Date:	Sunday 7 June 1942
Time:	01:40
Type:	Avro Manchester Mk I
Owner/operator:	50 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L7471
MSN:	VN-?
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	sea 30-40 miles from Emden, Niedersachsen. -   Germany
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Skellingthorpe
Destination airport:	RAF Skellingthorpe

Narrative:
Built by A.V. Roe & Co. Ltd., Chadderton, delivered 9-8-41, to RAF. Issued to 61 Sqn, delivered 9-11-41 as "QR-V". To 50 Sqn; redelivered 19-4-42 as "VN-B". Airborne 23:16 6-6-42 on mission to Emden. Last heard on W/T calling for help, but did not acknowledge Heston's signal. The aircraft had suffered a failure of both its engines.

The aircraft is believed to have suffered non-combat related Starboard engine failure (one engine remaining operative but proving insufficient to remain airborne according to Sgt. Buchanan and Sgt. Scanlan’s POW Reports). Aircraft crashed in the sea 30/ 40 miles from Emden after bombing their target. An S.O.S. was sent out at around 01:40 and received by Heston but only a third class ‘fix’ could be made; this was not acknowledged by L7471. Six of the crew escaped and made it into the aircraft’s dingy, being rescued shortly afterwards by a German seaplane.
Five of the crew were POW’s and Plt Off Burton who lost his life has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey, UK. Fg Off Beatty as a POW died on 10th September 1942 from meningitis following on the injury he received when the aircraft crashed.. He is buried in the Sage War Cemetery,
Locality Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. Sage is a village 24km south of Oldenburg, a town 43km west of Bremen.
Sgt Buchanan later reported “The starboard engine gave trouble immediately after leaving the target. It took some time to feather the engine and we were down very low when this was accomplished. The aircraft would not maintain height on one engine and we finally crashed in the sea about 30/40 miles from Emden. The 2nd Pilot did not have
time to get out and he went down with the plane. Fg Off Beatty had a fractured skull, the Navigator a fractured hip and the others scratches and bruises. We were captured an hour later in the dinghy by a German seaplane.”
Sgt Scanlan stated “The starboard engine cut out at about 1000 feet and it refused to feather. The aircraft dropped to sea level and then climbed to 300 feet but the strain was too great on the port engine and we ditched. We crashed into the sea nose first. I am pretty sure we were not hit by enemy aircraft.”
Although not unique, an all RAAF crew on an RAF Sqn. was unusual:

Pilot:403104 Fg Off Argyle Donald Beatty RAAF - Injured. Died.
Flight Engineer:403856 Plt Off Robert Garnett Burton RAAF - killed.
Navigator:400362 Plt Off F W R Allen RAAF PoW
WOp/Air Gunner:404646 Sgt R G Buchanan RAAF PoW.
WOp/Air Gunner:402615 Sgt A F Scanlan RAAF PoW.
Air Gunner:402472 Sgt A C Tebbett RAAF PoW
Air Gunner:400342 Sgt R F Davies RAAF PoW..

1. Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft L1000-N9999
2. htp://www.naa.gov.au
3. http://lancaster-archive.com/lanc_unknowncrashsites.pdf
4. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
6. RAAF FATALITIES IN SECOND WORLD WAR AMONG RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS
7. CWGC
8. 50 Squadron Royal Air Force In World War Two
9. RAF Prisoners of War

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
20-Jun-2008 12:59	JINX	Added
25-Jun-2008 06:20	JINX	Updated
11-May-2011 23:59	Masen63	Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative]
29-Apr-2013 00:23	RossGmann	Updated [Source, Narrative]
19-Aug-2013 13:06	JINX	Updated [Aircraft type, Source]
26-Dec-2014 01:39	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative]
02-May-2018 05:50	Anon.	Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative]
30-Oct-2018 19:34	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport]
27-Apr-2020 18:50	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
27-Apr-2020 19:00	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative]
20-Aug-2022 22:34	Nepa	Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative, Operator]