Date & Time:
Mar 9, 1942 at 2342 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 406 Wellington II
Operator:
Registration:
W5442
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Binbrook - Binbrook
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
3
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Waltham at 2039LT on an operation to Essen. While approaching the Dutch coast, it was shot down by the German Flak. The left engine failed, a generator went out of service and a part of the hydraulic system failed as well. As the aircraft was losing height, the captain ordered three of his crew to bail out and he attempted to make an emergency landing when the airplane went out of control and crashed in a prairie, bursting into flames. As the three crew who bailed out were rescued and became POW, the three crew in the aircraft were killed.
Crew (12th Squadron):
P/O Robert Henderson Buchanan, pilot,
Sgt Patrick Gibbings Sanders, copilot, †
Sgt Reuben Acton Scragg, navigator, †
Sgt Henry Marshall Murdo, air gunner, †
Sgt Ronald Arthur Arnold, air gunner,
Sgt Charles John Chedd, wireless operator.
Crew (12th Squadron):
P/O Robert Henderson Buchanan, pilot,
Sgt Patrick Gibbings Sanders, copilot, †
Sgt Reuben Acton Scragg, navigator, †
Sgt Henry Marshall Murdo, air gunner, †
Sgt Ronald Arthur Arnold, air gunner,
Sgt Charles John Chedd, wireless operator.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
