Date & Time:
May 24, 1943 at 0155 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 440 Wellington X
Operator:
Registration:
HE655
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Kirmington - Kirmington
Country:
Netherlands
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 Kirmington at 2316LT on May 23 on an operation to Dortmund. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Oirschot, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
Sgt Charles William Henry Westwood, pilot,
Sgt Arthur Benson, navigator,
Sgt Harold Walter Fields, bomb aimer,
Sgt William Parker Baxter, wireless operator,
Sgt Terence William Shadgett, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt Charles William Henry Westwood, pilot,
Sgt Arthur Benson, navigator,
Sgt Harold Walter Fields, bomb aimer,
Sgt William Parker Baxter, wireless operator,
Sgt Terence William Shadgett, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
