Date & Time:
Jul 7, 1943 at 0353 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
ED548
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Wickenby - Wickenby
Country:
United Kingdom
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 Wickenby at 2324LT on July 6 on a cross-country flight, the route being Base - Oxford - Lands End - Mull of Galloway - Fort William - St Abbs Head - Base. The following night, while approaching Kincardine at an altitude of 7,000 - 8,000 feet, the airplane exploded in midair and crashed into the Firth of Forth west of the Kincardine Bridge. The airplane was destroyed and all seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
S/L Robert George Leslie Baxter, pilot,
Sgt John Desmond Butterly, flight engineer,
Sgt Leslie Hopkinson, navigator,
F/O Francis Melville Smith, bomb aimer,
Sgt John Ernest Hindmarch, wireless operator,
Sgt William Henry Bartlett, air gunner,
Sgt Sydney James Betts, air gunner.
Crew:
S/L Robert George Leslie Baxter, pilot,
Sgt John Desmond Butterly, flight engineer,
Sgt Leslie Hopkinson, navigator,
F/O Francis Melville Smith, bomb aimer,
Sgt John Ernest Hindmarch, wireless operator,
Sgt William Henry Bartlett, air gunner,
Sgt Sydney James Betts, air gunner.
Probable cause:
In-flight explosion of unknown origin.
