Handley Page H.P.61 Halifax III

Shortly after takeoff from Gibraltar, controls jammed. Eight crew members were able to bail out before the aircraft crashed into the sea some 6 miles off the Trinity Lighthouse. These eight crewmen plus another one were found alive while four others were killed.

In the morning, the airplane departed RAF Brawdy for a sortie but was unable to return to base due to poor weather conditions. The crew diverted to RAF Westonzoyland where it landed at 1245LT. The crew departed RAF Westonzoyland in the early afternoon for a meteorological survey mission over the Atlantic. In the evening, while returning to base, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and the visibility was limited due to fog. Also, communications between the crew and ATC seemed to be interrupted. While completing an extended circuit to land, the airplane impacted the slope of a hill located in the Quantock Hills, about 20 km west of RAF Westonzoyland. The wreckage was found about 1,5 km northeast from the village of Crowcombe. All nine crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Keith Gordon Proverbs, pilot,
F/O John Joseph Frederick Hobden, pilot,
F/Sgt Dennis Norman Everett, flight engineer,
F/O Lindsay George McMillan, navigator,
F/O Patrick Alfred Bee, wireless operator,
W/O Roy Donald Cartwright, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Robert William Vinton, wireless operator,
Sgt John Macilrick Bryce Gordon, meteorologist,
Sgt Louis Grimble Groves, meteorologist.

The bomber left RAF Graveley at 1736LT on a bombing mission over Germany. On the return flight, while cruising over The Netherlands, the aircraft was shot down by a German fighter. With an engine on fire, captain reduced his altitude and attempted to make an emergency landing when the aircraft exploded and crashed in a field in Diepenveen, a village located north of Deventer. Four crew members were killed while three others were injured.
The four crew who lost their lives are:
Colin Frazer Blundell, pilot,
Leslie Albert Hazell, mechanic,
Sergeant Raymond Valentine Montigue Daniels, air gunner,
Jeffrey Eugene Pogonowski, air gunner.

The bomber aircraft departed RAF Lissett at 1754LT on a bombing mission over Berlin. While flying over the region of Flensburg, north Germany, when it was hit by Flak. With both left engines on fire, the captain decided to reduce his altitude and to attempt an emergency landing. Eventually, the aircraft crash landed in a fruit plantation located in Trappe, in the region of Sønderborg, south Denmark. All seven crew escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
William C. M. Hogg, pilot,
F/Sgt Bernard V. Millett, navigator,
Sgt George A. Naylor, flight engineer,
Sgt Ronald H. E. McLaren,
Sgt George E. Ksendz,
Sgt Peter L. Chamberlain, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Robert McDonald, wireless operator.