Accident Avro Lancaster Mk I PB768,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 159483
 
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Date:Monday 1 January 1945
Time:20:00
Type:Silhouette image of generic LANC model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:218 (Gold Coast) Sqn RAF
Registration: PB768
MSN: XH-B
Fatalities:Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Namur -   Belgium
Phase: En route
Nature:Military
Departure airport:RAF Chedburgh
Destination airport:RAF Chedburgh
Narrative:
Shot down by US Army AA, on return from mission to Vohwinkel.
Took off from RAF Chedburgh at 1606 hrs to bomb the railway yards at Vohwinkel. Hit by flak over the target at 21,000 ft, sustaining damage to the fuel supply feeding the port inner engine. This engine was stopped. Over Namur homebound, the Lancaster was hit twice, in quick succession, by the American AA fire and the entire port side caught fire. As the order to bale out was given, the Lancaster spun and fell at Emines in the Belguim Province of Numar, 11 km SE of Gembloux. Those who died were buried in the Fosse US Temporary Military Cemetery, since when their remains have been taken to Leopoldsburg War Cemetery.
Crew
Fg Off R G Grivell RAAF (KIA)
Sgt L Peckett (KIA)
Flt Sgt H Clements RCAF (KIA)
Fg Off Ingram RCAF (Inj)
Sgt K Bennett (KIA)
Sgt E P Buttrun-Gardiner (KIA)
Sgt R E Keel (KIA)

Sources:

Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1945 Page 26.
http://aircrewremembered.com/grivell-robert.html
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=PB768
Personnel file of the RCAF casualty including loss report (Ancestry.ca - Archives Canada)
218 Sqn wartime records from The National Archives UK
https://aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=pb768&qand=&exc1=&exc2=&search_only=&search_type=exact
https://218squadron.wordpress.com/
Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10305067

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
29-Aug-2013 02:05 JINX Added
17-May-2016 16:16 Red Dragon Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
15-Jan-2018 18:49 XindelX Updated [Aircraft type, Operator]
21-Mar-2020 16:54 Anon. Updated [Source]
20-Oct-2023 17:40 tachel Updated [[Source]]

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