Date & Time:
Jan 30, 1943 at 1629 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
Z1680
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Dishforth – Dishforth
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Dishforth at 1254LT on an operation to Hamburg using cloud cover. Passing southeast of Heligoland Island, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the sea. All six crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Lt Robert Henry Lowe, pilot,
F/Sgt Ivan Gordon McLeod, copilot,
F/Lt Arthur Thomas Sprosen, navigator,
F/Sgt John Julius Lemke, bomb aimer,
F/O George Desmond Fitz-Gibbon, wireless operator,
Sgt Henry Riles, air gunner.
Crew:
F/Lt Robert Henry Lowe, pilot,
F/Sgt Ivan Gordon McLeod, copilot,
F/Lt Arthur Thomas Sprosen, navigator,
F/Sgt John Julius Lemke, bomb aimer,
F/O George Desmond Fitz-Gibbon, wireless operator,
Sgt Henry Riles, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
