Date & Time:
Feb 2, 1943 at 2115 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
ED488
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Skellingthorpe - Skellingthorpe
Country:
Belgium
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Skellingthorpe at 1826LT on an operation to Cologne. While returning to base in the evening, while overflying Belgium, it was attacked by a German fighter. The crew decided to abandon the airplane and bailed out. The aircraft dove into the ground and crashed near a farm. Four crew members were rescued and became PoW while three others were killed. According to the RAF, two of them were killed during the attack while the third was killed as his parachute failed to open properly.
Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O David Allan Power, pilot, †
Sgt David Norman Clark, flight engineer,
F/O Thomas Henry Louis Church, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Arthur Holland, bomb aimer,
Sgt Victor John Mitchell, wireless operator,
F/Lt Jack Matthew Bousfield, air gunner, †
Sgt Stanley David Beadon, air gunner. †
Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O David Allan Power, pilot, †
Sgt David Norman Clark, flight engineer,
F/O Thomas Henry Louis Church, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Arthur Holland, bomb aimer,
Sgt Victor John Mitchell, wireless operator,
F/Lt Jack Matthew Bousfield, air gunner, †
Sgt Stanley David Beadon, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
