ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 213676
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| Date: | Tuesday 29 April 1941 |
| Time: | 01:30 LT |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 50 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | AD834 |
| MSN: | VN-Q |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Quilliampe, near Loudéac, Côtes-d'Armor department, Brittany -
 France
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |
| RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |
28/29 April-
GARDENING OPS
Five aircraft took-off from RAF Lindholme at around 20.00 hours onward on the evening 28/4/1941 on "Gardening" operations (to drop mines) in the ‘Cinnamon’ area (code for La Rochelle). AD834 was the last to take off, at 20.30 hours. Only one aircraft mined the area with two other returning to base unable to locate the target due to haze. Two 50 Squadron aircraft failed to return this morning - AD728 and AD834
Crew:-
Pilot : Flying Officer James Alexander Whitecross RAF 41888 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 28 November, 1939) [Evaded]
Observer : Sergeant James Edwin Martin RAF 581157 [PoW]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Flight Sergeant Douglas Frederick Ross RAF 543012 [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant Joseph Francis O'Hare RAFVR 976138 [Killed]
Were all posted as missing. However, two of them survived, and two were killed. A message was received from the aircraft shortly before midnight that the aircraft had attempted to find the secondary target of Lorient/La Pallice but had developed Port engine trouble. Warrant Officer Martin stated, after repatriation Post War, that the Port engine had developed Low oil pressure and smoke immediately prior to crashing.
The aircraft finally crashed in farmland near the village of Quilliampe, near Loudeac, Côtes-d'Armor department, Brittany, France (at approximate Coordinates: 48°10′40″N 2°45′14″W). The pilot, Pilot Officer Whitecross and Observer Warrant Officer Martin managed to parachute to safety but Ross and O’Hare perished in the post crash fire that burned for days.
P/O Whitecross evaded capture, returning via Spain and Gibraltar to the UK in June 1941. (He was later lost on operations on 15/8/1941, officially declared dead on 28/5/1942. and his name is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial).
Warrant Officer Martin suffered a badly broken leg and surrendered for hospital treatment spending the war in various POW Camps, being repatriated in June 1945. Flight Sgt. Ross and Sgt. O’Hare are buried side by side in Quilliampe Cemetery near Loudeac, and a memorial stone is also to be found at the crash site in Quilliampe (see link #2)
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.absa3945.com/Pertes%20Bretagne/Cotes%20Armor/28%20avril%201941/hampden__ad834.htm
3. 50 Squadorn ORB (Air Ministry Form 540): http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503123
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1531437/whitecross,-james-alexander/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2814138/ross,-douglas-frederick/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2814137/o'hare,-joseph-francis/
7. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 5 January 1941 | X3143 | 50 Sqn RAF | 0 | RAF Lindholme, North Yorkshire |  |
w/o |
| 17 July 1941 | AD844 | 50 Sqn RAF | 4 | Missing (Failed To Return: Target Hamburg) |  |
w/o |
| 6 August 1941 | AE137 | 50 Sqn RAF | 4 | Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia | |
w/o |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Jul-2018 23:08 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 12-Nov-2018 21:03 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 28-Apr-2024 06:43 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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