Royal Air Force - RAF

Shortly after takeoff from Reykjavik Airport, while on a transit flight from Europe to the US, the engine n°3 caught fire and exploded. The crew decided to return for an emergency landing. On final approach, the engine n°3 fell off and the airplane landed in flames. Upon touchdown, the right main gear failed and the aircraft skidded for few hundred metres before coming to rest with both wings on fire. Nine occupants were killed and six others were injured.
Crew (120th Squadron):
W/O Peter Lawrence Brooks Ellis, pilot, †
F/S John Gibson Benson, copilot, †
F/S George Frederick Denis Lowrison, radio navigator, †
Sgt D. McClelland, flight engineer,
F/S A. Barthorpe, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt G. Young, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt William Stanfield, wireless operator and air gunner. †
Passengers:
Cdr C. Harris,
Lt A. Finn,
S/L H. Catchlove,
F/O William John Wright, †
F/L Francis Henry Salt, †
LAC Maurce Ian Kidd, †
Cpl H. Y. Mills, †
Cpl J. D. Cole. †

The airplane departed RAF Middleton St George at 1632LT to lay mines off the Frisian Islands. It failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the North Sea. Lost without trace.
Crew:
Sgt F. H. Barker, pilot,
Sgt R. E. Sackville-Golden,
F/Sgt H. A. Dunn,
F/Sgt V. A. Hugli,
Sgt D. A. Watson,
Sgt W. D. Cameron,
F/Sgt W. G. Murphy, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Hemswell at 1759LT on a mine laying operation off the Frisian Islands. It was badly shot about by enemy fire and later crashed in Dunmoor Hill. Four crew members were killed and one was injured.
Crew:
F/O T. Tyrala, pilot, †
F/O Tadeusz Włodmierz Bronisław Sokolinski, †
Sgt J. Pasierski, †
Sgt E. Tabaczynski, †
Sgt J. A. Korczynski, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Elsham Wolds at 1652LT on an operation to Essen. Over Cologne, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in Rheidt, 7 km northwest of Bonn. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Reginald Henry Morris, pilot,
Sgt Cyril Ernest Hollingworth, flight engineer,
Sgt Alfred Charles Burgess, navigator,
Sgt Reginald Eric Rees Harries, navigator,
Sgt Ernest Cooper, wireless operator,
Sgt William Scobie, air gunner,
Sgt Percy William Adams, air gunner.

The crew was performing a local training exercise at RAF Harwell. While flying at night in the vicinity of the airbase, the airplane crashed in unknown circumstances 3 km southeast of the airfield. A crew was killed and four others were injured.
Crew:
Sgt F. E. W. Clarke, pilot,
W/O Robert Vale Bridgeman, wireless operator, †
Sgt C. M. J. Murphy,
Sgt D. H. Neelin,
F/Sgt J. A. Reynolds.

The airplane departed RAF Waddington at 1754LT to lay mines in the Daffodils area. Approaching the German coast, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed into the sea off Sylt Island. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Nicholas Croryndon Shattock, pilot,
Sgt William Barrett, flight engineer,
F/Sgt Edward Francis Stack, navigator,
Sgt Michael John Crowley, bomb aimer,
F/Sgt Hubert William Howe Morton, wireless operator,
Sgt John Anthony Martin Bell, air gunner,
Sgt Reginald Edwin Gladwish, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Waddington at 1736LT to lay mines in the Daffodils area. Over Denmark, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in a forest located near Aabenraa. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Milton James Paige, pilot,
Sgt Jonathan Hutchinson, flight engineer,
F/O Andrew Greenhill Cameron, navigator,
Sgt Sydney Wright, bomb aimer,
Sgt Adriano Alfred Robert Colonna, wireless operator,
Sgt Dennis Bryant Mogg, air gunner,
Sgt John Henry Lightfoot, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Waddington at 1720LT on an operation to Duisburg. Passing over the Netherlands, it was shot down by a German fighter and crashed in Hackfort, west of Vorden. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt Dick Foote, pilot,
Sgt Maxwell Wilson Stephenson, pilot,
Sgt Munro McKenzie, navigator,
Sgt William Thomas McLennan, bomb aimer,
Sgt George Mitchell, wireless operator,
Sgt Patrick George Brogan, air gunner,
Sgt Robert Kilpatrick Wardrop, air gunner.

The pilot departed RAF Upwood at 1625LT on a local solo training flight. After takeoff, he reported a loss of power on the right engine then the airplane crashed near the airbase and was damaged beyond repair. The pilot escaped unhurt.
Crew:
F/Lt Robert Henry Moore, pilot.

Overshot while landing at RAF Middleton Saint George and came to rest on a railway line. All six crew members escaped uninjured but a train struck the plane and as a result one civilian, railwayman A. Glover was killed and another, fireman G. F. Barber, was injured.
Crew:
Sgt W. E. Harwood, pilot +5.