Date:	Thursday 19 September 1940
Time:	00:28 LT
Type:	Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V
Owner/operator:	77 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N1425
MSN:	KN-E
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Zieuwent and Achter-Zieuwent; Gelderland -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire

Narrative:
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley B.Mk.V N1425 (KN-E) 77 Squadron, RAF: Written off (destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over the Netherlands. All five crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/3340): "Shot down and crashed over Holland, Whitley N1425, 77 Squadron, 18 September 1940. Pilot Officer P E Eldridge, Sub Lieutenant P O Williams (Royal Navy), Sergeant N C Cowley, Sergeant F Crawford, Sergeant R C Dawson: killed"

Airborne from RAF Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire to bomb targets in the area of Soest in Germany.
The aircraft was intercepted by night fighter pilot Feldwebel Paul Gildner of the 3./NJG 1, who was flying a Bf 110 from Borkenberge airfield in Germany. The Luftwaffe pilot was guided by ground radar and by searchlights.
No survivors among the crew of five:

Pilot Officer Peter Ernest Eldridge (Pilot) RAF 41912, aged 22 - killed in action 19/09/1940
Sub Lieutenant Peter Owen Williams (Royal Navy), aged 20 - killed in action 19/09/1940
Sergeant Norman Coater Crowley (Pilot) RAF 187512, aged 22 - killed in action 19/09/1940
Sergeant Frank Crawford (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 620421 - killed in action 19/09/1940
Sergeant Raymond Carter Dawson (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) RAF 637484, aged 22 - killed in action 19/09/1940

At least three of the crew (P/O Eldridge, Sgt Crawford and Sgt Dawson) were buried at Ruurlo (Achter Zieuwent) Roman Catholic Churchyard, Achter Zieuwent, Gelderland, Netherlands. Sub Lt P Williams was buried in a different location - Winterswijk Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands

The reported crash location of Achter Zieuwent is one of the church villages of the Oost Gelre municipality in the Achterhoek, in the Dutch province of Gelderland at approximate co ordinates 52°0′ N, 6°31′E

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1977 p 7)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/3340: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16687438
3. https://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/whitley/24530-N14251940-09-19.html
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2648274/eldridge,-peter-ernest/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2647746/williams,-peter-owen/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2035861/cowley,-norman-coatner/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2648272/crawford,-frank/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2648273/dawson,-raymond-carter/
9. http://www.nimh.nl/nl/images/1940%20sec_tcm5-7281.pdf
10. https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1940-09SEP.htm
11. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zieuwent
12. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part one

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

28 December 1940

T4293

77 Sqn RAF

0

RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, England

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
13-Oct-2019 21:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
13-Oct-2019 21:36	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
13-Oct-2019 21:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
15-Oct-2019 07:32	juza7	Updated [Operator]
17-Sep-2020 16:07	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]