Date & Time:
Apr 15, 1943 at 0159 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
R9278
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Oakington - Oakington
Country:
France
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Oakington at 2108LT on April 14 on an operation to Stuttgart. The following night, while returning to base and flying at an altitude of 13,000 feet, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Saint-Souplet-sur-Py. All seven crew members parachuted to safety, five became PoW and two evaded.
Crew:
P/O James Thomas Reekie Taylor, pilot,
Sgt Alexander Herbert Smith, flight engineer,
S/L Ronald Henry Lunney, navigator,
W/O David Ness, bomb aimer,
Sgt Thomas Morley, wireless operator,
Sgt Fredric George Arthur Weight, air gunner,
F/Sgt D. K. Nolan, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O James Thomas Reekie Taylor, pilot,
Sgt Alexander Herbert Smith, flight engineer,
S/L Ronald Henry Lunney, navigator,
W/O David Ness, bomb aimer,
Sgt Thomas Morley, wireless operator,
Sgt Fredric George Arthur Weight, air gunner,
F/Sgt D. K. Nolan, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
