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| Date: | Monday 30 September 1940 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Vickers Wellington Mk Ic |
| Owner/operator: | 38 Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | R3219 |
| MSN: | HD-Q |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 6 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Herberger Zuschlag, Menslage, Niedersachsen -
 Germany
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAF Marham, Norfolk |
Operation - Leipzig, Sachsen.
The aircraft was coned by searchlights and shot down by a night fighter crew of the 2./NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 from Vechta airfield. The Wimpey crashed either on the evening of the 30st of September or in the early hours of the 1st of October.
Crew:-
Pilot : Pilot Officer Donald Maclean RAFVR 79167 (NCO:745191 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 04 June, 1940) [Killed]
Rear Gunner : Pilot Officer William Try Mathieson RAF 43949 (NCO:561304 : Commission Gazetted Tuesday 16 July, 1940) [Interned, repatriated]
Sergeant Victor Frederick Gammon RAF 640131 [PoW]
Sergeant John Hamilton RAF 640389 [PoW]
Sergeant Gerald Tipping RAF 580815 [PoW]
Sergeant Stanley Alexander Williams RAF 748233 [PoW]
P/O MacLean rests at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany (51.740880 / 6.082017)
Trude Ke Bickerstaff (FB 07/05/21 https://www.facebook.com/trudy.bickerstaff)
"Mathieson was a rear gunner in a Wellington bomber before being shot down in 1940. He had his right leg amputated as a POW but went on to make around 60 artificial limbs for fellow prisoners. Repatriated in 1943. Stayed in the RAF before retiring in 1966 as a Wing Commander. He was allowed to stay in the RAF due to his work in the prison camps though his amputation seemed to have caused him much pain and trouble for the rest of his life."
Sources:
Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part one
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/AlliedLossesIncidents/?q=R3219
Google Maps
Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database http://robdavistelford.co.uk/webspace/raf_bc
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Sep-2020 14:50 | TigerTimon | Added |
| 24-Sep-2020 14:51 | TigerTimon | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 24-Sep-2020 15:04 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Oct-2025 06:18 | Rob Davis | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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