Wickenby AFB

The aircraft left RAF Wickenby in the evening of July 13 on a night training exercise with 11 other similar aircraft. While cruising at an assigned altitude of 2,000 feet, the aircraft flew into a thunderstorm when it went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in an open field located near the village of Burdale, some 10 miles northwest of RAF Driffield. The rear gunner Sgt J. Critchley survived while six other occupants were killed.
Crew (626th Squadron):
F/Sgt S. P. Bell, pilot,
F/Sgt L. W. Garfield, navigator,
F/Sgt H. J. Plastow, wireless operator,
Sgt P. J. Allsebrook, air bomber,
Sgt S. Welsh, flight engineer,
Sgt R. C. T. Goldthorpe, air gunner,
Sgt J. Critchley, air gunner.

The crew departed RAF Winthorpe to demonstrate feathering procedures, during which the port engine was shut down. The pilot attempted to restart the engine at 5,000 feet, but was forced to crash-land at RAF Wickenby after the port propeller failed to unfeather. After landing, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overshot the runway and came to rest in a ditch, causing the starboard undercarriage to collapse. The crew escaped unhurt and the airplane was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
W/O E. Knight, pilot +4.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1858LT on an operation to Hamburg. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed west of Stade, some 34 km west of Hamburg. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Kenneth Rupert William Simmonds, pilot,
Sgt Laurence Burnett, flight engineer,
F/Sgt Ian Victor Heatley, navigator,
F/Sgt Donald Kerr, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Henry Herbert Brien, wireless operator,
Sgt Roy Victor Malcolm Davenport, air gunner,
F/Sgt Archibald John Marfell, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1902LT on an operation to Cologne. It failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the North Sea. Lost without trace.
Crew:
Sgt William Booker Kenny, pilot,
Sgt Jack Bunce,
F/Sgt John Dunham Correll,
Sgt Donald Armitage Travis,
Sgt Cyril Petherbridge,
Sgt Thomas Ithel James,
Sgt Ronald Noel Vaisey, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1741LT on an operation to Lorient. While returning to base in the late evening, it crashed on approach to base, at Newhall Wood, some 5 km from the airfield. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O James Martin, pilot,
Sgt Dennis Francis Gibbs,
Sgt James Callanan,
Sgt John Bowman Reay,
Sgt Leonard Jones,
Sgt Robert Victor Coombs,
Sgt Edward Hemmings, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1725LT on an operation to Düsseldorf. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by enemy fire and crashed in Bedburdyck, 19 km southwest of Düsseldorf. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Thomas Frank Dimmock, pilot,
Sgt Roy Percival, flight engineer,
F/Sgt Gordon Ernest Campbell, navigator,
Sgt Henry Dennis Dawes, bomb aimer,
F/O Malcolm Wilfred Baxter, wireless operator,
Sgt Arthur Sanderson Blagden, air gunner,
Sgt Jack Dale Perrett, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1626LT on an operation to Berlin. It failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the North Sea. Lost without trace.
Crew:
F/Sgt Douglas Clarke Morphett, pilot,
Sgt Leslie Ernest Austin,
F/Sgt John Keith Bond,
Sgt Jim Corke,
F/Sgt Colin McDowell Miller,
Sgt Derek Bryan Pollitt,
Sgt William Richard Maunder, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1649LT on an operation to Berlin. Passing over Neumünster at night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Bahnhof Kleinkummerfeld, some 7 km southeast of Neumünster. All seven occupants were killed.
Crew:
P/O Harry Frederick Fansher, pilot,
Sgt Roy Francis Poole, flight engineer,
P/O Kenneth Frank Butler,
Sgt Edward Cadden,
P/O John Fallis,
Sgt William John Smith, air gunner,
F/Sgt Frederick Cecil Marsh, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1634LT on an operation to Berlin. It failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the North Sea. Lost without trace.
Crew:
P/O Eric Bayly Withell, pilot,
P/O Wilfrid Gordon Burrows,
Sgt James Stewart Hunter,
P/O Robert Bruce Mullinger,
F/Sgt Alan Frank Neale,
Sgt Andrew Mitchell, air gunner,
Sgt Leslie Henry Richardson, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1705LT on an operation to Berlin. It crashed in unknown circumstances in Ribnitz-Pütnitz. All seven crew members became PoW.
Crew:
F/Sgt Robert Leslie Featherston, pilot,
Sgt Steve Granville Bacon,
Sgt Frederick Henry Cooper,
Sgt John Albert Maurice Edelson,
F/Sgt T. C. Fouracres,
Sgt Laurence Hickson,
F/Sgt Charles William Roberts, air gunner.