Date & Time:
Apr 16, 1943 at 2331 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
BF474
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Mildenhall - Mildenhall
Country:
France
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 Mildenhall at 2146LT on an operation to Mannheim. Over France, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Brunehamel, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
P/O James Lauder Shiells, pilot,
P/O Kenneth Mark Piche, pilot,
Sgt John Percy Lacy, flight engineer,
P/O Clive Bolas Perring, navigator,
Sgt John Gould, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Bertie Joseph August Bessette, air gunner,
Sgt Donald James Arthur Hyde, air gunner,
Sgt Leslie Arthur James, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O James Lauder Shiells, pilot,
P/O Kenneth Mark Piche, pilot,
Sgt John Percy Lacy, flight engineer,
P/O Clive Bolas Perring, navigator,
Sgt John Gould, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Bertie Joseph August Bessette, air gunner,
Sgt Donald James Arthur Hyde, air gunner,
Sgt Leslie Arthur James, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
