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Translation of a French reports on the fate of A. V. Roe Lancaster Mk.III, NE116, AR-G, that was shot down on the night of June 22-23, 1944 during a bombing mission on the railway installations at Reims. The plane exploded and crashed at Morienval, 8 km NNE of Crépy-en-Valois, Oise, France.

The plane took off at 10:33 p.m. from Binbrook on June 22, 1944. En route to the objective, the aircraft was hit by a fighter and caught fire. Australian pilot Fl/Sgt Lawrence Randolph Pearson gave the order to evacuate the aircraft which was only flying at an altitude of 2000 metres. The plane went into a spin, crashes and explodes in Morienval.

Five men on board were killed: pilot Pearson, mechanic Sgt John Albert Jillings, radio operator Sgt Samuel David Keenen, dorsal gunner Sgt Kenneth George Mason and rear gunner Fl/Sgt William Worthington. They are buried in the Morienval municipal cemetery.

Navigator Fl/Sgt Clive Schwilk, evacuated the aircraft through the forward hold followed by Jillings whom Schwilk helps with his parachute, then Bomb-aimer Sgt William Joseph Flynn. Jillings is killed in the descent as bombs explode around them. Schwilk is captured by two "rather elderly" German soldiers soon after landing, but manages to escape.

This was Flynn's 10th mission with his pilot Pearson. He lost his flying boots during his parachute descent and landed in a field near Morienval. Hearing two loud explosions he can see his plane burning a few kilometres away.

Ten days after the crash Flynn was still in Morienval because he mentions in his report having seen the graves of his comrades in the cemetery. He was helped at Morienval by the farrier Lucien Barre and Etienne Bertoux, both from the hamlet of Elincourt.

It is unclear how Flynn made his way to Paris. Parisian Yvonne Diximier declares having housed Flynn (whose number she remembered) and Schwilk at her home at 8 Rue Jean Moréas, Paris.

William Flynn was escorted by the Resistance from Paris to Camp de Fréteval. He is joined there by Clive Schwilk on August 7. The camp, near Chateaudun, was based in the ‘Foret de Freteval' and known as operation Sherwood. 152 aircrew evaders from Great Britain, America, Canada, Belgium, New Zealand and Australia lived in perfectly organised camps in the forest between May and September 1944, in the heart of occupied France, under the very noses of German troops. It is quite remarkable how the Resistance groups involved managed to keep such a large number of evaders hidden and a secret from the inhabitants of local villages. Due to the excellent organisation of the camps, not a single evader was lost or captured.

Flynn and Schwilk were liberated on August 13, 1944 by American troops. Returning to England, Flynn was interogated on August 17, 1944 by the intelligence services. He was demobilized on June 26, 1945.

References: https://www.evasioncomete.be/fflynnwj.html

https://ww2escapelines.co.uk/escapers-evaders/escapers-evaders-europe/freteval-forest/

https://www.evasioncomete.be/fschwilcw.html