Date & Time:
Dec 17, 1942 at 2118 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
W4382
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Skellingthorpe - Skellingthorpe
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Skellingthorpe in the afternoon on an operation to Soltau. While returning to base in the evening, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the sea 5 km west of Callantsoog. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt John Charles Atkinson, pilot,
Sgt Francis Martin, flight engineer,
F/O Percy William Rowling, navigator,
P/O Henry William Joseph Smith, bomb aimer,
Sgt James Cornelius O'Neill, wireless operator,
Sgt John Mason Reilly, air gunner,
F/O Charles William Walker, air gunner.
Crew:
F/Lt John Charles Atkinson, pilot,
Sgt Francis Martin, flight engineer,
F/O Percy William Rowling, navigator,
P/O Henry William Joseph Smith, bomb aimer,
Sgt James Cornelius O'Neill, wireless operator,
Sgt John Mason Reilly, air gunner,
F/O Charles William Walker, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
