Crash of a Handley Page H.P.63 Halifax V near Addingham: 7 killed

Date & Time: Jan 31, 1944 at 1730 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.63 Halifax V
Operator:
Registration:
DK185
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dishforth - Dishforth
Location:
Addingham
Yorkshire
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a night training exercise from the RAF Dishforth. En route, while flying in poor weather conditions due to fog and mist, the captain seems to be lost and was trying to locate the airport of Yeadon when the aircraft struck the ground and crashed between the villages of Addingham and Ilkley, Yorkshire. A crewmen was seriously injured while all six other occupants were killed. Unfortunately, the only survivor died a day later. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was about 40 miles off the intended track.
Crew:
Donald George McLeod, pilot,
Felix Byrne, flight engineer,
Lewis Riggs, navigator,
Robert Henry Rahn, bomb aimer,
William George King, wireless operator,
George Martin, air gunner,
Albert Lorne Mullen, air gunner.

Crash of a Vickers 440 Wellington X in Buurse: 5 killed

Date & Time: May 24, 1943 at 0125 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 440 Wellington X
Operator:
Registration:
HE281
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dishforth - Dishforth
Location:
Buurse
Overijssel
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The aircraft left RAF Dishforth in the evening of May 23 on a bombing mission over Dortmund. While overflying The Netherlands by night, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a German fighter and crashed in a field. All five crew members were killed.
Crew (426th Squadron):
Sgt L. G. Sutherland 4.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III off Cromer: 3 killed

Date & Time: Apr 5, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
X3699
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Cromer
Norfolk
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 2030LT on April 4 on an operation to Kiel. Approaching the target area, it was badly shot about by a German fighter. While returning to base the following night, following hydraulic problems, the crew ditched the airplane into the sea some 16 km off Cromer. Three crew members were killed and two others were rescued. The airplane sank and was lost.
Crew:
F/O Donald Lloyd Kennedy, pilot, †
F/O Keith Minshull Walley, navigator, †
Sgt Leslie Lester Anderson, bomb aimer,
P/O Dallas Laskey, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Charles Norman Beaton, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Badly shot about by a German fighter.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III in Nijemirdum: 3 killed

Date & Time: Mar 29, 1943 at 2346 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
BJ762
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Nijemirdum
Friesland
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1931LT on an operation to Bochum. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Nijemirdum. Three crew members were killed and two others became PoW.
Crew:
F/Sgt Richard Earl Todd, pilot, †
Sgt Harvey Martin, pilot,
Sgt John Franklin Gubb, bomb aimer, †
Sgt James Taylor, wireless operator,
Sgt John Arthur Bailey, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III into the North Sea: 5 killed

Date & Time: Mar 27, 1943 at 0205 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
X3696
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
North Sea
World
Country:
World
Region:
World
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1922LT on March 26 on an operation to Duisburg. While returning to base the following base, it was last heard at 0205LT when its position was roughly 96 km east of the Yorkshire coastal town of Withernsea. Lost without trace.
Crew:
Sgt Eric Hall, pilot,
Sgt John Joseph Raede,
Sgt Frederick Simpson,
Sgt William Stevenson,
Sgt Clarence Darlington Reed, air gunner.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III in Aartswoud

Date & Time: Mar 12, 1943 at 2158 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
BK340
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Aartswoud
North Holland
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1912LT on an operation to Essen. Over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Aartswoud. All five crew members became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt Joseph Georges Giles Claude Lamontagne, pilot,
F/Sgt Adrien Walter Brown, navigator,
F/Sgt Joseph Adrian Vincent Gauthier, bomb aimer,
Sgt Joseph Arthur Roland Goulet, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Marie Joseph Alfred Jean Aumond, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III off Blåvandshuk: 6 killed

Date & Time: Mar 9, 1943 at 2230 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
X3284
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Blåvandshuk
Syddanmark
Country:
Denmark
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1832LT to lay mines in the Nectarines area. It was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the sea off Blåvandshuk, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
P/O George Raymond Baker, pilot,
Sgt Leo Joseph Baribeau,
F/Sgt Dexter Brand Coons,
W/O Donald Parker McLachlan,
W/O Lawrence Murphy,
F/Sgt Max Zeavin.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III off Zandvoort: 6 killed

Date & Time: Mar 5, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
BK401
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Zandvoort
North Holland
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1910LT on an operation to Essen. It was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the sea some 30 km west of Zandvoort. All six crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Cyril Randolph Trask, pilot,
F/Sgt Norman Fraser Paterson, wireless operator,
F/O Chelmsford Edward Chapman,
F/Sgt William John Ross Davies,
F/Sgt George Walen,
F/Sgt Robert Earl Williams, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III in Schenefeld: 6 killed

Date & Time: Mar 3, 1943 at 2116 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
BK334
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Schenefeld
Schleswig-Holstein
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1818LT on an operation to Hamburg. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in Schenefeld, some 12 km northwest of Hamburg. All six crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Joseph Victor Leo Gauthier, pilot,
P/O Jack Glassberg, observer,
W/O Joseph Jean Baptist Alber Dugal, navigator,
W/O William Clyde Forbes, wireless operator,
Sgt Joseph Engelbert Audy, air gunner,
W/O Joseph Wilfred Maurice Ed Lanctin, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III at RAF Dishforth

Date & Time: Feb 28, 1943 at 1805 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
BJ918
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Airport (less than 10 km from airport)
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Location:
Dishforth AFB
North Yorkshire
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1805LT on an operation to Saint-Nazaire. It crashed almost immediately after takeoff due to a sudden loss of power from the starboard engine. There were no injuries among the crew.
Crew:
Sgt J. H. N. Brousseau, pilot,
Sgt J. H. Moreau,
Sgt J. D. L. Fontaine,
P/O D. B. J. Hodgetts,
Sgt H. B. Marceau,
P/O T. R. C. Irwin, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Loss of power from the starboard engine after takeoff.
Subscribe to Dishforth AFB