Date: 11th April 1943
Unit: No. 105 Squadron.
Type: De Havilland Mosquito IV
Serial: DZ536
Code: GB-S
Base: Marham, Norfolk, England.
Location: Metelerkamps Bauernhof, Bentheim, Germany.
Pilot: F/O David Polglase. 415714 R.N.Z.A.F. Age 27. Killed.
Nav: Sgt L. C. Lampen. 1311504 R.A.F.V.R. Age 22. Killed.
REASON FOR LOSS:
Took-off at 1910 hrs from Marham for mission to Hengelo, shot down in a running fight with six Focke Wulf Fw 190s, though Uffz. Wiegand of 2./JG1 is credited with the victory. Out of control, the Mosquito crashed at Metelerkamps Bauernhof, at Bentheim. Both airmen were buried on 14th April at Lingen (Ems) though their graves are now in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
No.105 Squadron Mosquito’s preparing to take-off from Marham on an operation. (Flight photo)
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cccccccccccccccDavid Polglase.cccccccccccccccDavid’s grave, Reichswald Forest.(Auckland Cenotaph)
The sad remains of DZ536 was scattered over a wide area, here Luftwaffe personnel can be seen loading
the wreckage onto a trailer, one of the aircraft’s propellers in the foreground. (King/Poelchau)
In this second photo of the recovery it is interesting to note that the vehicle being used for this operation is a
British Scammell Pioneer, most likely captured during the fall of France in 1940. (King/Poelchau)
Burial details:
David Polglase. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Plot 15. Row G. Grave 1. Son of George Davis Polglase and Gertrude Ellen Polglase, of Takaka, Nelson, New Zealand; husband of Olive May Polglase, of Takaka. Leslie Charles Lampen. Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Plot 15. Row F. Grave 18. Son of Charles Albert John and Daisy Katherine Lampen, of Plymouth.
Researched by: David King. Acknowledgments: With thanks to the following: Bill Chorley Bomber Command Losses. A.R.S. archives. Gert Poelchau. the superb work of the C.W.G.C.