Date & Time:
Jun 29, 1943 at 0222 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
HR839
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Snaith - Snaith
Country:
Belgium
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Snaith at 2332LT on June 28 on an operation to Cologne. Passing over Belgium, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Olen. Six crew members were killed, one evaded and one became PoW.
Crew:
P/O John Perton Tay, pilot, †
Sgt D. R. G. Eldridge, pilot,
Sgt Arthur Smith, flight engineer, †
P/O Thomas Herbert Popley, navigator,
Sgt Anthony Cantell Redshaw, bomb aimer, †
P/O John Lofthouse Robinson Houlston, wireless operator, †
Sgt William Cairns Butler, air gunner, †
W/O Aymeric Essex Vidal, air gunner. †
Crew:
P/O John Perton Tay, pilot, †
Sgt D. R. G. Eldridge, pilot,
Sgt Arthur Smith, flight engineer, †
P/O Thomas Herbert Popley, navigator,
Sgt Anthony Cantell Redshaw, bomb aimer, †
P/O John Lofthouse Robinson Houlston, wireless operator, †
Sgt William Cairns Butler, air gunner, †
W/O Aymeric Essex Vidal, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
