La Bussiere-sur-Ouche Communal Cemetery, Cote-d'Or, France

R.A.F Base: Chedburgh, Suffolk
Unit: 214 Sqdn. Bomber Command
Aircraft: Short Stirling, Mk l, serial EF390
Target: Torino, Northern Italy
Incident: The Stirling was damaged by flak and finally shot down by Capt. Hans Wolfgang Niebelschütz. The aircraft crashed at La Bussière and all the crew perished.

In the year one thousand nine hundred and forty three, the thirteenth August at two forty five in the morning, a damaged aircraft was shot down in flames by a German fighter over the territory of La Bussière at an isolated spot called Le Bois de Courtépée. The Fire and Rescue Service, under instruction from the Town Hall went to the site to recover the bodies of the aircrew. They were aided by a few volunteers.
The plane was literally broken to pieces but the search revealed an identification plate marked as follows :
Stirling Serial No. SB 38807 .S DRG 60/No. 4294000 1SS23 Sir MS Inspect. CO1182
Proper identification of bodies was almost impossible.
At the centre of the wreck was a badly burned body at the side of which a metal ring and fragments of a letter were found. A few words were readable, Jacques St James London. The body was put in coffin number 1
At the controls was a partial body bearing rank emblems. From the torn shreds of clothing a cigarette case was found with the inscription CoDoung-From-Nan-Ein and on a scrap of paper the name Harris was visible. The body was placed in coffin number 2
On the right was a disfigured body on which the name Rose as well as the service number 165-42 could be seen. The body was placed in a coffin marked l’X in which were placed partial bodies of other airmen.
In coffin Number 4 were placed all body and flesh parts found around the site and in particular, two heads of which one appeared to have two bullet wounds.
This operation commenced at 14 H and finished around 20 H after having scrupulously searched the area on a radius of 200 meters. The search was particularly difficult due to the thick brushwood.
La Bussière, the same day, at 22 H, the bodies were taken to the Town Hall.
These operations were effected in the presence of us, M. E. Maire de la Bussière-sur-Ouche and under the direction of us, P.L., Lieutenant Commandant la Subdivision of the Fire and Rescue Service.

Translated from the French by Barry Cuttell and courtesy of Dan Gilberti