Date & Time:
May 14, 1943
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
JB964
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Pocklington - Pocklington
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Pocklington at 2350LT on May 13 on an operation to Bochum. While cruising at an altitude of 15,000 feet west of Cologne, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed. Six crew members were killed and one became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt Vincent Herbert Hatchard, pilot, †
Sgt William Tressillian Lee, flight engineer, †
Sgt Sidney Brown, bomb aimer, †
Sgt John Leedham, wireless operator, †
F/O Frederick Alan James,
Sgt John Augustin Coughlin, air gunner, †
Sgt John Sidney Wilson Fowles, air gunner. †
Crew:
Sgt Vincent Herbert Hatchard, pilot, †
Sgt William Tressillian Lee, flight engineer, †
Sgt Sidney Brown, bomb aimer, †
Sgt John Leedham, wireless operator, †
F/O Frederick Alan James,
Sgt John Augustin Coughlin, air gunner, †
Sgt John Sidney Wilson Fowles, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
