Date & Time:
Mar 9, 1942 at 0349 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 679 Manchester
Registration:
R5779
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Scampton – Scampton
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Scampton at 0150LT on an operation to Essen. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in a canal in Oranje. Five crew members were killed and two others became PoW.
Crew:
F/O Robert Ward Cooper, pilot, †
Sgt James Thomson Heggie Mowat, pilot, †
Sgt Michael John Carlton Cross, observer, †
Sgt Charles Broad, air gunner, †
Sgt George William Dalby, wireless operator, †
Sgt Alfred F. Key,
Sgt George W. Rex.
Crew:
F/O Robert Ward Cooper, pilot, †
Sgt James Thomson Heggie Mowat, pilot, †
Sgt Michael John Carlton Cross, observer, †
Sgt Charles Broad, air gunner, †
Sgt George William Dalby, wireless operator, †
Sgt Alfred F. Key,
Sgt George W. Rex.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.