Crash of a Vickers 440 Wellington X in Kairserswerth: 5 killed
Date & Time:
May 24, 1943 at 0119 LT
Operator:
Registration:
HZ374
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Hemswell - Hemswell
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Hemswell at 2324LT on May 23 on an operation to Dortmund. Over Düsseldorf, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Kaiserswerth, north of the airport. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/O Henryk Piatkowski, pilot,
F/O Witold M. Jankowski, navigator,
F/O Henryk Lewicki, bomb aimer,
Sgt Czeslaw Ratajczyk, wireless operator,
Sgt Eugeniusz Kulikowski, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O Henryk Piatkowski, pilot,
F/O Witold M. Jankowski, navigator,
F/O Henryk Lewicki, bomb aimer,
Sgt Czeslaw Ratajczyk, wireless operator,
Sgt Eugeniusz Kulikowski, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
