Date & Time:
Jul 4, 1943 at 0046 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
BK717
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Chedburgh - Chedburgh
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Chedburgh at 2351LT on July 3 on an operation to Cologne. Passing over the Netherlands at an altitude of 7,000 metres, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Zaamslag. Six crew members were killed and an air gunner survived and became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt Robert Erle Thallon, pilot, †
Sgt John Sellers, flight engineer, †
F/O James Kinnell Paterson, navigator, †
Sgt Francis Field, bomb aimer, †
Sgt George Edward Patrick, wireless operator, †
Sgt Paget Derick White, air gunner, †
W/O Lawrence Lionel Kelley, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Robert Erle Thallon, pilot, †
Sgt John Sellers, flight engineer, †
F/O James Kinnell Paterson, navigator, †
Sgt Francis Field, bomb aimer, †
Sgt George Edward Patrick, wireless operator, †
Sgt Paget Derick White, air gunner, †
W/O Lawrence Lionel Kelley, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
