Crash of a Vickers 440 Wellington X in Noordschans: 5 killed
Date & Time:
May 13, 1943 at 0328 LT
Operator:
Registration:
HE157
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 2349LT on May 12 on an operation to Duisburg. Passing over the Netherlands the following night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Noordschans. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
W/O Kenneth Franklin Fighter, pilot,
F/O George McMillan, navigator,
F/Sgt David Chester Maxwell, bomb aimer,
Sgt Eric William Betts, wireless operator,
F/O Howard Ralph Drake, air gunner.
Crew:
W/O Kenneth Franklin Fighter, pilot,
F/O George McMillan, navigator,
F/Sgt David Chester Maxwell, bomb aimer,
Sgt Eric William Betts, wireless operator,
F/O Howard Ralph Drake, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
