Date & Time:
Mar 28, 1942 at 0015 LT
Type of aircraft:
Armstrong Whitworth AW.38 Whitley
Operator:
Registration:
T4166
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Military
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Lake, Sea, Ocean, River
Schedule:
Tempsford - Tempsford
MSN:
1859
YOM:
1940
Country:
Netherlands
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
6
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Tempsford on Operation 'Watercress', the first of a series of operations involving the dropping of Dutch agents, code named 'Nordpol Spiel' by the British and England Spiel by the Dutch. The passenger, a Dutch agent (Lt A. A. Baatsen) was parachuted some 30 km north from Zwolle and was almost immediately captured by the German. Shortly after midnight, while cruising along the Dutch coast, the airplane was shot down by a Me.110 and crashed about 500 metres offshore. All six crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt William Charles Evans,
P/O Robert William Franklin,
Sgt Kenneth Hailstone,
F/Sgt John Thompson,
P/O Stanley Widdup,
Sgt George Robert Wood.
Crew:
Sgt William Charles Evans,
P/O Robert William Franklin,
Sgt Kenneth Hailstone,
F/Sgt John Thompson,
P/O Stanley Widdup,
Sgt George Robert Wood.
Probable cause:
Shot down by a German fighter.
