Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Yarm: 2 killed
Date & Time:
Jul 20, 1942 at 0145 LT
Operator:
Registration:
W7670
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Middleton Saint George - Middleton Saint George
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Middleton St George on an operation to Vegesack. En route to Germany, it suffered engine trouble so the crew decided to return to base. While approaching the base, one of the engine caught fire. The captain ordered his crew to bail out so five crewmen parachuted to safety. The pilot and the flight engineer attempted an emergency landing when the airplane crashed in Yarm, east of RAF Middleton St George, bursting into flames. Both crewmen were killed.
Crew:
W/O Wesley Leonard Belous, pilot, †
Sgt Fred Hebron, flight engineer, †
P/O Wilfred George Michael Rothschild, observer,
P/O Atkinson, bomb aimer,
Sgt William Charles Bacon, wireless operator,
Sgt Jacobus Petrus Van Lelyveld, air gunner,
Sgt Jack Davey, air gunner.
Crew:
W/O Wesley Leonard Belous, pilot, †
Sgt Fred Hebron, flight engineer, †
P/O Wilfred George Michael Rothschild, observer,
P/O Atkinson, bomb aimer,
Sgt William Charles Bacon, wireless operator,
Sgt Jacobus Petrus Van Lelyveld, air gunner,
Sgt Jack Davey, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Engine fire.
