Date & Time:
Jun 22, 1943 at 0212 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
JD209
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
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 Leeming at 2345LT on June 21 on an operation to Krefeld. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Sankt Hubert, 10 km northwest of Krefeld. Four crew members were killed and three others became PoW.
Crew:
P/O Joseph Gaudias Albert Patry, pilot, †
Sgt John Harold William Bishop, flight engineer,
P/O Norman Kellner, navigator, †
Sgt Desmond Rudge, bomb aimer, †
Sgt George Albert Freeman, wireless operator,
P/O Edward Moorcroft, air gunner,
W/O Albert Bennett Lewis, air gunner. †
Crew:
P/O Joseph Gaudias Albert Patry, pilot, †
Sgt John Harold William Bishop, flight engineer,
P/O Norman Kellner, navigator, †
Sgt Desmond Rudge, bomb aimer, †
Sgt George Albert Freeman, wireless operator,
P/O Edward Moorcroft, air gunner,
W/O Albert Bennett Lewis, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
