Date:	Monday 10 February 1941
Time:	23:35
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk IC
Owner/operator:	15 Sqn RAF
Registration:	T2702
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	IJsselmeer, 15 km W of Kampen, Overijssel -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Wyton
Destination airport:

Narrative:
During the night of 10-11 February 1941 RAF Bomber Command dispatched 222 aircraft (112 Wellingtons, 46 Hampdens, 34 Blenheims and 30 Whitleys) to attack industrial targets in Hannover and 43 other aircraft to bomb oil-storage tanks in Rotterdam. It was the first night that a Group dispatched more than 100 aircraft (119 Wellingtons by 3 Group) and the first operational mission of the new Stirling bomber (three of 7 Sqn joining the Rotterdam raid). Four aircraft (2 Wellingtons, 1 Blenheim and 1 Hampden) were lost and three more were shot down over England by German Intruders.

The Wellington IC T2702 LS-H of 15 Sqn RAF took off in the evening of 10th from Wyton for a raid on Hannover. It was last heard on W/T at 2135 hrs indicating mission completed. It was subsequently hit by Bf 110 G9+AC, flown by Hauptmann Walter Ehle of the Stab II./NJG 1 (from Deelen airfield). The pilot crash-landed the aircraft on the frozen IJsselmeer. It was the second victory of Ehle. It was recorded officially at 2333 hrs on the 9th and appears so on many source, but it was a clerical error.

Crew:-
Pilot : Sergeant William R "Bill" Garrioch RAF 742039 [PoW]
2nd Pilot : Sergeant William Hansford "Bill" Jordan RAF 742138 [PoW]
Navigator : Sergeant Robert Frederick Bewley RAF 751981 [PoW]
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner : Sergeant Glyndwr "Taffy" Reardon RAFVR 967118 [Killed]
Front Gunner : Sergeant Hardie George Hedge RNZAF NZ/40791 [PoW]
Rear Gunner : Sergeant John Hall RAF 528364 [PoW]

The remains of Sgt Reardon were recovered in October 1967 by the RNethAF and taken for burial at Nijmegen. He now rests in Jonkerbos War Cemetery.

John Hall died around 2010 when he was 90+ years old. He lost his leg in the crash. He said in an interview the Germans did a good job on the amputation. He was repatriated at an unknown date.

http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?11305-Wellington-Mk.IC.-T2702-LS-H-10-Feb-1941-IJsselmeer
http://www.defensie.nl/media/verliesregister_1941_tcm46-154751.pdf
http://www.nfla.nl/list.pdf
“Lufwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims 1939-1945”, by John Foreman, Johannes Matthews and Simon Parry. ISBN 0-9538061-4-6
"The Bomber Command War Diaries", by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, ISBN 1-85780-033-8
"Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, vol 2: Aircraft and Crew Losses 1941", by W R Chorley. ISBN 0-904597-87-3
"1941 the turning point. Part 1", by John Foreman, ISBN 1-871187-22-2
Luftwaffe claim lists by Tony Wood and Jim Perry (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijsselmeer
http://www.maplandia.com/netherlands/overijssel/kampen/
https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=&date=&location=&pn=T2702&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part one
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
18-Mar-2016 20:00	Red Dragon	Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
26-Mar-2016 20:05	Giggs	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Operator]
17-Feb-2017 17:26	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Cn, Source, Narrative]
07-Feb-2019 16:04	TigerTimon	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
14-Jun-2022 07:17	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]
10-Feb-2024 07:39	Rob Davis	Updated [Source, Narrative]