In the early afternoon of December 15, 1944, a force of 341 Lancaster bombers started at the base of the 625th British Squadron in Kelstern to attack the I.G.-Farben works in Ludwigshafen. The plane of the pilot James Fletcher did not return to the home airport. It shattered, possibly after flak fire, towards evening in the Priesberg forest near Bosen. All 6 crew members were killed. Due to the explosion on impact, hedges and trees within a 50 m radius were as if shaved away, the wheels of the machine flew to the sports field in Bosen. Presumably the crew had tried to jump off, because there were parachute remains in the trees. The dead aviators were buried in a grave in the immediate vicinity of the crash site, later reburied in the Bosen cemetery and after the war transferred to the British military cemetery in Rheinberg near Kleve. The 5 m deep impact crater, which is partially filled with water, can still be found in the forest near Bosen, and the former burial site can still be located in a depression. Various aircraft parts have recently been located and discovered in the area there. In addition to the pilot James Fletcher (28 years old), the following people were on board:
John H. Smith (radio operator, 20 years old) Leonard J. Hart (Navigator, 22 years old) Sidney Goodier (flight engineer, 20 years) David R. Jones (bomb shooter, ?? years) Peter Banks (gunner, 20 years old) Ian R. Clapton (gunner, ?? years)