Date & Time:
May 24, 1943 at 0216 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
W1217
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Melbourne - Melbourne
Country:
Netherlands
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 2242LT on May 23 on an operation to Dortmund. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the IJsselmeer 15 km west of Makkum. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Charles Joseph James Hine, pilot,
Sgt Aubrey Hall, flight engineer,
F/O Joseph William Trainor King, navigator,
Sgt Herbert George Ashton, bomb aimer,
Sgt Eric Cyril Church, wireless operator,
Sgt George David Nisbet, air gunner,
Sgt Robert Frederick Fletcher Baggaley, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Charles Joseph James Hine, pilot,
Sgt Aubrey Hall, flight engineer,
F/O Joseph William Trainor King, navigator,
Sgt Herbert George Ashton, bomb aimer,
Sgt Eric Cyril Church, wireless operator,
Sgt George David Nisbet, air gunner,
Sgt Robert Frederick Fletcher Baggaley, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
