Date & Time:
Jun 6, 1940
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 408 Wellington IA
Operator:
Registration:
P9232
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Honington - Honington
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew departed RAF Honington at 2125LT on June 5 on a bombing mission over Duisburg. Shortly after entering the Dutch airspace, the aircraft was shot down by the German Flak. The captain ordered the crew to bail out and later attempted to make an emergency landing when the aircraft exploded in mid-air, disintegrated and crashed in a field located in Simonshaven, about 16 km southwest of Rotterdam. Four crew members became PoW while both pilots were killed.
Crew:
S/L George Ernest Peacock, pilot, †
P/O Bertram Arthur James, pilot,
Sgt Ronald Charles Hargrave, navigator and observer, †
Sgt A. K. Griffiths, wireless operator and air gunner,
P/O Sedgwick Whiteley Webster, air gunner,
LAC C. Murton, air gunner.
Crew:
S/L George Ernest Peacock, pilot, †
P/O Bertram Arthur James, pilot,
Sgt Ronald Charles Hargrave, navigator and observer, †
Sgt A. K. Griffiths, wireless operator and air gunner,
P/O Sedgwick Whiteley Webster, air gunner,
LAC C. Murton, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by German Flak.
