Date & Time:
Jan 29, 1943 at 2310 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
DF626
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Middleton Saint George - Middleton Saint George
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Middleton Saint George at 1632LT on an operation to Lorient. While returning to base in the late evening, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and was forced to jettison the bomb load. Shortly later, the airplane crashed in Exeter. Four crew members were killed and two others were injured.
Crew:
Sgt Delmer Ray Sanderson, pilot, †
F/Sgt Charles Murray Downton, †
F/Sgt Harold Hogarth Sealy, †
F/Sgt John Drake Bittner, †
Sgt P. G. E. Beauchamp,
Sgt H. R. Ernst, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Delmer Ray Sanderson, pilot, †
F/Sgt Charles Murray Downton, †
F/Sgt Harold Hogarth Sealy, †
F/Sgt John Drake Bittner, †
Sgt P. G. E. Beauchamp,
Sgt H. R. Ernst, air gunner.
