Kiwi Air Gunner's Remains Found in Germany

"The human remains of a Southland World War II airman, shot down in Germany 79 years ago, have been discovered at the wreckage site.
DNA testing has confirmed the remains, found buried amongst parts of a British World War II bomber plane that went down in 1942, were of Otautau man sergeant Henry Pullar.
His niece Pam Compton said she and her family received written confirmation of the test results from Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital biologist Oliver Krebs in late December, 2020.
“We were thrilled and stunned when we were told,” Compton, of Toowoomba in Queensland, said.
Discovery of the human remains and parts of the plane's tail section, buried more than five metres deep, were made in 2019, while redevelopment work was being done at Vechta Airport in Germany. Research by Compton showed the plane crashed tail first into the ground.
Pullar was a rear gunner in the plane."
www.stuff.co.nz/national/124416572/remains-of-southland-wwii-gunner-found-after-79-years-in-plane-wreckage-in-germany

 

Tail first ?? That's very weird...

 

Almost like it stalled while climbing to gain height to let the crew bail out?

 

Even then you wouldn't stall by flying straight up...wouldn't need to stall anyway...and even if it did it wouldn't fall straight down, drag would right the aircraft to fly straight down...my only thought is that the tail tore off at some stage, aircraft aren't strong from side forces. Tail would then tumble and maybe due to the weight of the gun and ammo eventually fall downward with the back first...does that make sense?

 

Aye, I can see what you're getting at.

 

This was Stirling I R9247 'AA-W', one of four 75 Squadron Stirlings lost on the night of 17/18 December 1942. The target was Fallersleben and the aircraft took off from RAF Newmarket at 18:00 hrs. The pilot was F/S H E Rousseau and six of the seven-man crew were NCOs.

According to 'Bomber Command Losses 1942' by Chorley, R9247 crashed on, or near, Vechta airfield. It is possible that the aircraft broke up in mid-air but this is unconfirmed.

 

More info, courtesy of Theo Boiten's 'Nachtjagd War Diaries'.

17/18 December was a 'black night' for RAF Bomber Command ; more than one in every three sorties despatched failed to return. Between 18:48 and 23:00 hrs 29 sorties were made by Luftwaffe ground-controlled aircraft, resulting in 11 victories.

R9247 - again described in the diaries as 'crashing onto the runway of Vechta airfield' - was claimed by the Bf110C-6 of Hptmn. Milius, StaffelKapitan of 1./NJG3 , but it was also claimed by a battery of 8th Flak Divn. After evaluation, the 'kill' was awarded to Milius.

So it seems possible that Milius carried out the initial attack which, as the aircraft lost height, was followed up by Flak, which could account for a mid-air break-up of the tailplane.

Incidentally, Milius scored two Stirling victories that night. Other double-scorers were Helmut Lent and Hans-Joachim Jabs making it a very active night for Nachtjagd 'aces'.