On April 15, 1942, 78 years ago, a Wellington bomber of the RAF, on its way back from a bomb raid on Dortmund, was shot down over the German town of Schiefbahn, writes Christoph Heyes, Schiefbahn, Germany.

The five crew members died, including Sergeant Peter Fitzpatrick Vane Winkle from Islington.

For a study on local history, I (living in Germany only a few hundred metres from the crash site) turned to Mark Aston, manager of the Islington Museum, and Cllr Dave Poyser, a former mayor of Islington, to learn more about Sergeant Winkle.

What is known so far: Peter Fitzpatrick Vane Winkle was born in Islington, where he lived with his family on Green Lanes before moving to Audley Road in Barnet.

I am now looking for people, maybe relatives or former neighbours, who remember Peter Winkle and can tell more about him and his life.

Dave Poyser and I would be very happy, if the story of that nearly forgotten plane crash could bring our two countries closer together.

You can contact me at christoph.heyes@gmail.com

Christoph Heyes

• Keywords
  WORLD WAR TWO, AIR FORCES, AIR RAIDS, GERMANS, LETTERS
• Geographical keyword
  GREEN LANES
• Persons keyword
  Peter Fitzgerald Vane Winkle, Sergeant, David Poyser, Mark Aston, Christoph Heyes