Date:	Thursday 14 December 1939
Time:
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk IA
Owner/operator:	99 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N2911
MSN:	LN-E
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Other fatalities:	6
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Sea, off Wangerooge Island, Lower Saxony -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Newmarket, Suffolk
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Vickers Wellington Mk.1a N2911, (LN-E) of 99 Squadron, RAF: Took off from RAF Newmarket, Suffolk at 11:43. Destroyed in a Mid-air collision with Wellington N2870 off Wangerooge Island, Lower Saxony, while trying to escape fighters during raid on Helgoland and Wilhelmshaven. Both aircraft crashed, killing all twelve crew (six in each aircraft)

Crew:-
Pilot : Flight Sergeant William Howarth Downey RAF 561103 [Killed]
Observer : Sergeant Frederic George Goodwin RAFVR 564696 [Killed]
Observer : Sergeant Elvies Bowen Morgan RAF 580738 [Killed]
Leading Aircraftman David Graham Hodge RAF 531390 [Killed]
Aircraftman 2nd Class Frank James Johnson RAF 552464 [Killed]
Sergeant Thomas Edwin Jones RAF 563978 [Killed]

The bodies of GOODWIN and MORGAN were washed on to the German coast and they are both buried at Sage War Cemetery, Germany.

The official Air Ministry file on the incident (File AIR 81/59) states "missing presumed dead; Wellington N2911 failed to return from an operational flight, believed to have crashed at sea, 14 December 1939"

1. James J Halley, Air Britain: RAF Aircraft L1000 - N9999, published 1991
2. National Archives (PRO Kew) File Air 81/59: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14142176
3. Bomber Command 1939-1940: The War before the War By Gordon Thorburn p 86
4. Wimpy: A Detailed History of the Vickers Wellington in service, 1938-1953 By Steve Bond p 36
5. Flying into the Storm: RAF Bombers at War 1939-1942 By Chris Sams
6. http://www.oldhaltonians.co.uk/pages/rememb/ROH/30.htm
7. http://viewfromsomerset.blogspot.com/2018/12/sergeant-tejones-airman-of-99-squadron.html
8. https://www.baaa-acro.com/index.php/crash/crash-vickers-408-wellington-ia-wangerooge-island-6-killed-0
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2073997/morgan,-elvies-bowen/
10. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2073771/goodwin,-frederic-george/
11. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1800253/hodge,-david-graham/
12. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802127/johnson,-frank-james/
13. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802382/jones,-thomas-edwin/
14. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/232427/downey,-william-howarth/
15. CWGC

Other occurrences involving this aircraft


24 February 1940	N3004	99 Sqn RAF	0	Sauvenière near Gembloux, 16 km NW Namur		w/o
3 March 1940	N3006	99 Sqn RAF	6	Chalk Hill, Barton Mills, Suffolk, England		w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
02-Jan-2012 11:27	Uli Elch	Added
04-Jun-2019 18:00	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ]
04-Jun-2019 18:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Source, ]
04-Jun-2019 18:03	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, ]
08-Jun-2019 09:40	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, ]
24-Sep-2024 11:26	Rob Davis	Updated [Other fatalities, Narrative, ]
11-Jul-2025 18:45	MMR	Updated [Source, Narrative, ]