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| Date: | Monday 18 December 1939 |
| Time: | 12:30 LT |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk IA |
| Owner/operator: | 37 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | N2888 |
| MSN: | LF-A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | off Borkum Island -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Feltwell, Thetford, Norfolk |
Wellington N2888 failed to return from an operational flight, believed to have crashed at sea, 18 December 1939. Shot down by Me 110 during raid on Wilhelmshaven. 12 out of 22 Wellingtons shot down on this mission.
Crew of Wellington N2888
Flight Lieutenant P A Wimberley: prisoner of war.
Pilot Officer M Radcliffe,
Aircraftman 1st Class A M Hill,
Acting Sergeant L A Sheppard and
Leading Aircraftman A W W Lane:
All but Wimberely were posted as "missing presumed dead"; according to a published account on the demise of Wellington N2888 (see link #4)
The missing crew is commemorated at Runnymede Memorial; RADCLIFFE panel 1, SHEPPARD and LANE panel 2, HILL panel 3.
"Oberstleutnant Schumacher personally shot down F/O Lewis whose N2889 ploughed into the mudflats off Spiekeroog leaving no survivors before moving in on Flying Officer Wimberley and heavily damaging his aircraft too. Leutnant Lent then closed in on F/O Wimberley and fired a coup d’grace into the stricken N2888 which came down onto the sea and promptly sank with only Wimberley himself being picked from the water."
Sources:
1. Air Britain: RAF Aircraft L1000 - N9999, published 1991
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 81/75: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14141876
3. http://aircrewremembered.com/wimberley-peter.html
4. http://boredhistorian.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-battle-of-heligoland-bight-december.html
5. CWGC
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 1 August 1941 | R1067 | 37 Sqn RAF | 6 | Mediterranean Sea west of Sollum |  |
mis |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 02-Jan-2012 10:51 | Uli Elch | Added |
| 04-Jun-2019 21:04 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 05-Jun-2019 14:15 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 08-Jun-2019 10:44 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, ] |
| 12-Jul-2025 08:06 | MMR | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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