Date:	Saturday 29 September 1945
Time:	morning
Type:	Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:	550 Sqn RAF
Registration:	PD343
MSN:	BQ-S
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 26 / Occupants: 26
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Italian Alps, Between Italy and the UK -   Italy
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Bari, Italy
Destination airport:	RAF Killingholme, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
On 29 September 1945 PD343 "BQ-S" an Avro Lancaster B.1 of No. 550 Squadron RAF went missing on a flight from Italy to the United Kingdom with 26 on board. Of the 26, 6 were the actual crew and the other 20 were British PoWs being repatriated under "Operation Dodge". One source states that the Lancaster crashed in the Italian Alps of Northern Italy, near the borders with France and Switzerland ("As the aircraft failed to arrive in England, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 26 occupants was found. It is believed the aircraft may have crashed in the Italian Alp mountains".)

According to the following extract from the 550 Squadron Operations Record Book (Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the date:

"This was a black day for the Squadron. F/O Matthews returning from Bari on operation "Dodge" Flight No. 58 was airborne at approximately 09.25 hrs. A signal to this effect was received shortly afterwards. Since that time no communications of any kind, nor any discovery as to the whereabouts of the aircraft has been made known. F/O Matthews had a crew of six and also carried 20 PoW personnel as passengers.

This Squadron has been accident free for many months and it is a curious twist of fate that this wonderful record should have been terminated by an accident of such a serious nature. Crews who returned safely from this operation completed 220 hours of flying."

Crew of Lancaster PD343:
Flight Sergeant Alan Osborn Chapman (Navigator) RAF 1628448, aged 21
Flight Sergeant Dennis Gosling (Wireless Op) RAF 1895350
Flight Sergeant Robert Henderson (Flight Engineer) RAF 1564276
Flight Sergeant Derek Arnold Isley (Bomb Aimer) RAF 1570883
Pilot Officer Reginald Raymond Matthews (Pilot) RAF 196950
Sergeant John Henry Peckham (Mid-Upper Air Gunner) RAF 1851763

Passengers:
Flying Officer H A Findlay
Sergeant J B Carter
Flying Officer R Melia
Sergeant E Barton
Sergeant I Daly
Sergeant W Towle
Flight Sergeant G W Jamieson
Flight Sergeant H W Burlingham
Flying Officer E A Butcher
Sergeant W D Riley
Flight Sergeant J P Aucoin
Flight Sergeant J W Hamilton
Flight Lt D J Boydon
Sergeant Polling
Flight Lt Miller
Sergeant F P Clarke
Flying Officer Lodge
Flying Officer S J Braithwaite
Pilot Officer R Askey
Flight Sergeant D P Lambert

As no trace of the crew or their 20 passengers was ever found, they are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. Halley, James (1999). Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents. Tunbridge Wells, Kent, United Kingdom: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999
3. http://www.planetrace.co.uk/1940-1949_28.html
4. http://www.550squadronassociation.org.uk/documents/public/550SquadronAvroLancasterBombers.pdf
5. http://www.lancaster-archive.com/lanc_uknowncrashsites.pdf
6. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-avro-683-lancaster-i-26-killed
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1084265/chapman,-alan-osborn/
8. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1798592/GOSLING
9. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1799921/HENDERSON
10. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1076577/MATTHEWS,%20REGINALD%20RAYMOND
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1804123/peckham,-john-henry/

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

22 May 1944

DV309

550 Sqn RAF

7

Schobbroek, Westerlo, Antwerp

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
29-Aug-2013 19:24	JINX	Added
11-Dec-2014 14:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Oct-2018 17:29	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
26-Oct-2019 18:34	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Location, Country, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]