Date & Time:
Oct 5, 1942 at 1930 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 417 Wellington III
Operator:
Registration:
X3811
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
City
Schedule:
Warboys - Warboys
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
11
Total fatalities:
11
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Warboys at 1910LT on an operation to Aachen. After takeoff, it iced up and was abandoned after a fire broke up. All five crew members parachuted and were injured while the airplane dove into the ground and crashed onto the village of Somersham. Seven houses were destroyed and 11 people were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Thomas Edward Case, pilot,
F/Sgt H. W. Welch,
Sgt H. A. McLennan,
Sgt E. Cuthbert,
F/Sgt P. Y. C. Tremblay.
Those killed on ground were:
Ena Stroud,
Violet Moule,
Vera Cattenach,
Pauline Cattenach,
Eliza Nightingale,
Juliana Davis,
Annie Holdich,
Elsie May Taylor,
Elizabeth Richardson,
Alice Lamb,
Frank Lamb.
Crew:
F/Sgt Thomas Edward Case, pilot,
F/Sgt H. W. Welch,
Sgt H. A. McLennan,
Sgt E. Cuthbert,
F/Sgt P. Y. C. Tremblay.
Those killed on ground were:
Ena Stroud,
Violet Moule,
Vera Cattenach,
Pauline Cattenach,
Eliza Nightingale,
Juliana Davis,
Annie Holdich,
Elsie May Taylor,
Elizabeth Richardson,
Alice Lamb,
Frank Lamb.
Probable cause:
An uncontrollable fire, thought to be a flare, broke out on board the airplane, forcing the crew to bail out.
