Date & Time:
Aug 8, 1942 at 2018 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
W1228
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Middleton Saint George - Middleton Saint George
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
7
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Middleton St George at 1958LT on an operation to Frankfurt. It crashed at 2018LT due to the premature ignition of the photo flash. In the last few seconds of the flight, a violent explosion occurred and the wreckage spread over a wide area. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
W/O Alfred Norman Thompson, pilot,
F/Sgt John Eric Nicholson, pilot,
Sgt John Taylor Murray, flight engineer,
P/O Arnold Robson, observer,
Sgt Laurence George Harvey, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Ronald Leonard Stevens, wireless operator,
Sgt Cecil Richard Rundle, air gunner.
Crew:
W/O Alfred Norman Thompson, pilot,
F/Sgt John Eric Nicholson, pilot,
Sgt John Taylor Murray, flight engineer,
P/O Arnold Robson, observer,
Sgt Laurence George Harvey, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Ronald Leonard Stevens, wireless operator,
Sgt Cecil Richard Rundle, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Premature ignition of the photo flash in flight.
