ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 316639
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| Date: | Thursday 31 August 1944 |
| Time: | 15:00 |
| Type: |  Avro Lancaster |
| Owner/operator: | 166 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Near St Riquier (Somme) -
 France
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Kirminton |
| Agenville - V2 Rocket Storage Depot |
Took off from RAF Kirmington at 13:20.
Hit by heavy flak - bombardment carried out despite an engine out of order and the fire on board and at the No2 tank - Only the gunners did not jump, perhaps killed by shrapnel - around 3:00 p.m.
Report MISC/INT/819
Shortly after baling out the aircraft was seen to explode in the air; since the pilot remembers
nothing further until he woke up on the ground with is parachute open, it is likely that he was knocked unconscious and blown out of the aircraft by the explosion. Almost certainly the explosion took place in the burning port No2 petrol tank; the aircraft was at a height of about 1,500ft at the time, and crashed immediately afterwards about 10 miles South of the target. The pilot was captured by the enemy as soon as he regained consciousness; he was suffering from extensive cuts and bruises, also he had one cervical vertebra and two dorsal vertebras fractured. It is likely that these injuries were caused by the explosion of the aircraft, although they may have been sustained on landing. No evidence of any kind exists concerning the fate of the two missing gunners. It seems however that they were almost certainly killed in the aircraft, either par flak fragments during the original engagement or else in the final crash.
Flt Sgt Kirby was part of Trupp 33. He arrived at Bankau on 18 September 1944.
Crew
Pilot: 135616 Fg Off Edward Bryan Tutty - Seriously injured. Captured. Liberated from Abbeville hospital. Returned to UK on 5 September 1944. Interviewed 26 January 1945. Report MISC/INT/819.
Flight Engineer: 1592108 Sgt Robert Derek Butcher - Captured on landing. Driven by van to
Belgium. On 4 September 1944 his guards let him go free having been ordered to shoot him.
Returned to UK on 10 September 1944.
Navigator: 137333 Flt Lt Donald Allen Wallis - Injured (Broken Pelvis)/Stalag IXC Muhlhausen/PoW
Number 52672
Bomb Aimer: 1623229 Flt Sgt Gordon John Kirby - PoW/Stalag Luft VII Bankau near Kreuzburg
Upper Silesia/PoW Number 787.
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: 157509 Fg Off Donald Pleasence - PoW/Stalag Luft 1 Barth
Vogelsang/PoW Number?
Mid Upper Gunner: 1593256 Sgt Lennard Letten - St Riquier British Cemetery Row AA Joint Grave 11.
Rear Gunner: 1853664 Sgt William Cecil Alderson - St Riquier British Cemetery Row AA Joint Grave 11.
Sources:
French Crashes 39-45
The Long Road - Oliver Clutton-Brock
RAF Evaders - Oliver Clutton-Brock
CWGC
Bomber Command Losses WWII - W R Chorley
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Donald_Pleasence
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jul-2023 14:49 | Anon. | Added |
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