This memorial page is dedicated to William Francis Payne, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

 

Name: Payne
First names: William Francis
Nickname: Bill
Date of birth: –
Place of birth: –
Residence: in Broxted, Essex
Rank / Occupation: Flight Sergeant
Identity tag: 1150780
Unit: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 166 Squadron
Date of death: 21 June 1943 (missing)
Place of death: Neerkant
Cause of death: Crash of Wellington HE924
Cemetery: –
Memorial site: Air Forces Memorial at Englefield Green
: St Mary’s Church War Memorial in Broxted
: St Mary’s Churchyard, Broxted (United Kingdom)


Additional information

Memorial: Englefield Green, Panel 138. Broxted Church, War Memorial inside the church. St Mary’s churchyard on the gravestone of his mother, Maude Payne.

Aged 23. Son of Duke Horace Payne and Maude Payne-Dixon, of Broxted, Essex.

On 21 June 1943 at approximately 01:49, the Wellington X (AS-C) with serial number HE924 crashed near Heesterveld in Neerkant. The aircraft is thought to have exploded in the air, as its wreckage was scattered over a wide area. The aircraft, which had taken off from Krimington and was bound for Krefeld, was shot down following an aerial engagement in the vicinity of St. Truiden (B) by Hauptmann Siegfried Wandam of the 1st Nachtjagdgeschwader 5, by Hauptmann Wilhelm Herget of the 3rd Nachtjagdgeschwader 1.

William Francis Payne, James Karl Somers, Arthur Burgess, Eric Jeffs and George Roland Wright were killed in the incident. William Francis Payne has been missing ever since.

Report drawn up by Sergeant Hendrik Draaier and Sergeant Adrianus van den Broek, Eindhoven Military Police District, Deurne Group, Neerkant Post.
Rapport, opgemaakt door wachtmeesters Hendrik Draaier en Adrianus van den Broek, marechausseegewest Eindhoven, groep Deurne, post Neerkant.

Hauptmann Siegfried Wandam
Hauptmann Siegfried Wandam
Hauptmann Wilhelm Herget
Hauptmann Wilhelm Herget

View all persons in the category: Missing