Date & Time:
Jun 4, 1942 at 0233 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 679 Manchester
Operator:
Registration:
L7432
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Skellingthorpe - Skellingthorpe
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew left RAF Skellingthorpe at 2110LT on June 2 on a bombing mission to Bremen, Germany. While overflying The Netherlands by night, the aircraft was shot down by the pilot of a German fighter, dove into the ground and crashed in an open field. Four crew members were killed while three others were seriously injured.
Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O John Frankland Heaton, pilot, †
P/O John Ross Steen, pilot, †
P/O Harold William Sheen, observer, †
Sgt J. A. Farquhar,
Sgt K. J. F. Gaulton,
Sgt Stanley Henry Thomas, air gunner, †
Sgt P. S. Buttigeig.
Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O John Frankland Heaton, pilot, †
P/O John Ross Steen, pilot, †
P/O Harold William Sheen, observer, †
Sgt J. A. Farquhar,
Sgt K. J. F. Gaulton,
Sgt Stanley Henry Thomas, air gunner, †
Sgt P. S. Buttigeig.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
