Crash of a Vickers 440 Wellington X in Birmenstorf
Date & Time:
Apr 15, 1943 at 0043 LT
Operator:
Registration:
HE374
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Bourn - Bourn
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Burn at 2108LT on April 14 on an operation to Stuttgart. Over the target area, it was badly shot about by the German Flak. The crew was able to leave the area and to continue to Switzerland where the airplane was abandoned and crashed in a field located in Birmenstorf, 23 km northwest of Zurich. All five crew members parachuted to safety, one was slightly injured.
Crew:
Sgt James V. Avery, pilot,
Sgt Willliam H. Shields, navigator,
Sgt Wilfred Boddy, bomb aimer,
Sgt Joseph C. Cash, wireless operator,
Sgt Ronald A. McEwan, air gunner.
Crew:
Sgt James V. Avery, pilot,
Sgt Willliam H. Shields, navigator,
Sgt Wilfred Boddy, bomb aimer,
Sgt Joseph C. Cash, wireless operator,
Sgt Ronald A. McEwan, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
