Date & Time:
May 5, 1943 at 0018 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
EF343
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Lakenheath - Lakenheath
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
8
Crew fatalities:
8
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Lakenheath at 2215LT on May 4 on an operation to Dortmund. It was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Hommerts, killing all eight crew members.
Crew:
F/O Walter Edwin Davey, pilot,
Sgt Charles Willis Eric Leach, flight engineer,
F/O Thomas Cuthbert Timney, navigator,
F/Sgt Richard Frederick Whitaker, navigator,
Sgt Donald Richard Higgs, wireless operator,
Sgt James Joseph O'Neill, wireless operator,
Sgt George John Charles Hall, air gunner,
F/Sgt Edward Henry Finch, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O Walter Edwin Davey, pilot,
Sgt Charles Willis Eric Leach, flight engineer,
F/O Thomas Cuthbert Timney, navigator,
F/Sgt Richard Frederick Whitaker, navigator,
Sgt Donald Richard Higgs, wireless operator,
Sgt James Joseph O'Neill, wireless operator,
Sgt George John Charles Hall, air gunner,
F/Sgt Edward Henry Finch, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
