Date & Time:
Jun 12, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
HR797
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Gransden Lodge - Gransden Lodge
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Gransden Lodge at 2300LT on June 11 on an operation to Düsseldorf. While in the vicinity of Amsterdam, it was hit by the German Flak. The crew decided to turn back to base, but losing height, the airplane was ditched into the North Sea, some 80 km west of IJmuiden. Two crew members were killed and six others became PoW.
Crew:
P/O James Caldwell Harty, pilot,
W/O J. Somerville, copilot,
Sgt William Norman Tatham, flight engineer,
P/O Burton Leigh Miller, navigator,
P/O John Edward Paterson, bomb aimer,
F/O Thomas Ashton Fillingham, wireless operator, †
W/O Norman Henry Arthur Taylor, air gunner, †
P/O Forbes Ewen MacKay, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O James Caldwell Harty, pilot,
W/O J. Somerville, copilot,
Sgt William Norman Tatham, flight engineer,
P/O Burton Leigh Miller, navigator,
P/O John Edward Paterson, bomb aimer,
F/O Thomas Ashton Fillingham, wireless operator, †
W/O Norman Henry Arthur Taylor, air gunner, †
P/O Forbes Ewen MacKay, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
