Date & Time:
Jul 16, 1943 at 0020 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II
Operator:
Registration:
DT768
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Breighton - Breighton
Country:
France
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 Breighton at 2220LT on July 15 on an operation to the Peugeot factory based in Montbéliard (Sochaux). It suffered a double engine failure in flight, forcing the crew to bail out. The pilot attempted an emergency landing but the airplane crashed in an open field and was destroyed. The pilot and the bomb aimer were killed. Four other crew members became PoW and one evaded.
Crew (78 Sq):
P/O Oswald Peter Marshall, pilot, †
F/O Peter Derek Ablett, flight engineer,
P/O David John Gibson, navigator,
F/O Norman Stewart Matthew Reid, bomb aimer, †
Sgt I. J. Sansum, wireless operator,
Sgt Anthony James Stevenson, air gunner,
Sgt B. A. Lee, air gunner.
Crew (78 Sq):
P/O Oswald Peter Marshall, pilot, †
F/O Peter Derek Ablett, flight engineer,
P/O David John Gibson, navigator,
F/O Norman Stewart Matthew Reid, bomb aimer, †
Sgt I. J. Sansum, wireless operator,
Sgt Anthony James Stevenson, air gunner,
Sgt B. A. Lee, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Double engine failure in flight.
