Crash of an Avro 683 Lancaster III in Messingen: 2 killed
Date & Time:
May 13, 1943 at 2357 LT
Operator:
Registration:
ED693
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Skellingthorpe - Skellingthorpe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Skellingthorpe at 2159LT on an operation to Plzeň. Just before midnight, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Messingen, 12 km southeast of Lingen. Two crew members were killed and five others became PoW.
Crew:
P/O William Goode Pickens, pilot,
Sgt C. Taylor, flight engineer,
P/O Michael Hall, navigator,
Sgt John Gordon Hanby, bomb aimer,
F/O Thomas Royds, wireless operator,
Sgt William Augustus Roberts, air gunner, †
W/O William Bruce Nichol, air gunner. †
Crew:
P/O William Goode Pickens, pilot,
Sgt C. Taylor, flight engineer,
P/O Michael Hall, navigator,
Sgt John Gordon Hanby, bomb aimer,
F/O Thomas Royds, wireless operator,
Sgt William Augustus Roberts, air gunner, †
W/O William Bruce Nichol, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
