Date & Time:
Apr 24, 1942 at 0320 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 679 Manchester
Operator:
Registration:
L7463
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Coningsby - Coningsby
Country:
Denmark
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Coningsby at 2200LT on April 23 on an operation to Rostock, Germany. While overflying Denmark at night, an engine overheated and exploded. The captain ordered his crew to bail out and elected to make an emergency landing. Eventually, he lost control of the aircraft that crashed in a huge explosion in a field located in Visgaarde, some 3 km east of Tinglev. The pilot was killed while all other occupants became PoW.
Crew (106th Squadron):
P/O Harry Murdoch Stoffer, pilot, †
F/Lt T. Prescott-Decie, pilot,
P/O J. H. Paton,
Sgt I. Hamilton,
Sgt N. S. Lewis,
F/O N. J. C. Pollock,
Sgt J. C. George.
Crew (106th Squadron):
P/O Harry Murdoch Stoffer, pilot, †
F/Lt T. Prescott-Decie, pilot,
P/O J. H. Paton,
Sgt I. Hamilton,
Sgt N. S. Lewis,
F/O N. J. C. Pollock,
Sgt J. C. George.
Probable cause:
Engine overheating and explosion in flight.
