Date & Time:
Jun 20, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
JD109
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Melbourne - Melbourne
YOM:
-1
Country:
France
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 Melbourne at 2215LT on June 19 to attack the Schneider factory in Le Creusot. While returning to base the following night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Bretteville-sur-Laize. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Jack Watson, pilot,
Sgt Gerald Wilfred Rockwood, flight engineer,
Sgt Henry Charles William Nash, navigator,
Sgt William George Brown, wireless operator,
Sgt William John McKay, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Jack Edwin Lewis, air gunner,
Sgt Jack Sutcliffe, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Jack Watson, pilot,
Sgt Gerald Wilfred Rockwood, flight engineer,
Sgt Henry Charles William Nash, navigator,
Sgt William George Brown, wireless operator,
Sgt William John McKay, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Jack Edwin Lewis, air gunner,
Sgt Jack Sutcliffe, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
