Crash of a Handley Page H.P.63 Halifax V in Junkersdorf: 3 killed
Date & Time:
Jun 25, 1943 at 0133 LT
Operator:
Registration:
DK166
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Holme-on-Spalding-Moor - Holme-on-Spalding-Moor
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Holme-on-Spalding-Moor at 2315LT on June 24 on an operation to Wuppertal. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in Junkersdorf, west of Cologne. Three crew members were killed and four others became PoW.
Crew:
F/Lt Gerald Harry Cheetham, pilot, †
Sgt Richard Henry Evans, flight engineer,
P/O James David Danks, navigator,
Sgt Gordon Ivor Simpkin, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Kenneth Roy Newton, wireless operator,
Sgt James Martin Sweeney, air gunner,
Sgt Eric Harper, air gunner. †
Crew:
F/Lt Gerald Harry Cheetham, pilot, †
Sgt Richard Henry Evans, flight engineer,
P/O James David Danks, navigator,
Sgt Gordon Ivor Simpkin, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Kenneth Roy Newton, wireless operator,
Sgt James Martin Sweeney, air gunner,
Sgt Eric Harper, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
