Date & Time:
May 24, 1943 at 0108 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 440 Wellington X
Operator:
Registration:
HE290
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Kirmington - Kirmington
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Kirmington at 2319LT on May 23 on an operation to Dortmund. While cruising at night over the Netherlands at an altitude of 5,000 metres, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in a field located near Buurse, south of Enschede, bursting into flames. All five crew members were killed.
Crew (166th Squadron):
Sgt Edward Silas Morris, pilot,
Sgt Frederick Victor George Alloway, navigator,
Sgt Harold Blamire Thompson, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Frederick Williamson, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Joseph Robert Stewart, air gunner.
Crew (166th Squadron):
Sgt Edward Silas Morris, pilot,
Sgt Frederick Victor George Alloway, navigator,
Sgt Harold Blamire Thompson, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Frederick Williamson, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Joseph Robert Stewart, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
