Date & Time:
May 7, 1942 at 0131 LT
Type of aircraft:
Vickers 424 Wellington IV
Operator:
Registration:
Z1254
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Breighton - Breighton
Country:
Germany
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
5
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
The airplane departed RAF Breighton at 2131LT on May 6 on an operation to Stuttgart. It was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in Mannheim. The gunner bailed out from an altitude of 11,000 feet and became PoW while all five other crew members were killed.
Crew:
S/L Colin Leslie Gilbert, pilot, †
Sgt Reginald Henry Murphy, pilot, †
Sgt John Robert Shearer, observer, †
Sgt Christopher Norman Dixon, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Kenneth Andrew Fogg, wireless operator, †
Sgt James Gordon Lake, air gunner.
Crew:
S/L Colin Leslie Gilbert, pilot, †
Sgt Reginald Henry Murphy, pilot, †
Sgt John Robert Shearer, observer, †
Sgt Christopher Norman Dixon, wireless operator, †
F/Sgt Kenneth Andrew Fogg, wireless operator, †
Sgt James Gordon Lake, air gunner.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the German Flak.
