Crash of a Handley Page H.P.52 Hampden I in Heesch: 3 killed

Date & Time: Jul 8, 1941 at 0210 LT
Operator:
Registration:
AD735
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Coningsby - Coningsby
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Coningsby in the evening of July 7 on an operation to Mönchengladbach. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a Me.110 and crashed in Heesch. Three crew members were killed and the pilot became PoW.
Crew:
Sgt Robert Wotherspoon, pilot,
Sgt Kenneth Charles James Botsford, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Philip Hudson, observer, †
Sgt Hugh Tait, wireless operator. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.