Date & Time:
Jul 4, 1943 at 0128 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
BF579
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 2235LT on July 3 on an operation to Cologne. While returning to base the following night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the North Sea some 30 km northwest of Terschelling. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt John Hall, pilot,
Sgt Joseph Eccles, flight engineer,
Sgt James Joseph Close, navigator,
F/Sgt Victor Harrison Shea, bomb aimer,
Sgt Frank Albert Dalton, wireless operator,
Sgt William Henry Dickinson, air gunner,
F/Sgt James Anderson Davie, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt John Hall, pilot,
Sgt Joseph Eccles, flight engineer,
Sgt James Joseph Close, navigator,
F/Sgt Victor Harrison Shea, bomb aimer,
Sgt Frank Albert Dalton, wireless operator,
Sgt William Henry Dickinson, air gunner,
F/Sgt James Anderson Davie, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
