Eight air crew members of 101 Squadron were on board Avro Lancaster (#LL750) bomber when it took flight from its base at RAF Station Ludford Magna in Lincolnshire; the Lancaster was one of 323 'Lancs' and 1 Mosquito aircraft which had set out on a night operation over Friedrichshaven in Germany. A German night fighter attacked the Lancaster, shooting it down and causing it to burn and crash on a hillside near Gräppelensee (Lake Gräppelen) in the Swiss Alps; six airmen perished in the crash and two others survived (POW).

The casualties of this incident were:-

RCAF Pilot Officer Oscar Jacob ALBRECHT,

RAFVR Sergeant William Gowland ANDERSON,

RAFVR Sergeant Francis Henry BATHMAKER,

RAFVR Flying Officer John Raymond BURTON,

RAF Warrant Officer Bertram Bernard NOBLE and

RAF Sergeant Maurice George SMITH.

[One of the two survivors (POW), Flying Officer Hubert Samuel PROWSE, lost his foot during the bail-out when he came too close to the damaged Lancaster's propeller. Later, in a German hospital, his entire leg had to be amputated in order to prevent the spread of gangrene. Following the war, lawyer Hubert Samuel Prowse had a successful career in Lethbridge, and in Calgary, Alberta, appointed to the Court of Queen's Bench (QC) in 1979.]

A memorial plaque has been placed at the crash site. It reads:-

"Zum Gedenken

An die sechs englischen

Besatzungsmtglieder die am

28. April 1944 beim Absturz

Mit de Avro Lancaster

Den Tod fanden."

(In memory

of the six English

Aircrew members

Who died on

28 April 1944 in the crash

of their Avro Lancaster.)

Military Service:

Rank: Pilot Officer

Trade: Air Gunner

Service Number: J/92032

Age: 39

Force: Air Force

Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force

Division: 101 RAF Squadron [MOTTO: Mens agitat molem (Mind over matter')]

P/O Albrecht was added to the aircrew at the last minute as he was Special Operations Officer who could speak German and the wireless equipment installed in the aircraft would require such an expert.

A blacksmith/compounder by trade and residing on Barnesvale Avenue in Long Branch, Ontario, Canada, he enlisted on 11 Nov 1939 in Toronto, Ontario.

Son of the late Louis Balthaser and Elizabeth (née Scharlach) Albrecht; husband of Julia Elizabeth (née O'Connor) Albrecht of Toronto [the couple married in 1927]; father of three children; brother of three sisters, four brothers and two siblings who died in infancy.

Pilot Officer Oscar Jacob Albrecht is commemorated on Page 235 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.

He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.