Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Jaarsveld: 5 killed
Date & Time:
Jun 22, 1943 at 0230 LT
Operator:
Registration:
BB375
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Leeming at 2335LT on June 21 on an operation to Krefeld. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the Lek River in Jaarsveld. Five crew members were killed and two others became PoW.
Crew:
P/O Clifford Clarence Reichert, pilot, †
Sgt Gordon Mitchell McLean, flight engineer, †
P/O James Coyle Brown Rrussell, navigator,
P/O John Peter Dockerill, wireless operator, †
P/O Joseph Earl Monahan, bomb aimer, †
P/O William Searle, air gunner, †
Sgt George Iric Pridham, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O Clifford Clarence Reichert, pilot, †
Sgt Gordon Mitchell McLean, flight engineer, †
P/O James Coyle Brown Rrussell, navigator,
P/O John Peter Dockerill, wireless operator, †
P/O Joseph Earl Monahan, bomb aimer, †
P/O William Searle, air gunner, †
Sgt George Iric Pridham, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
