Date:	Thursday 6 June 1940
Time:	night
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	83 Sqn RAF
Registration:	P1348
MSN:	OL-A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Barnkrug on the West bank of the River Elbe, 9 km North of Stade -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	Hamburg

Narrative:
Handley Page Hampden Mk.1 P1348 (OL-A) 83 Sqaudron, RAF: Written off (presumed destroyed) when lost (Failed To Return) from combat operations over Germany on the night of 5-6 June 1940. All four crew killed. According to the official Air Ministry file into the incident (File AIR 81/782): "Hampden P1348, crashed at Barnkrug near Stade, Germany, 5/6 June 1940. Sergeant E H Paul, Sergeant L L Kerr, Sergeant R Eadie and Squadron Leader D B D Field: report of deaths"

Airborne from RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire (Target: Hamburg). Shot down by Flak/AAA and crashed at Barnkrug on the West bank of the River Elbe, 9 km North of Stade, Germany. No survivors, all four crew killed
The crew were initially buried in Stade Communal Cemetery.
Reinterred 26 September 1946.
Crew
Pilot: 26158 Sqn Ldr Denys Brian Douglas Field - Becklingen War Cemetery Plot 12 Row F Grave 14.
Observer: 565282 Sgt Eric Howard Paul - Becklingen War Cemetery Plot 12 Row F Grave 6.
Wireless Operator: 581286Sgt Lachlan Livingstone Kerr - Becklingen War Cemetery Plot 12 Row G Grave 14.
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: 550790 Sgt Robert Eadie - Becklingen War Cemetery Plot 12 Row G Grave 13.


All four crew fatalities were buried at Becklingen War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany. The reported crash location of Barnkrug is on the West bank of the River Elbe, 9 km North of Stade, Lower Saxony, Germany

1. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1978 p 7)
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/782: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14502453
3. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2107613/field,-denys-brian-douglas/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2389627/paul,-eric-howard/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2199262/kerr,-lachlan-livingstone/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2107540/eadie,-robert/
7. http://www.epibreren.com/ww2/raf/83_squadron.html#050606
8. https://archiv-akh.de/filme/589 - Footage from Flak. Reg. 6 showing recovery of the crashed bomber, with time stamp 10:33:38 showing the serial.

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

24 September 1940

L4049

83 Sqn RAF

3

Near Bethen (Niedersachsen), Lower Saxony

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
09-Sep-2019 23:35	Dr. John Smith	Added
17-Sep-2019 20:05	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
26-Oct-2021 14:15	Anon.	Updated [Source]
23-Jun-2022 10:33	Anon.	Updated [Destination airport, Narrative]