Crash of a Short S.29 Stirling III in Geetbets: 6 killed
Date & Time:
Jul 4, 1943 at 0101 LT
Operator:
Registration:
BF530
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Lakenheath - Lakenheath
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Lakenheath at 2327LT on July 3 on an operation to Cologne. Passing over Belgium, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Geetbets. Six crew members were killed, one evaded and one became Pow.
Crew:
P/O George Arthur Cozens, pilot, †
Sgt Robert Froude Hathaway, pilot, †
Sgt Patrick Hodgkinson, flight engineer, †
F/O Ernest George Redman, navigator, †
F/O John Joseph Needham, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt R. A. Hodge, wireless operator,
Sgt William John Williams, air gunner, †
P/O Lewis William Curtis, air gunner. †
Crew:
P/O George Arthur Cozens, pilot, †
Sgt Robert Froude Hathaway, pilot, †
Sgt Patrick Hodgkinson, flight engineer, †
F/O Ernest George Redman, navigator, †
F/O John Joseph Needham, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt R. A. Hodge, wireless operator,
Sgt William John Williams, air gunner, †
P/O Lewis William Curtis, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
