Date & Time:
Mar 3, 1943 at 2230 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
Z1620
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
East Wretham - East Wretham
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF East Wretham at 1845LT on an operation to Hamburg. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Lamstedt, about 60 km west of Hamburg. All five crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt David Douglas Laidlaw, pilot,
Sgt Eric Holdsworth, observer,
F/Sgt Colin Ray Bird, navigator,
Sgt Percival Harold Luscombe, wireless operator,
Sgt Henry Joseph Fitzgerald Gell, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt David Douglas Laidlaw, pilot,
Sgt Eric Holdsworth, observer,
F/Sgt Colin Ray Bird, navigator,
Sgt Percival Harold Luscombe, wireless operator,
Sgt Henry Joseph Fitzgerald Gell, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
