Date & Time:
Jun 12, 1943 at 0304 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
BF571
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Mildenhall - Mildenhall
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Mildenhall at 2336LT on June 11 on an operation to Düsseldorf. While returning to base the following night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the North Sea 25 km southwest of Den Helder. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Reginald Ellithorne Allen, pilot,
Sgt Sidney Wright, flight engineer,
Sgt Aston Crawford Lake, navigator,
Sgt Henry Charles Relph, bomb aimer,
Sgt Wilfred Stanley Champ, wireless operator,
Sgt Leon Wilfred Joseph Dawson, air gunner,
Sgt Thomas Kirk Fowler, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O Reginald Ellithorne Allen, pilot,
Sgt Sidney Wright, flight engineer,
Sgt Aston Crawford Lake, navigator,
Sgt Henry Charles Relph, bomb aimer,
Sgt Wilfred Stanley Champ, wireless operator,
Sgt Leon Wilfred Joseph Dawson, air gunner,
Sgt Thomas Kirk Fowler, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
