Royal Air Force - RAF

Operator:

Registration:

W7858

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Schedule:

Pocklington - Pocklington

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The airplane departed RAF Pocklington at 1757LT on an operation to Flensburg. It crashed in unknown circumstances into the Baltic sea off the German coast. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt D. S. Benner, pilot,
F/Sgt Richard Mathews,
Sgt D. H. Tarver,
Sgt S. G. E. Dunn,
Sgt R. J. Peters,
Sgt T. H. Parker,
Sgt G. H. Sadler.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Flensburg: 7 killed

Date & Time: Oct 1, 1942

Type of aircraft:

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Registration:

W7812

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Site:

City

Schedule:

Linton-on-Ouse - Linton-on-Ouse

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The airplane departed RAF Linton-on-Ouse at 1810LT on an operation to Flensburg. Over the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in the St Pauli district of the city. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Merle William Atkinson, pilot,
Sgt H. S. Greenwood,
Sgt E. Topping,
Sgt T. W. Peacock,
Sgt P. D. Skerman,
Sgt Jacobus Petrus van Lelyveld,
Sgt L. H. Levis.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II into the North Sea: 7 killed

Date & Time: Oct 1, 1942

Type of aircraft:

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Registration:

BB207

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Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Melbourne - Melbourne

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The airplane departed RAF Melbourne at 1756LT on an operation to Flensburg. It failed to return to base and is believed to have crashed somewhere into the North Sea. Lost without trace.
Crew:
F/O J. L. Jones,
Sgt R. Q. Stevens,
Sgt M. A. Pickering,
Sgt R. C. Prior,
F/Sgt A. McK. Mowbray,
Sgt K. R. Curran,
Sgt S. C. Carter.

Crash of a Bristol 142 Blenheim IV at RAF Upwood: 3 killed

Date & Time: Oct 1, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Bristol 142 Blenheim

Operator:

Registration:

V6315

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Training

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Schedule:

Upwood - Upwood

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The crew departed RAF Upwood on a local training exercise. Shortly after takeoff, while climbing to a height of about 350 feet, the left engine failed. The airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed 1,5 km from the airbase. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sgt George Darbyshire, pilot,
P/O Francis Leslie Austin, observer,
Sgt Frank Alfred Reeve, wireless operator and air gunner.

Probable cause:

Failure of the left engine after takeoff.

Crash of a Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax II in Flensburg: 7 killed

Date & Time: Oct 1, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

W1066

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Vickers 417 Wellington III

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Pocklington - Pocklington

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The airplane departed RAF Pocklington at 1759LT on an operation to Flensburg. Approaching the target area, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
F/Sgt Percy Charles Cato, pilot,
Sgt Joseph Sydney James, flight engineer,
Sgt George Andrew McIntyre, observer,
Sgt Frank Tooth, observer,
Sgt Frederick James Robinson, wireless operator,
F/O Aubrey Lawrence MacGillivray, air gunner,
Sgt Ronald Leslie Milbank, air gunner.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Vickers 417 Wellington III in Bergen: 5 killed

Date & Time: Sep 30, 1942 at 2110 LT

Type of aircraft:

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Registration:

BJ964

Flight Phase:

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Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Wickenby - Wickenby

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The airplane departed RAF Wickenby at 1823LT on a mine laying operation in the Trefoil region. Approaching the Dutch coast, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed in Bergen, killing the entire crew.
Crew:
Sgt George William Arthur Mitchell, pilot,
Sgt Harold James Kendrick, observer,
P/O Laurence James Alexander Graham, navigator,
F/Sgt Raymond Lloyd Wakelin, wireless operator,
F/Sgt Sam Feinstein, air gunner.

Probable cause:

Shot down by the German Flak.

Crash of a Short S.25 Sunderland off Abu Qir: 3 killed

Date & Time: Sep 30, 1942 at 0620 LT

Type of aircraft:

Short S.25 Sunderland

Operator:

Registration:

T9050

Flight Phase:

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Yes

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Schedule:

Abu Qir - Abu Qir

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The seaplane departed the Abu Qir seaplane base at 0545LT on a maritime patrol flight over the Mediterranean Sea. About 35 minutes into the flight, the engine n°1 failed. The captain decided to stall the aircraft that broke its back while hitting the water surface. Three crew members were killed while nine others were rescued. The aircraft sank and was lost.
Crew (230th Squadron):
F/O R. J. Murphy, pilot,
P/O R. C. Scott, pilot,
F/O T. W. Sanderson, pilot,
P/O A. H. Matthews, navigator,
F/Sgt J. Harkins, wireless operator,
Sgt Kenneth Charles Carlsson, wireless operator, †
Sgt James Adam, wireless operator, †
Sgt J. Groleau, air gunner,
Sgt Gordon Alexander Lindsay, air gunner, †
Sgt D. Hall, flight engineer,
LAC D. McLean, fitter,
LAC N. Kelly, rigger.
Source by Alan Storr:
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RC09125_007--1-.pdf

Probable cause:

The aircraft was forced to return from patrol owing to failure of the port outer engine. There was no indication from any member of the crew including the fitter that any other engine appeared to be giving trouble. When the Captain thought the port engine was failing he should have immediately checked his engine instrument readings. Although he approach appears to have been normal, the Captain did in fact make an error as he did not allow for the facts that there was a flat calm or that he was making an approach off a flare path. Finally the pilot made the fatal mistake of attempting to look at the water. Such an act especially on a glassy sea is nearly always disastrous. The accident appears to have been brought about by the fact that the pilot attempted to land when a landing was unnecessary, and he made an error in his landing in that he appears to have used insufficient engine to flatten his approach. He also attempted to carry out a landing on a glassy sea at night by looking at the water. The Group Commander in his remarks stated ; “ I consider this accident was primarily due to the fact that there had been a fatal accident in the Squadron a few days previously due to an engine catching fire in the air and the resulting smoke filled the cockpit, making it impossible for the pilot to make a safe landing. In this case, the pilot after flying for 35 minutes on thee engines, states that he suddenly noticed a bright glow and small burst of flame on another engine and decided to land immediately, in so doing he stalled the aircraft which broke its back on hitting the water. I consider the pilot, FO Murphy, made a wrong decision in deciding to land and was guilty of an error of judgement in making the actual landing. AVM Slatter 201 Group” .

Crash of a Short S.29 Stirling I into the North Sea: 7 killed

Date & Time: Sep 30, 1942

Type of aircraft:

Short S.29 Stirling

Operator:

Registration:

BF328

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Site: