Crash of an Avro 683 Lancaster III in Gesves: 7 killed
Date & Time:
Jul 4, 1943 at 0242 LT
Operator:
Registration:
W5012
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Elsham Wolds - Elsham Wolds
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Elsham Wolds at 2301LT on July 3 on an operation to Cologne. While returning to base the following night, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Gesves, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
F/O Lawrence Philip Oldham, pilot,
Sgt Elmer Betts, flight engineer,
F/O Robert Kenneth Lamb, navigator,
Sgt Percy Eric Wilkins, bomb aimer,
Sgt Stanley Foster, wireless operator,
Sgt Ronald William Freeman, air gunner,
Sgt Roy Henry Ingram, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O Lawrence Philip Oldham, pilot,
Sgt Elmer Betts, flight engineer,
F/O Robert Kenneth Lamb, navigator,
Sgt Percy Eric Wilkins, bomb aimer,
Sgt Stanley Foster, wireless operator,
Sgt Ronald William Freeman, air gunner,
Sgt Roy Henry Ingram, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
