern. I hope our guests had a pleasant journey.
We are here today to commemorate the crash of a British Lancaster Bomber in Bolstern on March 15th, 1944, in which all seven crew members died.
The young men were between 19 and 23 years old, which painfully reminds us that millions of young men were sacrificed on the battlefields of World War II.
One year ago, the families of Dexter and McEneaney already visited us to learn more about the circumstances of the plane crash and the death of their relatives.
I would also like to welcome Mr. Uwe Benkel and his wife, who this visit possible by creating the contacts between the different people involved. In his free time, Mr. Benkel searches for missing planes, pilots and crew members publishes the results of his work. This is how the Dexter and McEneaney families became aware of him and were able to establish a first contact.
During their visit last year, we could provide the families with documents that informed about the past events. Especially, the stories of contemporary witnesses who portrayed the events of March 15th 1944 from their perspective were very touching.
After a joint visit to the crash spot, which was very emotional for the family members, we were asked if it was possible to erect a memorial stone for the victims on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the place crash. We came to the agreement that the municipality would set up a stone and the relatives would install the plaque for the memorial.
At this point I would like to thank our mayoress, Misses Doris Schroter, for the support and the installation of the memorial stone. Also my special thanks to the Scherer family, who supported us in organizing this event.
We have been in contact with Louise Dexter and Robert McEneaney to organise the commemoration for one year now. And over time, we've developed a true friendship.
I hope that with today's commemoration and the inauguration of the memorial, we could help you to bid farewell to your loved family members with the dignity they deserve. We are happy that you have a memorial which allows you now have a memorial which allows you to commemorate your family members at any time and we hope that this wont be your last visit to our village.
Thank You
75th Anniversary - 2019
A Journey of Remembrance Reconciliation and Friendship.
ND474 Relatives Group visits to Germany 2019
Last month the Relatives Group travelled to Germany to honour the crew of Lancaster ND474 and to mark 75th Anniversary of their loss.
Relatives travelled from England, Ireland and Spain meeting in Munich to commence their journey of remembrance and to renew old friendships with the people of Bolstern.
As reported, in previous issues of the 49ers Newsletter, our story started 75 years ago when the crew of ND474 took part in a raid to Stuttgart on the night of the 15/ 16 March 1944, a campaign known as The Battle for Berlin. Having completed the raid on Stuttgart and commenced their journey home the crew of ND474 were engaged by a Luftwaffe night fighter. Having sustained serious damage the records indicate they changed direction and headed south for neutral Switzerland. Sadly, the Lancaster Bomber crashed some 16km short of the Swiss border in the village of Bolstern, Southern Germany.
We will always remain grateful to the 49ers Association for bringing together the Hoole/Dexter and McEneaney families as it has lead us to forming the ND474 Relatives Group. Working through the Relatives Group and together with our friends in Bolstern we embarked on a journey that at first we would never have thought possible. Back in 2013 we arranged our first visit to Bolstern to discover that the crash of ND474 and the loss of the seven airmen, almost 69 years ago, had remained a significant part of the village’s history. That initial trip enabled us to establish a bond with the local people and in 2014 we placed a Memorial to our relatives at the crash site to mark the 70th anniversary of their loss. During those visits and through discussions with an eyewitness and other villagers we have established a better insight into the events that took place that night back in 1944. It is now known that the stricken Lancaster broke up on impact killing all the crew. A group of villagers removed the crew from the broken Lancaster, took them to their local church and gave them a Christian burial. To learn that the people of Bolstern gave our parents loved ones not just the dignity of a Christian burial but the honour of laying them to rest among their own deceased loved ones in a time of conflict is a source of both strength and sustenance to us all. The villagers continued to tend their graves until 1948 when they were interred at Durnbach Military Cemetery.
Since 1944 the villagers have continued to pray for the airmen on the anniversary of the crash and now hold a prayer service in their honour each year at the Memorial site. We in turn as a gesture of appreciation and friendship also remember them with an annual mass service here in London and so our bonds of friendship continue to grow.
