Accident Vickers Wellington Mk III BJ987, Friday 11 September 1942
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Date:Friday 11 September 1942
Time:night
Type:Silhouette image of generic well model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Vickers Wellington Mk III
Owner/operator:25 OTU RAF
Registration: BJ987
MSN: PP-L
Fatalities:Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Location:North Sea off Oostduinkerke, Koksijde, West Flanders -   Belgium
Phase: Combat
Nature:Military
Departure airport:RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:
Narrative:
Takeoff 20:22 hrs local time for an operation to Düsseldorf in Germany.
Homeward-bound, the aircraft crashed into the sea. Probably, it was shot down by night fighter pilot Hauptmann Dr. Horst Patuschka of the 7./NJG 2, who was flying a Ju 88 C-6 from Gilze-Rijen airfield in the Netherlands.

Crew:-
Pilot : Flight Sergeant Richard Edgar Bertram RCAF R/75831 [Killed]
Navigator : Flight Sergeant Cleveland John Eggleton RCAF R/83220 [Killed]
Air Gunner : Pilot Officer John Robert Agar RAFVR 124742 (NCO:908940 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 08 September, 1942) [Killed]
Flight Sergeant Frank John Gallagher RCAF R/102761 [Killed]
Flight Sergeant Richard Melvin George RCAF R/100105 [Killed]

F/Sgt Eggleton and P/O Agar are buried in Oostduinkerke Communal Cemetery, Belgium (51.121355 / 2.696104)
F/Sgt Bertram rests at Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Belgium (51.202537 / 3.505399)
Others are remembered at the Runnymede Memorial, United Kingdom (51.437693 / -0.564745)

Sources:

Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
https://luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/wellington-voor-oostduinkerke
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=BJ987
Google Maps
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
26-May-2020 12:40 TigerTimon Added
06-Nov-2022 12:51 Ron Averes Updated [Location, ]
18-Nov-2024 07:32 Rob Davis Updated [Other fatalities, Source, Narrative, ]

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