Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in La Malmaison: 8 killed
Date & Time:
Mar 11, 1943 at 2200 LT
Operator:
Registration:
W7803
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Topcliffe - Topcliffe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Topcliffe at 1902LT on an operation to Stuttgart. In the evening, while flying over France, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in La Malmaison. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt Harold Gordon Shockley, pilot,
P/O Bernard Henry Labarge, copilot,
Sgt Charles Orrin Henderson, flight engineer,
P/O Francis Holland, navigator,
P/O William Watson Kirkpatrick, navigator,
Sgt Matthew Walker Mackenzie, wireless operator,
F/O Wendell Mclean Palmer, air gunner,
P/O James Henderson, air gunner.
Crew:
F/Lt Harold Gordon Shockley, pilot,
P/O Bernard Henry Labarge, copilot,
Sgt Charles Orrin Henderson, flight engineer,
P/O Francis Holland, navigator,
P/O William Watson Kirkpatrick, navigator,
Sgt Matthew Walker Mackenzie, wireless operator,
F/O Wendell Mclean Palmer, air gunner,
P/O James Henderson, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
