Date & Time:
Apr 9, 1942 at 0132 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
X3467
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Mildenhall - Mildenhall
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Mildenhall on an operation to Hamburg. It was hit by the German Flak and both engines caught fire. The airplane was abandoned by the crew and later crashed near Bassel. Five crew members became PoW and the sixth was killed.
Crew:
F/O Arthur Bligh Crighton, pilot,
F/Sgt William Ralph MacWilliam, pilot,
F/Sgt Herbert Brooks, navigator,
F/Sgt James Peter Paton, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Winston Churchill Parker, wireless operator and air gunner,
P/O Ernest Richard Howard, wireless operator and air gunner. †
Crew:
F/O Arthur Bligh Crighton, pilot,
F/Sgt William Ralph MacWilliam, pilot,
F/Sgt Herbert Brooks, navigator,
F/Sgt James Peter Paton, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Winston Churchill Parker, wireless operator and air gunner,
P/O Ernest Richard Howard, wireless operator and air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
