Date & Time:
May 13, 1943 at 0220 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
DT801
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Graveley - Graveley
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Graveley at 0023LT on an operation to Duisburg. While overflying the Netherlands at an altitude of 3,300 metres, it was shot down by a German fighter. The pilot attempted an emergency landing in a field but the bomber crash landed and came to rest upside down, bursting into flames. Two crew members were killed, the pilot evaded and four others became PoW.
Crew (35th Squadron):
S/L Douglas Julian Sale, pilot,
Sgt Clarence Washington Rowley, flight engineer,
F/O Geoffrey Edward Heard, navigator,
F/Lt Rupert Claude Sawyer, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Samuel Angus Moores, wireless operator,
Sgt David John Richards, air gunner, †
Sgt Ross Oliver Elford, air gunner.
Crew (35th Squadron):
S/L Douglas Julian Sale, pilot,
Sgt Clarence Washington Rowley, flight engineer,
F/O Geoffrey Edward Heard, navigator,
F/Lt Rupert Claude Sawyer, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Samuel Angus Moores, wireless operator,
Sgt David John Richards, air gunner, †
Sgt Ross Oliver Elford, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
