Date & Time:
Jun 26, 1943 at 0219 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
R5572
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Syerston - Syerston
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Syerston at 2250LT on June 25 on an operation to Gelsenkirchen. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Bakermarksedijk. Six crew members were killed and the pilot became PoW.
Crew:
F/O Eric Winks Davidson, pilot,
Sgt Stanley Cowgill, flight engineer, †
Sgt John Gareth Vaughan Williams, navigator, †
Sgt Edward Whitby Henry Browne, bomb aimer, †
Sgt John Albert Francis, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Cecil Horace Sinclair, air gunner, †
W/O Lawson Frederick Spraling, air gunner. †
Crew:
F/O Eric Winks Davidson, pilot,
Sgt Stanley Cowgill, flight engineer, †
Sgt John Gareth Vaughan Williams, navigator, †
Sgt Edward Whitby Henry Browne, bomb aimer, †
Sgt John Albert Francis, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Cecil Horace Sinclair, air gunner, †
W/O Lawson Frederick Spraling, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
