Date:	Thursday 22 June 1944
Time:	01:20 LT
Type:	Boeing B-17 Fortress Mk II
Owner/operator:	214 (Federated Malay States) Sqn RAF
Registration:	SR382
MSN:	BU-B - 5923
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	'Op de Aaldert', Bergharen, Gelderland -   Netherlands
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Oulton, Norfolk
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Take off at 23:52 hrs for a Radio Counter Measures operation in support of the RAF Bomber Command Wesseling & Scholven-Buer raids.
Crew
Claim by Ofhr Werner Kasmann 7/NJG1 - Bergharen WNW of Nijmegen (JM 5): 5,500m at 01:20.
Crashed at Op de Aaldert near Bergharen.
Flt Sgt Whatton & Sgt Sparkes were arrested in Antwerpen on 8 July 1944.
Flt Sgt Milne was arrested on 8 July 1944.
Flt Sgt Whatton, Sgt Sparkes and Flt Sgt Milne were involved in “The Long Road” from Stalag Luft 7.
Pilot: 172119 Plt Off John Douglas Cassan - Uden War Cemetery Plot 5 Row B Grave 5.
Flight Engineer: 1851276 Sgt Sydney Herbert Byant - Uden War Cemetery Plot 5 Row B Grave 3.
Navigator: 1551656 Flt Sgt George Orr - Uden War Cemetery Plot 5 Row B Grave 4.
Specialist Operator: 1557821 Flt Sgt W Milne (POW)Stalag Luft Sagan & Belaria 472
Bomb Aimer: R/153179 WO2 Douglas R Jennings RCAF - Evaded
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner: 1384559 Flt Sgt J Harry Whatton - PoW/Stalag Luft 7 Bankau near Kreulberg Upper Silesia/PoW Number 423/Repatriated 1945.
Air Gunner: 1626469 Sgt Norman William Stanley Abbott -Jonkerbos War Cemetery Plot 17 Row G Grave 5.
Air Gunner: 1011102 Flt Sgt Alex Sharpe - Uden War Cemetery Plot 5 Row B Grave 6.
Air Gunner: 1685161 Sgt Tom S Sparks - PoW/Stalag Luft 7 Bankau near Kreulberg Upper Silesia/PoW Number 414.

*WO Jennings RCAF was taken originally to a German run hospital with sharpnel in his leg he manged to escape later disguised as a Policeman with the help of the Dutch Resistance and return to Great Britain. Flt Sgt Whatton the RAF wireless operator was repatriated in 1945. Sgt Sparkes was taken prisoner of war. After bailing out Sparkes was given shelter by a Dutch Resistance group. Unfortunately it had unknowingly been infiltrated by the Germans. Put in a van to be transported to a "safe house" Sparkes found on reaching his destination that instead that instead of eluding capture he was surrounded by a dozen or so German soldiers all pointing rifles at him.

https://verliesregister.studiegroepluchtoorlog.nl/rs.php?aircraft=&sglo=T3828&date=&location=&pn=&unit=&name=&cemetry=&airforce=&target=&area=&airfield=
Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1944 Part 3 - Theo Boiten
- Air Britain: RAF Aircraft SA100 - VZ999, published 1985
JF Baugher
http://www.aircrewremembered.com/john-cassan.html
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War 1944 Page 296.
*The Second World War By Night. German Night Fighters versus Bomber Command 1943-1945 Page 105.

Area of loss - supplied with full permission to use from the owner of Aircrew Remembered website.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Dec-2008 11:45	ASN archive	Added
03-Sep-2011 08:19	Uli Elch	Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Source, Narrative]
04-Apr-2015 06:24	pietrzak	Updated [Cn, Operator, Other fatalities, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Photo, ]
07-Apr-2015 08:27	Unitex	Updated [Operator, Departure airport]
21-Jun-2016 10:27	Red Dragon	Updated [Operator, Source, Narrative]
04-Oct-2018 14:26	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
14-Oct-2020 16:54	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
25-Apr-2021 18:01	Anon.	Updated [Source, Narrative]
02-Apr-2022 19:40	Tupie65	Updated [Narrative]
18-Jun-2022 06:09	Ron Averes	Updated [Location]