Date & Time:
Mar 9, 1943 at 2245 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
JB840
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Pocklington - Pocklington
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Pocklington at 1930LT on an operation to Nuremberg. While cruising over France at an altitude of 14,000 feet, it was shot down by a German fighter and caught fire. All seven crew members parachuted to safety and the airplane entered a dive and crashed in Brizeaux. Five crew members became PoW and two evaded.
Crew:
Sgt Ralph Charles Frederick Hibben, pilot,
Sgt Raymond Atkinson,
Sgt Harry Mildred Simpson,
Sgt Frederick Roy Slocombe,
Sgt W. Hughes,
Sgt A. R. Mansford,
Sgt Edward George Sawkins, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Ralph Charles Frederick Hibben, pilot,
Sgt Raymond Atkinson,
Sgt Harry Mildred Simpson,
Sgt Frederick Roy Slocombe,
Sgt W. Hughes,
Sgt A. R. Mansford,
Sgt Edward George Sawkins, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
