Date & Time:
Apr 15, 1943 at 0258 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 440 Wellington X
Operator:
Registration:
HE863
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Middleton Saint George - Middleton Saint George
Country:
France
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 Middleton Saint George at 2109LT on April 14 on an operation to Stuttgart. While returning to base the following night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Rocquigny, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
W/O Paul Joseph Cozens, pilot,
W/O William Gerald Blight, navigator,
F/Sgt Stephen Graham Giffin, bomb aimer,
W/O John Paplowski, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Leonard Dutton, air gunner.
Crew:
W/O Paul Joseph Cozens, pilot,
W/O William Gerald Blight, navigator,
F/Sgt Stephen Graham Giffin, bomb aimer,
W/O John Paplowski, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Leonard Dutton, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
