Date & Time:
Jan 29, 1943 at 0233 LT
Type of aircraft:
Short S.29 Stirling
Operator:
Registration:
EE880
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Lakenheath - Lakenheath
Country:
Belgium
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Lakenheath at 2334LT on June 28 on an operation to Cologne. The following night, while returning to base and passing over Belgium, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Houwaart. Five crew members were killed, one evaded and one became PoW.
Crew:
F/O Arthur Robert Porter, pilot, †
Sgt D. C. Foster, flight engineer,
Sgt Peter Butterworth, navigator, †
F/Sgt Lawrence Bruce McCallum, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Ivan Alfred Mears, wireless operator,
Sgt Bernard Shade Swainston, air gunner, †
Sgt Arthur Derbyshire, air gunner. †
Crew:
F/O Arthur Robert Porter, pilot, †
Sgt D. C. Foster, flight engineer,
Sgt Peter Butterworth, navigator, †
F/Sgt Lawrence Bruce McCallum, bomb aimer, †
Sgt Ivan Alfred Mears, wireless operator,
Sgt Bernard Shade Swainston, air gunner, †
Sgt Arthur Derbyshire, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
