ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 229578
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| Date: | Thursday 20 June 1940 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 61 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | P4355 |
| MSN: | QR-C |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Rheine, Nordrhein-Westfalen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire |
| RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire |
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I P4355 (QR-C) 61 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Germany. All four crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/968): "Hampden P4355 lost in air operations, 20 June 1940. Sergeant W S Rowcliffe, Sergeant R S Powell, Pilot Officer A S Smith and Pilot Officer C Matheson: report of death"
Airborne from RAF Hemswell, Linconshire. Shot down by Flak near Rheine, Germany. No survivors among the crew of four.
Crew of Hampden P4355:
Flying Officer (Pilot) Albert Stanley Smith, RAF 40187, age 23, killed in action 20/06/1940
Pilot Officer (Pilot) Colin Matheson, RAF 41722, killed in action 20/06/1940
Sergeant (Observer) Rex Spurway Powell, RAF 614266, age 28, killed in action 20/06/1940
Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) William Stanley Rowcliffe, RAF 631427, killed in action 20/06/1940,
All four crew fatalities were buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The reported crash location of Rheine is a town in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany, on the river Ems, approx. 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Münster, at approximate Coordinates: 52°17′N 7°26′E
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File Air 81/968: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502419
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2041983/smith,-albert-stanley/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2040276/matheson,-colin/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2041205/powell,-rex-spurway/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2041610/rowcliffe,-william-stanley/
7. http://www.margatecivicsociety.org.uk/Margate%20War%20Memorial%20WWII%20Roll%20of%20Honour%20-%20Parts%20I%20&%20II%20rev1.pdf
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheine
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 8 July 1940 | P4390 | 61 Sqn RAF | 1 | Bad Bentheim, GB, Niedersachsen | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Oct-2019 21:47 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 02-Oct-2019 10:17 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator] |
| 27-Jun-2022 10:10 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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