Date & Time:
Jun 22, 1943 at 0145 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
EF366
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Oakington - Oakington
Country:
Belgium
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Oakington at 0007LT on an operation to Krefeld. While passing over Belgium at an altitude of 11,000 feet, it was shot down by two German fighters. The Stirling lost altitude and the captain attempted to make an emergency landing when the airplane stalled and crashed on the bank of a canal, bursting into flames. The captain and the navigator were killed while five other crew members became PoW.
Crew (7th Squadron):
F/O Robert Bruce Meiklejohn, pilot, †
Sgt Frank William Coles, flight engineer,
F/O Charles Henry Gerrard Redwood, navigator, †
Sgt Frank Hugo, bomb aimer,
Sgt Leslie Edward Ellingham, wireless operator,
Sgt John Kilfoyle, air gunner,
F/Sgt Edgar Andrew Brown, air gunner.
Crew (7th Squadron):
F/O Robert Bruce Meiklejohn, pilot, †
Sgt Frank William Coles, flight engineer,
F/O Charles Henry Gerrard Redwood, navigator, †
Sgt Frank Hugo, bomb aimer,
Sgt Leslie Edward Ellingham, wireless operator,
Sgt John Kilfoyle, air gunner,
F/Sgt Edgar Andrew Brown, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by German fighters.
