Date:	Friday 6 February 1942
Time:	15:10
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	455 Sqn RAAF
Registration:	AE308
MSN:	UB-L
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Aircraft missing
Location:	North Sea 70 km W of Terschelling, Friesland -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 6 February 1942 the RAF Bomber Command dispatched 33 Hampdens and 13 Manchesters on a daylight "Gardening" (mine laying) operation. One of the Hampdens was lost, along with its crew.

It was the first day operation of 455 Squadron RAF. Eight Hampdens took off from Swinderby between 11:58 and 12:12 hours local time. Four crew turned back owing to insufficient could cover. The other four completed the operation but Hampden AE308 (UB-L) did not return and its crew were posted as missing.

This aircraft had taken off at 12:05 hours for a mine-laying sortie in the Mussels Region (Terschelling Gat). It was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Helmut Lent of the Stab II./NJG 2 as his 30th victory. Under his own initiative Lent took off from Terschelling Island and under radar guidance closed in with three other Bf.110s. The flight spotted the mine laying operation and Lent attacked AE308 over the North Sea, 70 kilometres West of Terschelling and shot it down at 15:10 hours. All crew were lost and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. While belonging to an Australian squadron, they were all British and members of the RAF.

Crew (all killed):
1281447: Sgt Bernard Edward Brown RAF (Pilot) KIA
1169761: Sgt Robert Anthony Billington RAF (Navigator,aged 20) KIA
1356057: Sgt David Michael Pickersgill RAF (W/Op) KIA
1051834: Sgt Eric Bland RAF (Air Gunner, aged 19) KIA

1. "Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 3: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1942", by W R Chorley. ISBN 0-904597-89-X
2. Luftwaffe claim lists by Tony Wood and Jim Perry (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/brown-bernard.html
4. http://www.adf-gallery.com.au/.au/hampden.htm
5. ORB of 455 Sqn RAAF, available online on the website of the National Archives of Australia (at https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=1359207&isAv=N)
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1530563/brown,-bernard-edward/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1529798/billington,-robert-anthony/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1804345/pickersgill,-david-michael/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1529944/bland,-eric/
10. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part two for the correct rank of Lent

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

5 September 1942	P5323	455 Sqn RAAF	0	Kandalaksha, Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia,		w/o
Fuel exhaustion

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
03-Nov-2017 19:21	Red Dragon	Added
11-Dec-2017 13:39	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Aircraft type]
29-Jan-2018 17:13	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
18-Jul-2018 20:52	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
11-Nov-2018 13:01	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
02-Nov-2019 15:46	TigerTimon	Updated [Other fatalities]
02-Nov-2019 15:47	TigerTimon	Updated [Source, Narrative]
15-Jun-2022 15:23	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]