Date & Time:
Feb 2, 1943 at 2127 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 683 Lancaster
Operator:
Registration:
ED488
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Skellingthorpe - Skellingthorpe
Country:
Belgium
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful bombing mission over Germany, while overflying Belgium by night, the aircraft was attacked by the pilot of a German fighter. The crew decided to abandon the aircraft and bailed out. The aircraft dove into the ground and crashed near a farm. Four crew members were rescued while three others were killed. According to the RAF, two of them were killed during the attack while the third was killed as his parachute did not open properly.
Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O Al Power, pilot, †
F/O Tom Church, navigator,
Sgt Norman Clark, radio operator,
Sgt R. A. Holland,
Sgt Victor Mitchell, wireless operator,
F/L Jack Bousfield, air gunner, †
Sgt Stanley Beadon, air gunner. †
Crew (50th Squadron):
F/O Al Power, pilot, †
F/O Tom Church, navigator,
Sgt Norman Clark, radio operator,
Sgt R. A. Holland,
Sgt Victor Mitchell, wireless operator,
F/L Jack Bousfield, air gunner, †
Sgt Stanley Beadon, air gunner. †
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
