Date & Time:
Mar 21, 1944 at 0100 LT
Type of aircraft:
Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax III
Operator:
Registration:
JP137
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
City
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
7
Crew fatalities:
7
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
2
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
Shortly after take off from Bournemouth-Hurn Airport, while climbing by night, the crew encountered an engine failure and elected to return. While completing a turn at low height, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in a huge explosion in the district of Moordown, Bournemouth. All seven crew members were killed as well as two people on the ground. Several houses were destroyed in the accident.
Crew:
Sergeant Denis R. Evans, pilot,
Sergeant Henry W. Roberts, navigator,
Stanley A. Appleton, bomb aimer,
Sergeant George A. Alexander, wireless operator,
Sergeant Stanley F. Gent, flight engineer,
Sergeant Kenneth Green, air gunner,
Sergeant Reginald R. McGregor, air gunner.
Local resident:
Dorothea Bennett,
Percy F. Chislett.
Crew:
Sergeant Denis R. Evans, pilot,
Sergeant Henry W. Roberts, navigator,
Stanley A. Appleton, bomb aimer,
Sergeant George A. Alexander, wireless operator,
Sergeant Stanley F. Gent, flight engineer,
Sergeant Kenneth Green, air gunner,
Sergeant Reginald R. McGregor, air gunner.
Local resident:
Dorothea Bennett,
Percy F. Chislett.
Probable cause:
Engine failure.
