Date & Time:
May 16, 1941 at 2300 LT
Type of aircraft:
Avro 679 Manchester
Operator:
Registration:
L7324
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Coningsby - Coningsby
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Coningsby at 2200LT on an operation to Berlin. One hour into the flight, the crew reported the right engine had failed. This was the last transmission. Two dead bodies were found but no trace of the airplane nor the rest of the crew. It appears that the airplane crashed into the sea some 30 km off Borkum Island.
Crew (97th Squadron):
F/Lt Gerald Oscar Ladler Bird,
P/O William Adam Brown,
Sgt Wallace Patrick Hannigan, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Kenneth John Hutt, observer,
Sgt Peter Norman Nutt,
Sgt Reginald George Pyatt.
Crew (97th Squadron):
F/Lt Gerald Oscar Ladler Bird,
P/O William Adam Brown,
Sgt Wallace Patrick Hannigan, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Kenneth John Hutt, observer,
Sgt Peter Norman Nutt,
Sgt Reginald George Pyatt.
Probable cause:
Engine failure.
