Personnel Index - Detail
Flew 20 operations with 49Sqn.
Brother of J F LeMarquand (PoW)
26/27 November, 1944; MUNICH:
It was quite late on Sunday night 26 November, when 10 aircraft from 49 Squadron were marshalled along the peri-track with those of 189 Squadron in preparation for take-off.
'Uncle Will' (PB504) and crew were one of the last away at 23.46hrs. 'Uncle' recalls: "It was bad weather with the cloud base between three and four hundred feet. We took off in the dark with a full load of fuel, incendiaries and a four thousand pounder. I had only just entered cloud when I saw the aircraft which had taken off ahead of us crash, then burst into flames.
We learned afterwards that the aircraft taking off behind us (PB745/189 Squadron) also crashed - two aircraft gone before we had even left the vicinity of the airfield!"
The 49 Squadron Lancaster that crashed was O-Oboe, piloted by F/O LeMarquand (PB432). The aircraft came down close to the village of Dry Doddington, not far from the Great North Road.
O-Oboe had only been in the air a few minutes before, laden with bombs and fuel, she sank back to earth again.
Five fortunate members of the crew survived the crash landing, but sadly Norman Langley the W/OP and Edward Blake the mid-upper gunner were both killed.
Lancaster PB432 (EA-O)
F/O G.H. Le Marquand Pilot (Slightly injured)
Sgt W.S. Wade F/E (Seriously injured)
F/S R.E. Ransom NAV (Slightly Injured)
Sgt N.I. Langley W/OP (Killed)
Sgt E.G. Blake A/G (Killed)
Sgt J.R. Bowers B/A (Slightly injured)
Sgt T. Price A/G (Seriously injured)
A memorial to this crash can be visited in Dry Doddington church.