Accident Avro Lancaster Mk I ME630,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 231807
 
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Date:Sunday 20 February 1944
Time:03:41 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic LANC model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Avro Lancaster Mk I
Owner/operator:No.106 Squadron, RAF
Registration: ME630
MSN: ZN-P
Fatalities:Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:Breitlingsee lake at Brandenburg an der Havel -   Germany
Phase: Combat
Nature:Military
Departure airport:RAF Metheringham, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:
Narrative:
Takeoff at 23:55 hrs for an operation against aircraft assembly factories at Leipzig in Sachsen.
Outward-bound, the aircraft was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Paul Zorner of the 8./NJG 3, who was flying Bf 110 G-4 D5+FS from Lüneburg airfield in Niedersachsen. The bomber crashed into the Breitlingsee lake.

Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer Edward Richard Freeman Leggett RAFVR 124775 (NCO:657893 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 18 August, 1942) [Killed]
Flight Engineer : Sergeant Edward Fabyan Windeatt RAF 1850870 [PoW]
Navigator : Flying Officer Nigel Clement Francis Bloy RAF 144931 (NCO:1587662 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 20 July, 1943) [PoW]
Bomb Aimer : Flying Officer Frederick Basil Chubb RAF 151463 (NCO:1323928 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 18 May, 1943) [PoW]
Wireless Operator : Sergeant Thomas Haydn Jones RAF 1338943 [PoW]
Mid-Upper Gunner : Pilot Officer Stanley Wilfred Payne RAAF Aus/406537 [PoW]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant John C Harrison RAF [PoW]

The aircraft’s captain Flying Officer Edward Richard Freeman Leggett, RAFVR, was the only fatality with the rest of the crew becoming prisoners of war.

On 30 December 1943, Flying Officer Leggett and his crew were flying Avro Lancaster ED593/ZN-Y as part of a force sent to attack Berlin.

On the return route they were hit by flak, killing the Flight Engineer (Sergeant Alexander Braid) and injuring the Wireless Operator, Pilot Officer Edward Arthur Worthy.

It also damaged two engines, the mainplane and the fuselage.

See ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 311581 (https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=311581)

These two positions were filled respectively Sergeant E F Windeatt and Sergeant T H Jones.

Please note that there are official references to this aircraft as ME360 rather than ME630. See https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/files/original/579/31570/MHarrisonJC1590954-180706-05.2.jpg and


Sources:

Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1944 part one
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=ME630
Google Maps
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

History of this aircraft

Other occurrences involving this aircraft
25 August 1942 R5684 106 Sqn RAF 6 North Sea off Koksijde, West Flanders mis
17 September 1942 W4178 106 Sqn RAF 7 North Sea west of Zandvoort, Noord-Holland w/o
8 July 1944 PB144 106 Sqn RAF 7 500 metres W of Sainte-Geneviève, Oise 60 w/o

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
30-Dec-2019 11:36 TigerTimon Added
02-May-2023 05:26 Richard Updated
04-Jul-2023 14:28 Richard Updated
19-Feb-2024 13:03 Rob Davis Updated [Source, Narrative]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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