Date & Time:
Jul 13, 1943 at 0035 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
ED412
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Langar - Langar
Country:
Switzerland
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 Langar at 2235LT on July 12 on an operation to Torino. The airplane was supposed to overfly the French Alps at an altitude of 18,000 feet but poor weather conditions over the mountains forced the crew to change his course over Switzerland. This night, it is believed that 100 other RAF bombers passed over Switzerland bound for Torino. While cruising at an insufficient altitude of 900 metres, the airplane impacted the slope of Mt Le Grammont (2,172 metres high) located 4 km southwest of Le Bouveret, Valais. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew (207th Squadron):
P/O Horace Badge, pilot,
Sgt Robert Wood, flight engineer,
F/Lt Arthur Charles Jepps, navigator,
Sgt Arthur Charles Wright, observer,
Sgt Edward Higgins, wireless operator,
F/S Ronald Oswald Charles Brett, air gunner,
Sgt James Arthur Spence, air gunner.
Crew (207th Squadron):
P/O Horace Badge, pilot,
Sgt Robert Wood, flight engineer,
F/Lt Arthur Charles Jepps, navigator,
Sgt Arthur Charles Wright, observer,
Sgt Edward Higgins, wireless operator,
F/S Ronald Oswald Charles Brett, air gunner,
Sgt James Arthur Spence, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain. It is also possible that the airplane was shot down by the Swiss antiaircraft fire.
