Crash of a Handley Page H.P.63 Halifax V in Distré: 7 killed
Date & Time:
Feb 19, 1943 at 2330 LT
Operator:
Registration:
DK123
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Netheravon - Netheravon
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Netheravon at 2123LT to attack an electric station in Distré. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed one km south of the village. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/O David Herbert Upsher, pilot,
F/O Malcolm Cedric Hayes, pilot,
F/Sgt Keith Reynold Marshall, wireless operator,
Sgt Walter Mather, navigator,
S/L Campbell Crichton-Miller, meteorologist and weather officer,
F/Lt Michael Edward Jackson Croker, air gunner,
F/Sgt Thomas William Holland, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O David Herbert Upsher, pilot,
F/O Malcolm Cedric Hayes, pilot,
F/Sgt Keith Reynold Marshall, wireless operator,
Sgt Walter Mather, navigator,
S/L Campbell Crichton-Miller, meteorologist and weather officer,
F/Lt Michael Edward Jackson Croker, air gunner,
F/Sgt Thomas William Holland, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
