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Date: | Saturday 1 August 1942 |
Time: | night |
Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
Owner/operator: | 14 OTU RAF |
Registration: | P1185 |
MSN: | GL-B |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | near Leffinge, Middelkerke, West Flanders -
Belgium
|
Phase: | Combat |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | RAF Cottesmore, Oakham, Rutland |
Destination airport: | RAF Cottesmore, Rutland |
Narrative:Handley Page Hampden Mk.I P1185 (GL-B) of 14 OTU RAF. Lost on combat operations on 1/8/1942. Missing on raid to Düsseldorf in Germany. Took off from RAF Cottesmore, Rutland at 00:03 hrs. The aircraft crashed near the coastal municipality of Leffinge, Middelkerke, West Flanders, Belgium (at approximate co ordinates 51°11′N 2°53′E).
Probably, it was shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Dr. Horst Patuschka of the 7./NJG 2, who was flying a Ju 88 C-6 from Gilze-Rijen airfield in the Netherlands.
Three crew members were killed: two Canadians - the observer, Pilot Officer David G. McLean and the radio operator/air gunner, Flight Sgt George T. Bloomer - as well as a nineteen-year-old Australian, Sgt Sydney Shailer. The third Canadian on board, the pilot Sgt N.E. McGowan, was taken prisoner of war:
J/9506: Pilot Officer David Gerald McLean RCAF (pilot) - KIA body recovered for burial
Flight Sgt N.E. McGowan RCAF (observer/navigator) - survived, captured, taken as POW
R/8157: Flight Sgt George Taylor Bloomer RCAF (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) - KIA body recovered for burial
411406: Sgt Sydney Alan Shailer RAAF (Air Gunner, aged 19) - KIA body recovered for burial
The three crew fatalities were buried at Adegen Canadian War Cemetery, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Sources:
1. Air-Britain: Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-R9999
2. De Decker Cynrik & Roba Jean-Louis, RAF bombers over Belgium, 1942, De Krijger, Erpe, 1996
3.
https://www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/hampden-bij-leffinge 4.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2083308/mclean,-david-gerald/ 5.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2082794/bloomer,-george-taylor/ 6.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2083563/shailer,-sidney-alan/ 7.
https://www.backtonormandy.org/component/mtree/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/hampden/16970-P11851942-08-01.html 8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leffinge 9. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
10. Google Maps
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
09-Jul-2013 05:23 |
JINX |
Added |
11-Aug-2018 16:46 |
Dr.John Smith |
Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
18-Oct-2018 14:22 |
Nepa |
Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator] |
13-May-2020 11:39 |
TigerTimon |
Updated [Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative] |
26-Jun-2022 10:03 |
Ron Averes |
Updated [Location] |