Date & Time:
Apr 15, 1943 at 0023 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
HR678
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Graveley - Graveley
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Graveley at 2128LT on April 14 on an operation to Stuttgart. Shortly after midnight, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Lustadt. Four crew members were killed and three others became PoW.
Crew:
P/O Ronald Edward Wilkes, pilot, †
Sgt Thomas Laurie Brown, flight engineer,
F/O Ronald Wheatley, navigator, †
F/Sgt Terence Gordon O'Shaughnessy, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Frederick Hay, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Frank Walter Vincent, air gunner,
F/Sgt Michael Albert Edward Bradford, air gunner. †
Crew:
P/O Ronald Edward Wilkes, pilot, †
Sgt Thomas Laurie Brown, flight engineer,
F/O Ronald Wheatley, navigator, †
F/Sgt Terence Gordon O'Shaughnessy, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Frederick Hay, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Frank Walter Vincent, air gunner,
F/Sgt Michael Albert Edward Bradford, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
