Date & Time:
Aug 17, 1940 at 0326 LT
Type of aircraft:
Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley
Operator:
Registration:
P4955
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Leeming - Leeming
MSN:
1682
YOM:
1940
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
5
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Leeming at 2034LT on August 16 to attack the Zeiss works. It was hit by the German Flak over Jena and the crew sent a distress call at 0324LT. Two minutes later, the aircraft crash landed in a field located in Rijsbergen, about 8 km southwest from Breda. All five crew members became PoW.
Crew:
F/O William Maxwell Nixon, pilot,
F/O Peter George Whitby, pilot,
Sgt Herbert Walter Bradley, navigator,
Sgt Ernest Richard Holmes, radio operator,
Sgt Alan Milburn Somerville, air gunner.
Crew:
F/O William Maxwell Nixon, pilot,
F/O Peter George Whitby, pilot,
Sgt Herbert Walter Bradley, navigator,
Sgt Ernest Richard Holmes, radio operator,
Sgt Alan Milburn Somerville, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
