Date & Time:
Feb 26, 1943 at 2228 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
R9279
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Bourn - Bourn
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
8
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Bourn at 1918LT on an operation to Cologne. While returning to base in the late evening and after passing the Dutch coast, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the North Sea some 50 km west of Noordwijk. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt Victor Henry Harris, pilot,
F/Sgt Richard Ashdown, pilot,
Sgt Jack Wratten, flight engineer,
Sgt Peter Rogers, navigator,
Sgt Howell Rees Jones, bomb aimer,
Sgt Wilfred Shaw, wireless operator,
Sgt William Roy Matthews, air gunner,
Sgt Sidney Phillips, air gunner.
Crew:
F/Lt Victor Henry Harris, pilot,
F/Sgt Richard Ashdown, pilot,
Sgt Jack Wratten, flight engineer,
Sgt Peter Rogers, navigator,
Sgt Howell Rees Jones, bomb aimer,
Sgt Wilfred Shaw, wireless operator,
Sgt William Roy Matthews, air gunner,
Sgt Sidney Phillips, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
