Crash of an Avro 683 Lancaster I in Gejlbjerg: 7 killed
Date & Time:
Dec 17, 1942 at 1953 LT
Operator:
Registration:
W4786
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Elsham Wolds - Elsham Wolds
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Elsham Wolds at 1735LT to lay mines to the Broccoli region of the Great Belt. Over Denmark, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Gejlbjerg, 2 km southeast of Agerskov. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Harry Bernard Smith, pilot,
Sgt Frederick Reginald Collins, flight engineer,
F/O Samuel Tweedy Hewitt, navigator,
Sgt Gerald Thomas Canterbury, wireless operator,
Sgt Norman Frater, wireless operator,
W/O Jack Athelston Hollinsworth, air gunner,
W/O Angus Daniel MacDonald, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O Harry Bernard Smith, pilot,
Sgt Frederick Reginald Collins, flight engineer,
F/O Samuel Tweedy Hewitt, navigator,
Sgt Gerald Thomas Canterbury, wireless operator,
Sgt Norman Frater, wireless operator,
W/O Jack Athelston Hollinsworth, air gunner,
W/O Angus Daniel MacDonald, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
