Crash of a Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II into the Atlantic Ocean: 14 killed
Date & Time:
Mar 27, 1945 at 0730 LT
Operator:
Registration:
AL504
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Northolt – Lajes – Ottawa
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
7
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
14
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft left RAF Northolt at 2300LT on March 26 bound for Ottawa, Canada, with an intermediate stop in Lajes, Azores Islands. At 0716LT, the crew informed his base with an ETA in Lajes at 0810LT. This was the last radio contact. As the aircraft failed to arrive in Lajes, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft was found.
Crew (45th Squadron):
W/Cdr William Hugh Biddell, pilot,
F/Lt Aubrey Norman Brodie, copilot,
F/Lt David Buchanan, navigator,
F/Lt Kenneth George Shea, navigator,
Frederick Walter Williams, radio operator,
W/O Douglas James Spence, flight engineer,
Victor Ian Claud James Bannister, steward.
Passengers:
Cdr Rupert Arnold Brabner,
Sir Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond,
Sir John Bradley Abraham,
Henry Albert Jones,
Edward Twentyman,
Eric Robinson,
S/Ldr Elisha Gaddis Plum.
Crew (45th Squadron):
W/Cdr William Hugh Biddell, pilot,
F/Lt Aubrey Norman Brodie, copilot,
F/Lt David Buchanan, navigator,
F/Lt Kenneth George Shea, navigator,
Frederick Walter Williams, radio operator,
W/O Douglas James Spence, flight engineer,
Victor Ian Claud James Bannister, steward.
Passengers:
Cdr Rupert Arnold Brabner,
Sir Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond,
Sir John Bradley Abraham,
Henry Albert Jones,
Edward Twentyman,
Eric Robinson,
S/Ldr Elisha Gaddis Plum.
