Date & Time:
Apr 5, 1943 at 0022 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
BB336
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
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 Leeming at 2113LT on April 4 on an operation to Kiel. Shortly after midnight, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed east of Sylt Island, near the Hindenburgdamm. Six crew members were killed and one became PoW.
Crew:
S/L Edward Gerard Gilmore, pilot, †
Sgt Kenneth William Haynes, flight engineer, †
F/Lt John Baillie Darroch, navigator, †
F/Sgt James William Taylor Maso Smith, bomb aimer, †
F/Sgt Potter George Oyler, wireless operator, †
P/O Maxwell Palmer Hall, air gunner, †
Sgt Russell Thomas Wiggett, air gunner.
Crew:
S/L Edward Gerard Gilmore, pilot, †
Sgt Kenneth William Haynes, flight engineer, †
F/Lt John Baillie Darroch, navigator, †
F/Sgt James William Taylor Maso Smith, bomb aimer, †
F/Sgt Potter George Oyler, wireless operator, †
P/O Maxwell Palmer Hall, air gunner, †
Sgt Russell Thomas Wiggett, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
