On 11 April 1944, an Avro Lancaster Mk I, serial number LL836 BQ-E, crashed near Achiet-le-Petit, in the Bois de Logeast, during a mission by the RAF 550 Squadron. The aircraft had taken off from North Killingholme in England and was part of a bombing raid on the railway installations at Aulnoye-Aymeries, as part of the Allied Transportation Plan2.
The Lancaster was intercepted and shot down at around 02:43 by a German night fighter, a Messerschmitt Bf 110, flown by Hauptmann Helmut Bergmann. The aircraft exploded in mid-air and came down in flames approximately 1.5 km north-northwest of Achiet-le-Petit3.
All seven crew members were killed. Among them were five Britons and two Canadians, including:
F/Lt Richard William Picton (pilot, age 24, DFC)
F/O John Foster Potter (bomb aimer, age 23, RCAF)
F/O John James Logan (navigator, age 26, DFC)
Sgt William Essar (age 22, RCAF)
Sgt Thomas Henry Guest (flight engineer)
Sgt Kenneth Percy Charles Williams (radio operator, DFM)
F/Lt William Hugh Waycott (air force, age 22, DFM)3
They are all buried in Achiet-le-Petit cemetery. The crash is a harrowing illustration of the risks faced by bombers during night operations over occupied Europe.