Date:	Friday 14 July 1944
Time:	17:30
Type:	Bristol Beaufighter TF Mk X
Owner/operator:	39 Sqn RAF
Registration:	LZ480
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	in a field north of Vinkovci -   Croatia
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Biferno airfield (I)
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 14 July 1944 four Beaufighters of 39 Sqn RAF took off at 1522 hrs from Biferno airfield, Italy, for an offensive sweep against railways west of Belgrade. A top cover was provided by four Mustangs of 213 Sqn RAF flying 2,000 ft above the Beaufighters. On the strip of railway line between Brod and Vinkovci, 7 locomotives were attacked, and clouds of steam resulted in most cases. Hits were observed on nearly all trucks, box cars and coaches pulled by these locomotives, and when rockets were fired, damaged to the tracks and nearby buildings was also seen.

At 1730 hrs, while attacking a train by 45° 24’ N 18° 57’ E, the Beaufighter TFX LZ480 -O was fired at by a Flak position from the centre of a field and his port engine was hit and immediately caught fire. The aircraft turned away and was seen to crash in a shallow dive in a field north of Vinkovci. Both crew, FLg Off Leslie Albert Chandler (pilot) and Flg Off John Henry Lamb (navigator), were killed.

Another aircraft of the formation, the Beaufighter LZ460, was also hit by 40mm Flak but, in spite of considerable damage to the stern frame, it returned safely to Biferno, landing with the two other at 1930 hrs.

ORB of 39 Sqn RAF, July 1944 (AIR 27/408-13 and AIR 27/408-14)
"A history of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945, vol 5 : From the Fall of Rome to the End of the War 1944-1945", by Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, Russel Guest, Frank Olynyk, Winfried Bock and Andrew Thomas, ISBN 978-1-911621-97-3, page 164
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=LZ480
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinkovci
http://www.maplandia.com/croatia/vukovar-srijem/vinkovci/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
28-Oct-2022 22:18	Nepa	Added [Operator]
14-Sep-2023 17:07	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [[Operator]]