Date & Time:
Oct 24, 1942 at 2150 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
W1188
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Elsham Wolds - Elsham Wolds
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Elsham Wolds at 1828LT on an operation to Milan. While returning to base in the evening, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed near Nant-le-Grand. Five crew members were killed and three others became PoW.
Crew:
S/L Sidney Horace Fox, pilot, †
Sgt Henry Frederick Wood, pilot, †
Sgt Lawrence Fitzsimmons, flight engineer, †
W/O Herbert J. Spiller, navigator,
F/Sgt Rowland Maddocks, bomb aimer,
P/O Geoffrey Wollerton, wireless operator,
Sgt Philip Charles Heath, air gunner, †
F/Sgt Norman Alexander Mercer, air gunner. †
Crew:
S/L Sidney Horace Fox, pilot, †
Sgt Henry Frederick Wood, pilot, †
Sgt Lawrence Fitzsimmons, flight engineer, †
W/O Herbert J. Spiller, navigator,
F/Sgt Rowland Maddocks, bomb aimer,
P/O Geoffrey Wollerton, wireless operator,
Sgt Philip Charles Heath, air gunner, †
F/Sgt Norman Alexander Mercer, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
