Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II

Operator:

Registration:

W7773

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Supply

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Tempsford - Tempsford

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew left RAF Tempsford at 1700LT on October 29 to drop arms to the Polish resistance and to dispatch three Polish agents as well. Over Poland, the crew was unable to locate the drop zone and the captain decided to return to England. After a flight of ten hours, while overflying the south part of Norway, the bomber was shot down by enemy fire and crashed near Helleren, northeast of Egersund. All ten occupants were killed.
Crew (138th Squadron):
F/Sgt Franciszek Sobkowiak, pilot,
W/O Franciszek Zaremba, pilot,
F/O Mariusz Wodzicki, observer,
F/O Franciszek Pantkowski, radio operator,
Sgt Czesław Kozłowski, flight engineer,
F/Sgt Tadeusz Madejski, dropper,
F/Sgt Wacław Żuk, air gunner.
Passengers:
Lt Wiesław Szpakowicz,
Lt Stanisław Hencel,
2nd Lt Jerzy Bichniewicz.

Probable cause:

Shot down by enemy fire.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II off Schiermonnikoog Island: 7 killed

Date & Time: Oct 13, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

W7870

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Melbourne - Melbourne

Location:

Schiermonnikoog Island

Friesland

Country:

Netherlands

Region:

Europe

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft left RAF Melbourne (Yorkshire) at 1834LT on a bombing mission to Kiel. While approaching the Dutch coast, the bomber went out of control and crashed into the North Sea some 15 km off the Schiermonnikoog Island. All seven crew members were killed.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II near Mending: 4 killed

Date & Time: Aug 29, 1942 at 0010 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

BB214

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Elsham Wolds - Elsham Wolds

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew left RAF Elsham Wolds at the end of the day on a bombing mission to Saarbrücken, Germany. While overflying Germany by night, the aircraft was attacked by the pilot of a German fighter. The captain reduced his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing in a field but the aircraft eventually stalled and crashed into the Laacher Lake, north of Mending. Four crew members were killed while three others were injured. The aircraft sunk and was lost.
Crew (103rd Squadron):
Sgt H. G. Dryhurst, pilot,
Sgt J. W. Platt, flight engineer, †
Sgt A. A. Roberts, navigator,
P/O V. M. M. Morrison, bomb aimer, †
F/S J. J. Carey, wireless operator, †
Sgt B. F. Hughes, air gunner,
Sgt J. L. MacLachlan, air gunner. †

Probable cause:

Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Buurserveen: 7 killed

Date & Time: Aug 27, 1942 at 2354 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

W1270

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Elsham Wolds - Elsham Wolds

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew left RAF Elsham Wolds at 2054LT on a bombing mission to Essen, Germany. While overflying The Netherlands by night at an altitude of 3,500 meters, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot (Cpt Wolfgang Thimmig Stab III/NJG1) of a German fighter and crashed in flames in a field located in Buurserveen, about 4 km south of Haaksbergen, near the German border. All seven occupants were killed.
Crew (103rd Squadron):
F/Lt J. R. Frith,
Sgt W. Duncombe,
P/O E. A. R. Briant,
Sgt G. H. Wilson,
F/S B. S. Blundall,
Sgt J. D. Craig,
P/O P. G. Hopkins.

Probable cause:

Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Welsh Bicknor: 11 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

V9977

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Test

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Defford - Defford

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft was involved in a test flight on behalf of the Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) of the Royal Air Force and left RAF Defford in the day with a crew of five and six engineers on board. En route, the engine number four caught fire. The captain attempted an emergency landing when at an altitude of 500 feet, a portion of the right wing broke away. Out of control, the aircraft crashed in a field at a speed of 150 mp/h and was destroyed. All 11 occupants were killed, among them the famous British engineer Alan Blumlein. His death was officially announced three years later as the mission was highly secret: test and development of the H2S airborne radar system.
Crew:
P/O D. J. D.Berrington, pilot,
F/O A. M. Phillips, pilot,
F/Sgt G. Millar, observer,
LAC B. D. C. Dear, flight engineer,
AC2 B. C. F. Bicknell, wireless operator and air gunner.
Passengers:
S/L R. J. Sansom, attached to TRE,
P/O C. E. Vincent, attached to TRE,
Mr. G. S. Hensby, engineer by TRE,
Mr. A. D. Blumlein, engineer by EMI,
Mr. C. O. Browne, engineer by EMI,
Mr. F. Blythen, engineer by EMI.

Probable cause:

After the RAF investigative board completed its report on the Halifax crash on 1 July 1942, it was distributed to a restricted list of approved recipients, but not publicly divulged. In the interests of wartime secrecy, the announcement of Blumlein's death was not made for another three years. The investigative board, headed by AIB Chief Inspector Vernon Brown (who later also investigated the postwar Star Tiger and Star Ariel disappearances) found that the Halifax bomber crash was caused by engine fire, attributed to the unscrewing of a tappet nut on the starboard outer engine, which had been improperly tightened by a RAF engine fitter while inspecting the engine some three hours prior to the crash. The loosened nut caused excessive valve clearance and a fracture of the valve stem which resulted pumping ignited fuel outboard of the rocker cover and along the outside of the engine, causing a fire in the engine nacelle. Constantly fueled by the broken intake, the fire burned rapidly along the wing and fuselage, eventually causing a large section of the wing to separate from the fuselage at approximately 350 feet of altitude. With the loss of all control over level flight, the rest of the plane rolled inverted and struck the ground at approximately 150 mph.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Maarheeze: 3 killed

Date & Time: May 31, 1942 at 0200 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

W1042

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Leeming - Leeming

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While overflying The Netherlands by night, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a German fighter. The crew attempted to make an emergency landing in an open field when the aircraft stalled and crashed. Three crew members were killed while four others were injured.
Sgt A. R. Moore, †
Sgt D. L. Thurlow,
L. R. Silver,
Sgt J. A. Ogden,
Sgt H. R. Stacey,
Sgt M. F. English, †
Sgt F. Walker. †

Probable cause:

Shot down by a German fighter.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II near Kreuth: 8 killed

Date & Time: Apr 20, 1942 at 2358 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

V9976

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site:

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While cruising by night at an altitude of 1,800 meters over the German Alps, the bomber hit the slope of a mountain located in the Blue Mountains, near Kreuth. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew (138th Squadron):
W/C W. R. Farley,
F/O J. A. Pulton,
Sgt Bronislaw Karbowski,
Sgt Czeslaw Madracki,
Cpt Antoni Voellnagel,
Sgt Leon Wilmanski,
Sgt Mieczyslaw Wojciechowski,
Cpt Ryszard Zygmuntowicz.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Oer-Erkenschwick: 7 killed

Date & Time: Apr 11, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

R9484

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Middleton Saint George - Middleton Saint George

Location:

Oer-Erkenschwick

North Rhine-Westphalia

Country:

Germany

Region:

Europe

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew left RAF Middleton St George on a bombing mission to Essen, Germany. While overflying Germany, the aircraft was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in a field. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew (76th Squadron):
F/Sgt Hewart Joseph Lambeth, pilot,
Sgt Richard Ktchen, pilot,
Sgt William Dennis Robert George, flight engineer,
P/O John Raymond Connolly, observer,
Sgt Murray Charles Fred Swain, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Sidney Frank Parker, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Charles Noel Reynolds, air gunner.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II off Vikan: 7 killed

Date & Time: Mar 31, 1942 at 0215 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

R9496

Flight Phase:

Flight Type: