Researcher seeks family of local airman
Cpl. William Howard Campbell, born in Keene, died in 1944 crash after being shot down
A research team from Germany has located the site of a 1944 crash that claimed the lives of 23 military men – one Australian, two British and 20 Canadians, one of whom was from Keene. Cpl. William Howard Campbell, born Feb. 2, 1918 in Keene, died in the Sept. 24 crash of the C-47 Dakota KG653. It was en route to India from England when it went down near the German town of Neuleingingen. The plane was supposed to fly south over the free French countryside to Sardinia on its way east, the researchers determined, but bad weather and navigational issues forced it to offcourse and into German air space, where it was shot down. German researcher Erik Wieman, who lives near the crash site, outlined the research group’s find in an email to The Examiner. “After I heard about the crash and the approximate area I asked the local newspaper for a call for eyewitnesses,” he wrote. “They are our golden link to the past and they often still know the exact sites. I already researched details about what happened from the internet and the book of the fighter pilot who claimed he had shot down this aircraft, Julius Meimberg. I gave the newspaper the information I had and expected a small call/article, but they did a really big article on this. They were very interested. The readers were also very interested. Fifteen eyewitnesses of the crash called me after the article was published.” He visited the area and some of the witnesses were able to direct him to two fields where debris had scattered after the crash “One witness showed me a piece of the aircraft he had picked up in 1944 at the site as a little boy,” Wieman wrote. “They also showed me where the piece of a wing (it broke off before the plane crashed, described by the pilot of the German Me109, Julius Meimberg) came down, 500 meters away from the main crash site, behind a house where an eyewitness was born. It almost crashed in his house.” Wieman found pieces of the plane, including tire fragments and bits of the plastic windows and aluminum on the ground, and has applied for a permit to use metal detectors to see what lies undergound. “The whole area was strewn
with parts and, unfortunately, body parts, at the time,” he wrote. “Sixteen graves were dug at the Neuleiningen cemetery. Some airmen were buried in the same grave.” German troops collected most of the remains and aircraft parts at the time of the crash, he added. Cpl. Campbell, the son of Robert Henry Campbell and Jane Ann (Humphries) Campbell of Peterborough, died in the crash. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force 408 Squadron, and enlisted in 1940 in Toronto. “They gave their lives for their country and we should remember them, that is our goal,” Wieman wrote. “This crash site, where so many people died, people walk by without knowing. It should, in our opinion, have a memorial to remember them. This crash site and the fates behind it should not be forgotten.” He’d like to see a special service held at the site. “When the time is right, when the excavation comes to an end, we will plant a memorial. Of course, all the descendants will be invited, like other mayors already did at other crash sites. We might even find personal belongings of the crew which, we hope, we can return to the descendants.” The research group aims to contact as many family members of the crew as possible. They can be reached at erik.wieman@gmail.com or kontakt@ig-heimatforschung.de.