ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 213124
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| Date: | Sunday 10 November 1940 |
| Time: | night |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | L4149 |
| MSN: | VN-T |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mannheim Power Station, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |
10/11 November
MANNHEIM AND LEUNA
Tonight, five aircraft were ordered to bomb a power station at Mannheim while a further 3 set off to bomb a synthetic oil refinery at Leuna. Due to severe icing, aircraft unserviceability and thick unbroken cloud in the target area, only one aircraft bombed the target by dive bombing it; one returned home without releasing the bomb load and the third bombed A.A.A. locations; all three returned to Base safely.
Of the five aircraft assigned to bomb Mannheim, due to unbroken cloud cover one returned home after circling the target area for some time and three bombed alternate targets at Leuna, the Moselle area and the Walcheren Canal.
Hampden L4149 ‘VN-T’ failed to return; after the W/T ‘GO’ signal was given nothing further was heard from this crew. Three crew were later confirmed as killed:
751648 Sgt. William “Billy” Cave (Air Gunner),
580658 Sgt. Robert Cecil “Bob” Hyland (Observer. aged 22) and
561946 Sgt. Thomas Thomas (pilot)
They were never found, and are commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial. One crew member survived, with the R.A.F. notified that Sgt. D.G. Hamilton, rear gunner had been taken P.O.W. Some reports state the aircraft crashed into the North Sea but Sgt. Hamilton’s son states his father said L4149 was shot down on the run-in to the target at Mannheim. This latter information is thought more likely; POW records may reveal where he was captured
The UK National Archives holds the original casualty report (officially 'Casualty Pack’) for this incident. This and similar reports have not been digitised and therefore can not be viewed online. The file can however be viewed at the Archives. See source 6. below.
As mentioned above it is possible that if Sergeant Hamilton filled in a POW Questionnaire and if this is in the care of the National Archives it may produce more information.
UPDATE 16 JANUARY 2023: The Casualty Pack at source 6. below contains an undated short POW questionnaire filled out by 647582 Sergeant David Gentles Hamilton (the Wireless Operator on this aircraft) following his release from captivity and subsequent repatriation to the UK.
In it he states that he baled out of the aircraft north of Marburg. He also states that the German authorities gave him no information as to the whereabouts of his fellow crew members.
There is also speculation in the file as to where the aircraft came down, ie whether it crashed near the point that Hamilton jumped or whether it continued on a course that eventually had it crash over the sea - something apparently suggested by information received from an official German source.
Pleas from the relatives of at least one crew member spurred the authorities to write to Sergeant (now Warrant Officer) Hamilton in January and again in August 1946 seeking more information.
It appears that their letters went unanswered or that no reply has been retained on the file available to view at the Archives.
Sources:
1. http://www.no-50-and-no-61-squadrons-association.co.uk/app/download/5802508903/50+SQUADRON+ORB+1939+1943+Revision+1.pdf
2. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1084182/cave,-william/
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1800862/hyland,-robert-cecil/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1808684/thomas,-thomas/
5. http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/07191.php
6. AIR 81/4176. In the first instance please see the following link that gives relevant information about the document and how to view it. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16688274
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 12 April 1940 | L4083 | 50 Sqn RAF | 1 | Mandal, Vest-Agder county, district of Sørlandet, near Kristiansand |  |
w/o |
| 27 June 1940 | P1329 | 50 Sqn RAF | 4 | North Sea, 25 km west of Noordwijk, Zuid-Holland |  |
w/o |
| 15 October 1940 | X2993 | 50 Sqn RAF | 2 | Kalbe an der Milde, Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, Sachsen-Anhalt | |
w/o |
| 29 July 1941 | AE159 | 50 Sqn RAF | 4 | Missing | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jul-2018 19:18 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 12-Nov-2018 19:01 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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