Date:	Friday 4 July 1941
Time:	05:05 LT
Type:	Handley Page Hampden Mk I
Owner/operator:	144 Sqn RAF
Registration:	AD866
MSN:	PL-F
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	North Sea N of Ameland, Friesland -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire
Destination airport:	RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire

Narrative:
Handley Page Hampden Mk.I AD866 (PL-F) of 144 Squadron, RAF. Lost on combat operations on the night of 3-4/7/1941. Took off from RAF Hemswell on the evening of 3/7/1941. Target: Bremen. Aircraft failed to return from operation: Presumed lost over the sea - believed crashed into the North Sea, North of Ameland, West Frisian Islands, off the north coast of the Netherlands on the morning of 3/7/1941. It was shot down by Zerstörer pilot Oberleutnant Wilhelm Herget of the 6./ZG 76, who was flying a Bf 110 from Jever airfield, Germany.
All four crew killed, only one body was recovered.
Crew
Pilot: Flight Sgt. Gordon Cedric Marsh RAF (745742, aged 21) - killed, body recovered
Navigator: Sgt. Douglas Macdonald Napier RAF (912737, aged 20) - killed body not found
WOp/Air Gunner: Sgt. Walter Cross RAF (993388, aged 21) - killed, body not found
Air Gunner: Sgt.Edward Ryder Foster RAF (945066, aged 23) - killed, body not found

Pilot, Flight Sgt Gordon Marsh is buried in Nes Central Cemetery, Ameland; his crew are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

1. W.R. Chorley: Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1941 Page 81.
2. http://www.nimh.nl/nl/images/1941%20sec_tcm5-7282.pdf
3. https://studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/03-04-07-1941-sglo-t1076-handley-page-hampden-mk-i-ad866-pl/
4. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649032/marsh,-gordon-cedric/
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1077512/napier,-douglas-macdonald/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/231562/cross,-walter/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1270271/foster,-edward-ryder/
8. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part one
9. book 'Vliegvelden in Oorlogstijd'

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

22 March 1942

AT116

144 Sqn RAF

0

RAF North Luffenham, Rutland

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
24-Apr-2016 17:44	Red Dragon	Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Jul-2018 19:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Jul-2018 19:53	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]
26-Jul-2018 22:25	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Narrative]
17-Oct-2018 05:38	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]
17-Nov-2018 09:36	Anon.	Updated [Narrative]
02-Jul-2019 08:25	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Phase, Source, Narrative]
02-Jul-2019 08:51	TigerTimon	Updated [Date]
02-Jul-2019 08:54	TigerTimon	Updated [Narrative]
12-Jun-2022 09:59	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]