ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 157529
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| Date: | Saturday 20 September 1941 |
| Time: | evening |
| Type: | Handley Page Hampden Mk I |
| Owner/operator: | 16 OTU RAF |
| Registration: | P5314 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Tusmore Park, 5 1⁄2 miles north of Bicester, Oxfordshire, Englan -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire |
| RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire |
On 20/9/1941 a Junkers Ju 88 fighter-bomber of Luftwaffe Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, flown by flying ace Oblt Paul Semrau, bombed RAF Upper Heyford. Meanwhile a Handley Page Hampden I aircraft, P5314 of No.16 Operational Training Unit RAF, had been on a night training flight and was preparing to land at its base, RAF Croughton.
Semrau fired cannon and machine guns at the Hampden, which caught fire and then crashed into a field near Tusmore Park, about 5 1⁄2 miles (9 km) north of Bicester in Oxfordshire killing all four members of the crew. This was Semrau's 7th victory.
The Hampden crew were members of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. The pilot, P/O NP van der Merwe, was from Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia. He and two other crew are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission section of St Mary's parish churchyard, Upper Heyford. The fourth is buried in St Andrew's parish churchyard, Kingsbury, northwest London.
Sergeant (Pilot) Nicholaas Petrus van der MERWE, RAFVR no. 778400 Age 21 and the son of Pieter J T and of Stoffelina C van der Merwe and the husband of Beryl G van der Merwe of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. He is buried in sec B grave 79 Upper Heyford Cemetery
Sergeant (Observer) Derek Alfred John PAINE RAFVR no. 1259273 Age 20 and the son of Alfred Arthur Greenwood Paine and Edith Agnes Paine of Edgware. He is buried in sec H grave 10 in the churchyard of St Andrew’s Church, Kingsbury
Sergeant (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) John Howard IXER RAFVR no. 1283378 Age 19 and son of Ernest Charles and Gertrude Agnes Ixer of Sanderstead, Surrey. He is buried in Sec B Grave 77 Upper Heyford Cemetery
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Robert LEAGAS RAFVR no. 910873 The son of Henry Matthew and Louisa Gladys Leagas of Eastwood, Essex. He is buried in sec B grave 78 Upper Heyford Cemetery
Sources:
1. Air-Britain: Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-R9999
2. http://www.theygavetheirtoday.com/raf-upper-heyford.html
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusmore,_Oxfordshire#Air_crash
4. http://aircrewremembered.com/van-der-merwe-nicholas.html
5. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2421976/van-der-merwe,-nicholaas-petrus/
6. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2735429/paine,-derek-alfred-john/
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2421958/ixer,-john-howard/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2421963/leagas,-robert/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Jul-2013 05:20 | JINX | Added |
| 03-Aug-2018 00:47 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Nov-2018 20:52 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Nature, Operator] |
| 27-Mar-2020 20:13 | TigerTimon | Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location] |
| 12-Apr-2022 06:11 | redsix1 | Updated [Narrative] |
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