Date & Time:
Feb 19, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley
Operator:
Registration:
BD538
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
2705
YOM:
1942
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The airplane was engaged in an operation to Distré (attack of an electric station). Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak. While trying an emergency landing, the airplane collided with a pine tree and crashed in a field located in the hamlet of Les Monteaux, west of Vivy. Four crew members were killed and one became PoW.
Crew:
W/Cdr Philip Michael Vaughan Lysaght, pilot, †
F/O James Hamish Cameron McIlwrick, pilot, †
Sgt Ivor William Arnold, navigator, †
W/O Joseph Elzear Sahl Sasseville, wireless operator, †
Sgt Joseph Bailey, air gunner.
Crew:
W/Cdr Philip Michael Vaughan Lysaght, pilot, †
F/O James Hamish Cameron McIlwrick, pilot, †
Sgt Ivor William Arnold, navigator, †
W/O Joseph Elzear Sahl Sasseville, wireless operator, †
Sgt Joseph Bailey, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
