Date & Time:
Jul 14, 1943 at 0205 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
DK257
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Middleton Saint George - Middleton Saint George
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 Middleton St George at 2345LT on July 13 on an operation to Aachen. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Genderen. Both air gunners were killed, one crew evaded and four others became PoW.
Crew (428 Sq):
F/Lt Donald Scott Morgan, pilot,
Sgt Donald Brown, flight engineer,
F/O Francis Henry Ditchburn, navigator,
P/O J. P. O'Leary, bomb aimer,
P/O Boyd Leslie Gillis, wireless operator,
Sgt Thomas Henry Pritchard, air gunner, †
Sgt Montague Edwards, air gunner. †
Crew (428 Sq):
F/Lt Donald Scott Morgan, pilot,
Sgt Donald Brown, flight engineer,
F/O Francis Henry Ditchburn, navigator,
P/O J. P. O'Leary, bomb aimer,
P/O Boyd Leslie Gillis, wireless operator,
Sgt Thomas Henry Pritchard, air gunner, †
Sgt Montague Edwards, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
