Doornspijk

The airplane departed RAF Holme-on-Spalding-Moor on an operation to Duisburg. Over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Doornspijk, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
W/O John David Steele, pilot,
Sgt John Hence, flight engineer,
F/Sgt Michael John Bennett, navigator,
Sgt D'Arcy Gould, bomb aimer,
F/O Norman James Ritchie, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Stanley Grundy, air gunner,
Sgt William David George O'Brien, air gunner.

This was the inaugural flight from Prague to Amsterdam for the Czech Company CLS. On approach to Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, the captain was unable to locate the airfield due to low visibility caused by night and a cloudy sky (clouds down to 50 metres and visibility estimated to 2-4 km). He decided to follow a holding pattern over the area between Lelystad and Zwolle when few minutes later, radio communications were lost because the accumulator failed. Without radio contact, unable to fix his exact position and with low fuel reserve, the captain eventually decided to attempt an emergency landing in a wheat field located in Doornspijk, near Elburg. Upon touchdown, the aircraft rolled for few dozen metres, lost its right engine, nosed down and came to rest. The pilot and the radio operator were injured while all 10 other occupants evacuated safely. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.