Crash of an Avro 683 Lancaster III in Utrecht: 5 killed
Date & Time:
Jun 23, 1943 at 0055 LT
Operator:
Registration:
ED928
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Bourn - Bourn
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Bourn at 2252LT on June 22 on an operation to Mülheim. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Utrecht. Five crew members were killed and two others became PoW.
Crew:
P/O George Wesley Armstrong, pilot, †
Sgt Edward Bellis, flight engineer,
F/Sgt John James Mansfield, navigator, †
W/O Joseph Jean Baptiste Sylv David, bomb aimer, †
Sgt David Ellis Williams, wireless operator, †
F/O Sydney Blackhurst, air gunner, †
F/Sgt Alexander Rutherford Laing, air gunner.
Crew:
P/O George Wesley Armstrong, pilot, †
Sgt Edward Bellis, flight engineer,
F/Sgt John James Mansfield, navigator, †
W/O Joseph Jean Baptiste Sylv David, bomb aimer, †
Sgt David Ellis Williams, wireless operator, †
F/O Sydney Blackhurst, air gunner, †
F/Sgt Alexander Rutherford Laing, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
